The Dumbass in Cleveland...

[OldbutNew]

Sure we had toy guns and ran around pointing them at each other!! AND we knew way deep down inside that if we EVER touched a real gun, our dads would blister our ass like there was no tomorrow. There was no such thing as back-talking ANY adult, let alone a cop!!
When the "big" riots hit in 1967, I was 11 years old.
It was a completely different time. Cops did not have the threat of being out-gunned by teenage punks with assault rifles. They didn't wear bullet-proof vests. They wore authority, and everybody knew it, and that was enough.

This IS an enormous tragedy for everyone involved: The parents of the child, the child, the police officers and their families, all of us. All of them are innocent, yet all of them failed.
The parents failed to teach their child respect for weapons, respect for others, and respect for law enforcement.
The child failed to recognize the danger he was inviting into his life.
The officers failed to exercise a gradual approach and assess the true threat level. Maybe they were just off another call that scared them?

In the end WE failed too. We failed to recognize the direction our government and society has been taking for 40 or 50 years and DO anything about it. But, hey. We are human. And we can learn from our mistakes. Right? What can any of US learn from this?

This discussion could go on for a long time. It's all just so damned useless. All of us just typing out words that mean nothing to any of the lives that were changed. We just need to remember that when we DO have an opportunity to teach our kids, or a younger brother, or a neighbor, or show respect to those that DESERVE it, or react with LEADERSHIP instead of apathy or ridicule.

[DetroitStyle]

sorry, I have an 18 month old and a wife that works in law enforcement that I would like her to see her child after every shift out. So yeah, it may be cold and I may be a dumb ass but I have my selfish reasons. Yes, we ran around our front yard with Bb guns, our neighbors knew they were just that and if we got out of hand our parents got a visit or a phone call. We never left the two yards we were allowed to go to when we had them outside

If you and/or your wife, as law enforcement and their family believe that popping out of a car and shooting within 1 second is how it should be done, to ensure your/her safety... she's in the wrong profession. I mean, why even get out of the car? Just floor it, run him down and write up the report while you're getting coffee. Gotta be safe, right?

[Falcon64]

How many times have you been shot at? How many times have you shot at somebody? Have you ever road in a police car for 8 hours? Its easy to sit in the comfort of your home and monday morning quarter back a police officer. The fact is that kids can and do carry guns. Every situation is different and almost always happens in the fraction of a second. If you haven't been there you will never understand.

I have kids. The toy guns i played with didnt look and cycle like a real firearms. When i was a young kids didnt bring guns to school. There wasnt mass shootings like there is now. Times have changed and things are way different than when i was 12 years old.

For you to say that every cop is wants to take a life is bullshit. I am a police officer and im proud of it. I have spent 18 years of my life making my community a better place to live. Are there assholes in police work? Absolutely just like there is at an autoplant, or wendys, or wall street. Blatant disrespect like you are showing is the exact type of racism that fuels these types of tragedies

[red347lx]

Thanks for your service Jeff!!!

How many times have you been shot at? How many times have you shot at somebody? Have you ever road in a police car for 8 hours? Its easy to sit in the comfort of your home and monday morning quarter back a police officer. The fact is that kids can and do carry guns. Every situation is different and almost always happens in the fraction of a second. If you haven't been there you will never understand.

I have kids. The toy guns i played with didnt look and cycle like a real firearms. When i was a young kids didnt bring guns to school. There wasnt mass shootings like there is now. Times have changed and things are way different than when i was 12 years old.

For you to say that every cop is wants to take a life is bullshit. I am a police officer and im proud of it. I have spent 18 years of my life making my community a better place to live. Are there assholes in police work? Absolutely just like there is at an autoplant, or wendys, or wall street. Blatant disrespect like you are showing is the exact type of racism that fuels these types of tragedies

[Falcon64]

Thx brother

[DetroitStyle]

It all makes sense now

I like how you say there's assholes at your work "just like the auto plant or wendys". Last time I checked, the asshole at the auto plant didn't have a badge, a gun and the authority to arrest me. You may not be one of the assholes... but if you look the other way while the assholes abuse people and commit the same crimes they are supposed to stop, then you are just as much a part of the problem

[Falcon64]

Nothing you say makes sense

[Falcon64]

And if your not breaking the law you have nothing to worry about

[DetroitStyle]

For whatever it's worth, I don't know you. I don't know your character or how you do the job. I hope you do it right, and if you do I commend you for it and I thank you for it. I realize it is a difficult, stressful and dangerous job.

That all having been said, there are still far too many bad cops and too many good cops who feel obligated by a code of silence to defend the bad cops while know it's wrong

[DetroitStyle]

I can point you to plenty of examples where people who weren't breaking the law ended up with big problems because of bad cops