“Good Cops can make it Better!”

“Good Cops can make it Better!”

                      

(We know you’re out there somewhere. Com'on back home, we need you!)   

 

By Glenn Peppers                     

Some time ago here in Michigan, I once heard on the six o’clock news that there was a shortage of police officers, and as a result the hiring standards and guidelines for becoming a police officer were going to be lowered. This being the case here in Michigan and the Metro Detroit area, I assume that maybe this was (or is) the case as well in various other states and other locals around the country! Generationally over time, this could explain the "Officer Jeb and Goober" types who cannot seem to be able to control their tempers, or make sound decisions in dealing with the public on a professional level! This could also explain some of these newer more rash troubling events we’re seeing so much of in the news involving police thugs, ruffians and this new breed of officers wearing their personal agendas on their sleeves about people of color onto the job. Seems some of them are there just to maim, kill or just whip heads. Angry people literally using their badge in order to throw their weight around. 

This not being a sound excuse, I can only imagine that during their police training, good crowd control tactics, and basic Crisis Prevention Intervention was one of the inservice training modules taught! CPI is a tool used to safely physically manage out of control, acting out mental patients, or inebriated parties, and can be used in crowd control situations! On top of my nearly 36 years (give or take a few years) of Martial arts training. CPI has proven to me to be a great tool in subduing acting out individuals without harming them, or myself in the process of using it! 

CPI training is something that is updated every three years, with refresher classes once a year! A lot of companies put their employees through this course in order for them to learn how to handle violence in the workplace. I can only imagine that CPI and other forms of physical management and/or major self defense courses are taught in police training in order to instruct “Any Officer” on how to de-escalating and contain and control most any volatile situation with out choking someone, or electrocuting them with taser guns. This includes such techniques as defending oneself from a knife, stick, club, and even a gun attack. From say the likes of an 80 year old woman. 

What actually sparked this article in the first place was one of a slew of abusive police brutality videos that have been circling on the internet and social media, and on TV and the news. This one video in particular was this one where a rather large female officer slams a 90 pound, 80 year old woman to the ground in a parking lot, causing blunt force head trauma and bleeding in order to disarm her. The elderly woman was carrying a knife. A small knife at that! The police woman’s brutal tactic showed a complete lack of care and concern for the individual, and most of all, a lack of training. Personally I feel it screamed and boasted a piss poor excuse to cause harm to someone, just because they could! 

Anyone who is a trained law enforcement officer would have known just how to handle that situation with a knife wielding 80 year old, in such a way that no one would have gotten hurt! So why didn’t this officer know how to do this? I think it is because this officer did not care to know that her words (in this situation) could be more of a weapon, than simple brutism in dealing with an angry elderly woman! What I'm seeing in all of these many Cop Gone Bad Videos is pure and flat out meanness and brutism; and moreover, inefficiency, drudged out of hate and disrespect for the individual. Which is senseless because in the long run these bone head reckless acts end up costing the city, the county, and the police department mounting fees, and lawsuits pay outs that are either settled in or out of court for huge sums of money! And after a time, those sums of money begin to add up! 

And for what? Just to say you slammed an 80 year old woman to the cement, cracking her head wide open? Where's the glory in that? I shutter to think that we’re really at the mercy of people who cannot think beyond the end of their batons? Are the people riding around in police squad cars now days only agenda driven mental cases, controlled by rage and reflex, and not common sense? I'd really would rather think that we have more good cops out there among us than bad ones! 

A good Cop rescuing a dog on the freeway

So as far as solutions go, I say raise the hiring standards back up again for what it takes to become a police officer! Whatever those standards use to be! I feel it safe to say that there would be nothing wrong at all with having a recruit go through an extensive mental health evaluation criteria program as a qualifying factor either! I also think that at least two years of collage max, or at least one year of Criminal Law studies would separate the Cop Wannabes from true Law Enforcement Officers! I say pay these officers what they are worth! 

Offer them and their families decent healthcare (once again), and believe me in time, tell me you haven’t gain a smarter, more diligent and dedicated law enforcement officer that any district would be proud to have patrolling their streets, and solving their crimes. A respected police officer with integrity and honor! I think for a very very long time, as far as law enforcement goes in our cities, we all have been victim of that old adage that says, "You get what you pay for!" So let’s fix this thing! For the good cops who are still here sticking it out, God bless you! For the good ones to come, remember, “Good Cops make it better!”

Glenn Peppers 8-14-14