Submitted by Brad Creighton, Nov 30, 2006 12:29

This is the finest analysis of the recent police shooting incident I have read anywhere. Refreshingly candid, it is a shining example of clear, unbiased, rational thinking that our leaders--and much of our citizenry--no longer seem to exhibit.

Those patriotic bumper stickers we have all seen for years said it all, "Support your Local Police." It is astounding to me that we have forgotton that the brave men and women on the front lines, protecting our communities, do, in fact, NEED OUR SUPPORT. Theirs can often be a difficult, frustrating, dangerous and thankless job--and, these days, a shockingly undercompensated one. As any military or law enforcement commander knows, morale is CRUCIAL to the psyches, hearts, and motivation of our valiant protectors. They need it like they need water and food. They look for it. Mayor Koch understood that. Mayor Guiliani understood that. And even a new mayor without a military or law enforcement background must surely be counseled by his police commissioner as to the vital importance of top-down support for the on-the-ground troops.

The fact that our dear mayor did not exhibit that (and now even Governor Pataki and Governor-elect Spitzer) can be nothing other than a calculated decision--to curry favor with the riot inciters and sell our police men and women down the river. By prejudging (while saying he wouldn't) those unfortunate 5 officers, denying them the support they DESERVE, and even promising the riot inciters that the court venues would not be changed, this cowardly mayor effectively served up the heads of those 5 police officers on a silver platter to the bloodthirsty crowd.

Until a complete investigation has been done, the police must be given "the benefit of the doubt", as former Mayor Ed Koch used to say. They have EARNED this trust, by their restraint and professionalism handling hundreds of thousands of potentially dangerous incidents, without incident, and often with bravery, every year.

No less an authority than the Supreme Court of the United States stated that police officers, in making that nano-second decision--often under confusing and difficult circumstances none of us would ever want to find ourselves in-- whether to draw and fire their weapons "...do not have to wait to see the glint of steel..." before finding the courage to use the tool they are sworn and required to use when necessary.

The very last thing any police officer wants to do is fire their weapon in the line of duty; one need only spend some time with cops--as I have--to quickly learn this. They dread even the thought of it. There are many instances, unfortunately, where hesitation to use deadly force cost them their lives. And police academy students are taught, with emphasis, that there have been numerous examples of criminals, after being shot by police one or more times, managing to fire their gun back at officers wounding them or killing them or other innocent bystanders. Police academy and in-service training and guidelines are just that--training and guidelines. No amount of either can fully prepare you for every situation you will meet out there in the real world.; every shooting incident is different. The things they all have in common, however, are unpredictability, sheer terror--and mind-numbing speed.

The radical, agenda-driven riot-inciters have managed to influence the liberal crowd to half-believe their racist, greed-seeking fiction--at the expense of our police. I remember, around 1970 I believe, a Johnny Carson show guest, the actress Jill St. John, stating during her interview "...police are a necessary evil..." These words were like nectar to a certain liberal/radical-leaning crowd then, and I suspect they are a similar ambrosia for that same crowd now. Many of this ilk seem incapable of objective, rational, thought on the extremely dangerous nature of police work and how things can go very bad, very fast.

It is a rough and tumble world out there; that's why our police men and women are given nightsticks and guns. They may actually have to USE them! When they do, they need our trust and support! They have earned that faith, that presumption of innocence, by the overwhelming number of good deeds and bravery displayed every year.

Right now, and not only for these local (NYC) events, we need to be reminded of patriotism. It seems to be a rather quaint and old-fashioned concept--patriotism, supporting your country and those that serve it. But patriotism is a duty of every resident who wishes to be called "citizen."

Sadly, many of our so-called citizens have not earned the right to be called an American citizen by failing to display their patriotism and support for our police.

One doesn't choose to withold support for our law-enforcement protectors based on exceptional incidents.

Weak-kneed politicians, propelled to power simply by the sheer force of obscene amounts of money, can delude themselves by believing the myths of their fawning minions, and imagining themselves as leaders. No, Mr. Mayor, critics are not leaders. Hollow words and tail-tucking do not a man of substance and conviction make. Sunny day politics and glad-handing will not earn you your stripes. Leadership must be EARNED, then displayed. Once done, you will find it to be electric, that nourishing energy conveyed down to the ones doing the dirty work. The work you fear, the work in the arena, you will never know, removed to your artificial aerie.

Some words that might help you understand the difference between a critic (and cowardly condemner) and a patriotic leader were uttered a long time ago by a former NYC Police Commissioner who went on to become the 26th President of the United States. They follow. Yes, they are instructive--and inspired. But, that's what leaders--real leaders, do--instruct, and inspire.

MAN IN THE ARENA

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Theodore Roosevelt, 26^TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND FORMER NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER

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