Dave wrote:
> Kevin,
>
> I think you've been reading too many crime novels.
A curious statement from someone who writes crime novels, perhaps. But
hey, what can I do? I write about and review crime and detective
novels. It's probably more honest for me to read them first.
Like, did you actually read THE DISASSEMBLED MAN or just give them a
blurb? Or did they just use your name without telling you? I notice
they've removed your blurb from the Amazon page.
But I digress...
> The police can't resort to the use of firearms in every (most)
> situation--there would be riots in the streets if they did.
Read the newspapers. There already ARE riots in the streets over
police use of firearms. Sometimes the demonstrations, if not the
resulting riots, may even be warranted.
> Mike's been telling me he's been having to engage in 3-4 physical
> altercations a week on the job, usually in trying to break up bar
> room brawls. Why any guy in Matteson, no matter how drunk they might
> be, would try to take Mike on is beyond me. Anyway, there's a reason
> why most cops have to be tough to do the job.
Because they're not able to diffuse situations? Not able to judge when
physical or even deadly force is warranted?
A smart cop tries to calm things down and minimize confrontation and
violence. Not roll up his sleeves and start swinging, living out some
failed-jock John Wayne fantasy.
I would suggest one reason there already ARE riots in the street, from
Montreal to LA and everywhere in between (maybe even in Matteson and
Madison), is because some cops are, unfortunately, too preoccupied
with proving how "tough" they are.
I've known a few cops. Some are big alpha male bruiser lunkheads, but
most aren't. Some are short, some are slight of build, some are out of
shape. Some are smart, some not so much. Some of them are idealists
who want to protect and serve, some of them are failed jocks who like
carrying guns and swinging their dicks. And a few don't give two shits
about the law they've sworn to uphold.
There's no denying cops have to be tough -- it's a tough job. But
there are all kinds of tough. A really good cop also has to possess
tremendous amounts of compassion, empathy, fairness, humility,
intelligence, diplomacy, courage, mercy and common sense, and the
toughness of mind to know when to use each. Relying solely on
schoolboy definitions of toughness is as likely to cause trouble on
the job as to prevent it.
Kevin
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 08 Jun 2009 EDT