Houston, we have a problem.
Well, not just Houston. More like America.
*ahem*
America, we have a problem.
As is with any position of higher responsibility and power, corruption is bound to happen. And it is becoming increasingly prevalent in our local police departments at what seems to be an exponential rate. While this apparent explosion in these events may be contributed to the rise of the Internet, social media, and 24 hour news cycles, what it doesn't change is that it is an epidemic that is plaguing everyday citizens, such as you and I. With the rise in reports of what seem to be attacks on good, everyday citizens by our own police force, it is getting harder and harder to believe that there is such a thing as a, "good cop." Which is a shame, because I do know some police officers who do an outstanding job at keeping their communities and countries safe from crime. Horror stories coming out of places like New York City, where the "stop and frisk" laws lead to hundreds of unnecessary arrests a year, primarily of people of color. One story of such injustice comes from Miami, Florida, where a convenience store owner has been stopped and frisked by his local police 258 times, while working in his own store. Another scene growing more common is the shooting deaths of animals by police. One recent story recalls a man, who upon walking his dog, passed the scene of a police response to a robbery. The man was playing loud music from his car, as well as recording the police intervention in the robbery with his cell phone. The police went to apprehend the man, so he put his dog in his car so as to not cause trouble. The dog grew excited, and exited the car from an open window, and was then shot four times, left to bleed to death on the sidewalk. This leads me into my own personal account of unnecessary force in the hands of a police officer.
Throughout my fourth and fifth grade years, my new neighbors, whose daughter had just graduated, took quite a few vacations with their newfound freedom from full-time parenting. While they were gone, they asked me to walk their dog, a young male St. Bernard named Bailey, feed it, and make sure it didn't destroy their house. One thing that must be understood is that St. Bernards, especially younger ones, are very playful animals, who love to play around with children. It is also necessary to mention that, at the time, the dog and I were of almost identical dimensions(standing on it's hind legs, the dog was just over five feet tall, and weighed about 130-140 pounds, as did I). One day, while taking care of Bailey, I decided to take him on a walk to my neighborhood park. There were many children outside with their parents with it being such a lovely day. Upon walking into the park, I ran into a neighbor and his two kids. This neighbor was, and to my knowledge still is, a Troy police officer. As I walked into the park, Bailey got excited by seeing his kids and started to pull at the leash. I was unable to keep control of Bailey, and he escaped to go play with the kids. However, the kids did not know that Bailey's intentions were playful, and started to get a bit scared. This is when the officer, off-duty, started screaming, swearing, threatening, and attacking the dog. He screamed, in a park full of children, obscenities that make modern-day me cringe, and kicked the dog in the throat, shouting, "I'm going to shoot this f***ing dog in the head." I eventually got control of Bailey, and I was then told to, "Get the hell out of the park." I did so, blinded by tears. I later learned that an old man, at the park with his grandkids, confronted the officer after I left, telling him what he did was unnecessary and crude, and that he should have thought of the kids at the park when choosing his words and actions. The officer responded with a threat to start a physical altercation with this older man, directly in front of his grandkids. Because of this incident, I have had an irrational fear of all arms of the law ever since. I get very anxious and nervous around any police officer, on or off duty, whether I am doing anything remotely illegal or not. Cases like the ones mentioned before and my own are only the tip of an iceberg which is looming over the American legal system. I can only hope we can steer the ship out of i
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