Political Kissy-Points: The Suppression of Efficient Law Enforcement?

Negative Prediction

Unfortunately, every negative prediction I have made with others over the last few years have come, or are coming, to fruition. The militant, radical, and subversive elements in society are taking full advantage of the situation. Anti-law enforcement sentiments, that have been tightly held in many communities, have been given full rein under a false cloud of legitimacy by politicians, popular culture, and the news media. That genie will not go back in the bottle and the consequences are dire.

In Be On Your Guard, I wrote: Over and over, again and again, we seem doomed to repeat history. We behave as if the problems of the past never existed and we fail miserably to identify the circumstances that led us into them. The examples are endless, but lately I’ve noticed the stark parallels between the current conditions and those that existed at the beginning of the last century.

In That Thin Blue Line is Getting Thinner…, I stated: Based on videos that are incomplete, narrow of focus and interpreted with blatant bias, judgment has already been passed publicly by the President and Vice President of the United States. Activists need not demonize the officers, because the White House has done it for them. “Racism,” declares the Governor of Minnesota. Apparently, he sees no need for an investigation and due process. If there is criminal culpability involved, how is a fair trial to be conducted now? It’s gross irresponsibility for the sake of political kissy-points. Would this kind of mass, overt prejudice be tolerated for one moment towards members of any other group besides law enforcement? I dare say cases of suspected terrorism would be treated with greater caution. Come to think of it, one current presidential candidate has referred to officers as terrorists. Nice.

The Suppression of Efficient Law Enforcement

Believe me the frustrations and outrages with our culture and its response to public safety problems has only begun. We will see politicians and pundits deny obvious realities and anything they’ve done to contribute to the suppression of efficient law enforcement. Then, they’ll blame the officers for the deficiencies. Chiefs and sheriffs will run for cover and base future policy decisions on political considerations over realities on the street. That will further alienate the officers from the entire process. They will simply shut down to survive and you will never get them back. And those responsible for the debacle will strut around in a pretentious sense of victory.

As a result of all this, there’s not much left to say except to point out the developments as they pass by.

Photo by REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

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Michael Kelly

Michael P. Kelly is a retired police sergeant from the Huntington Beach Police Department in southern California, with 30+ years of law enforcement experience.He served in a variety of assignments in uniform, administration, and supervision.He developed expertise in training personnel with an emphasis in defensive tactics, officer survival, and critical incident management.He served several years in media and intergovernmental relations.At the time of his retirement, he was assigned to the department’s Professional Standards Unit (otherwise known as Internal Affairs). Two years before retirement, Mike was diagnosed with cancer.Thanks to the Lord's blessings and a team of good doctors, he survived the ordeal after major surgery and a battery of chemo and radiation treatments. Subsequent to retirement, he taught academy classes at the Golden West Community College Criminal Justice Training Center in Huntington Beach, CA, and worked for the California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training as a course evaluator.Mike has done volunteer ministry work for his local Catholic parish, as a teacher of adult and school-age formation classes, and as a member of the Pastoral Council. He has also conducted public speaking presentations about his spiritual life as a police officer and cancer survivor. He authored a suspense novel entitled For Sake of the Son, which was published in 2013 and is well received by readers who have responded with five star reviews posted by online retailers.He is working on another project for future publication. Mike resides in southern California where he celebrates a successful family life as a husband, father of two successful sons, and grandfather to two rambunctious boys…all of whom he considers his greatest blessings.

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