A Modest First Step Proposal to Bring Police Under Control

September 3, 2014 in News by The Manimal

source: Lew Rockwell

By Robert Wenzel

Economic Policy Journal

August 28, 2014

I have long held the view that Congress should enact a  law that states the President of the United States should be the last man allowed into a bunker that protects against nuclear attack.

Until all other citizens are protected, he should stand naked against the wrath of an enemy that launches a nuclear attack against the U.S..

Quite simply, I view an attack on the United States by nuclear means as the ultimate failure of government and that the head of such a failure should be the last man protected.

Taking this down a few notches to the local level. We are often told that local police are present “to protect and serve.”

Indeed, this is the official motto of the Los Angeles police department:

Now, personally, I hold the view that police protection is largely a myth (SEE: How to Deal with Police), but let’s continue with the generally held view that police do protect.

How is killing a person ever “protecting” that person? Now granted there may be extenuating circumstances where a police officer kills someone in a way that most would consider justifiable, but in the current structure of the police versus the rest of society, the police can often get a pass after killing someone without justification.

I believe that this needs to be changed. A good first step in making police think twice about killing someone is that it should be standard policy that any police officer that kills someone should be immediately removed from the police force, his salary stopped and that he be prevented from receiving any pension or other payments that would normally be due an officer leaving the force.

This should be only a first step, of course. Prosecution of an officer should also be a further option if it is clear that the cop was not acting in self-defense or protecting others from harm.

We need to get coppers to think twice about shooting people. We need them to understand that there will be no silent blue line, with machinations in the background, that will move to protect them of any killing. We need them to know that the killing of someone has serious consequences. If they truly are officers that “protect and serve,” then let’s put their feet to the fire and make killings on their watch have consequences.

Tags: , , ,

363 Comments »