On My Mind: Protecting Those in Blue

My last post stirred the pot a bit….there are over 5,400 views now on the video I posted on behalf of the retired Staten Island Police Officer who was harassed by protestors. Some have argued against the idea that he was truly hassled and some have defamed both the officer and myself in comments on YouTube…and others have made defamatory remarks about the protestors, which I also refuse to publish. Others have argued the protestors did not threaten him…and tried to shame me for posting the video…some have accused me of stereotyping…which I am not…and I know my last post expresses that. The one accusing me of stereotyping, claims I forgot about the two police officers in Las Vegas murdered by members of the Tea Party…thanks for reminding me and yes, those two are absolutely wrong too…at the same time, I am not stereotyping and will not be accused of that…I have written three articles about Eric Frein, who was downright frightening in his attack against police and what he did in his attacks…in my opinion, Eric Frein should be punished to the fullest extent for what he did to those officers as well as the duo in Vegas.

In the meantime, this issue of the hate against police officers increases…to the point that, according to several articles, including one in the New York Post, police officers are becoming afraid to respond to some crimes and now a mandate in the city is that two patrol cars must respond, rather than one, in case of attacks. Some officers are writing no summonses at all, because of the fear.

If our police are afraid, especially in one of the busiest cities in the world, we, the “normal” citizens who support them, need to lift them up however we can…because this impacts us all and our safety if police are afraid…

That does not mean trying to interfere with their business, because that is unlawful…it means, alerting them of dangers that we may be aware of coming to them.

It’s sick that a guy who was a personal trainer, threatened a NYPD officer who had just become his fitness trainee, after the murders of Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. (click here to read). The person who threatened the officer had a record already for kidnapping and stabbing another person. This is downright scary. And this whack-job (yes, I will call him that because he is, just like Frein and Jerad and Amanda Miller in the Las Vegas killings, obviously not right for making threats like that…and the other three for carrying out what they carried out against police officers…they all deserve the classification in fact), the personal trainer sent a text to eight police officers copycatting the same message that the murderer of the two NYPD officers posted on Instagram that if police take one, they will take two…and that’s what that murderer did…took two innocent NYPD officers as they sat in their patrol car.

So…for my detractors…I don’t want to hear that I am stereotyping. It doesn’t matter who a person is, male or female…any color, any religion, any social class, any position…if they are threatening peoples’ lives and harming others, I will speak out against them.

So….the purpose of my post is that if anyone sees anything fishy on social media for example that these types of cyber terrorists are posting with threats to harm police or anyone in real life…we need to take action. Your local police departments accept anonymous tips…for example, the Newton Police Department in the Sussex County, New Jersey area, accepts anonymous tips even by text (click here to read more) as well as phone apps too to accept tips. You are protected…so if you know of an aggressor, like the one who attacked the NYPD officers or any other officers nationwide…report those suspicious activities immediately and know you can do so without fear you will be persecuted by the one making threats.

One retired officer responded to my last post, which is what prompted me to also write the crux of this post…if we see an officer under attack, how can we help he or she as a civilian?

He wrote to me: “If you see what looks like an officer in trouble, please keep in mind, he may not have called for back up or assistance. The situation may have come apart too quickly. There is no harm in calling 911 and telling the operator that that officer needs help. Stay calm and give as much information as to location as you can. “

He explained further that in his own career, he was unable to get to his radio and when Darren Wilson and Michael Brown struggled during their altercation, Wilson’s radio was harmed. Now, I’m not here to get into that whole topic, because obviously, this Ferguson issue is one of the many reasons why the two officers who were gunned down in cold blood on Dec. 20 and is a whole other story on its own…this is also something I would need to verify more, as I personally have not seen it written that Wilson’s radio was broken. But we do know, in the case of Eric Frein that after Frein wounded both troopers in Blooming Grove, shooting both Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and Trooper Alex Douglass, one of the dispatchers, Nicole Palmer, spoke to Dickson through the lobby and was subsequently shot at. She even had difficulty calling 911…attempted to bring Dickson inside and was unable to and summoned for help. (Click here to read article on Frein attack).

On My Mind: Our officers protect us each day…we think of them as superheroes and in many ways they are…these recent incidents are showing though even they are vulnerable. Let’s do what we can to protect them as they protect us. If one of those Instagram users who had seen the deadly message had reported the threats on social media, those two slain NYPD officers might still be with us today. Protect them as we would want to protect each other. #BlueLivesMatter and #CopsLivesMatter and #EveryLifeMatters.

What do you think?

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