I do not know all the facts about what happened to Freddy in Baltimore. I did not see how the police handled it. What is kind of disturbing is all around this country we keep seeing incidents involving police and victims, some black, some white. Sometimes it appears to me that the police overreact or take the law into their own hands, case it point the man who was shot in the back while running from a police officer, not once but six times. Other cases are so convoluted it is very difficult to determine who exactly is in the wrong. I do know this, the police need to be trained and they need to practice a certain level of restraint when dealing with any suspect. As American citizens we all have rights granted us by the Constitution it does not matter if you are black or white. When the police violate these rights or over step their bounds of authority we end up with these serious issues and subsequent retaliation by the civilian population.
I live in a relatively small rural town in North Carolina, we have a rather large police force here. I personally know several of the officers on this force. Most are veterans of the armed forces. What I found troubling about our little town's police department is that they are equipped with military assault weapons, armored personnel carriers, and even a tank. I am no law enforcement expert and never claimed to be but why on earth in a town of 80 thousand souls would the police need a tank or even armored personnel carriers? They also have machine guns and grenade launchers as well as gas and automatic weapons, not to mention the fact that every officer is armed to the teeth with a side arm, stun gun, and they all have shotguns or assault rifles in their cruisers. What exactly is this police force thinking they are going to be confronted with or run into?
My town has a low crime rate and I am thankful for that, but we still have our share of larceny, break ins, robberies, and of course drug activity. The actual police officers I know here are courteous and polite, they speak to you with respect and we have had no issues here as far as I am aware of. I have been stopped by officers here in routine traffic checks and I have never had a problem yet. It does bother me some that our little police force is so heavily armed with weapons and equipment designed for war and not law enforcement activity. All the officers here wear body armor and carry extra magazines of ammunition, they are very well equipped and they have state of the art equipment, radios, computers, and vehicles. I was told by a friend of mine on the force that they even have a water cannon. I have lived here a long time and I cannot remember there ever being any civil unrest here. I kind of wonder if the police department really needs an arsenal like this to protect and serve? It is kind of intimidating as a citizen to see these guys and gals on duty as they look like they are ready for combat not conducting police business. Apparently, many police forces around the country have similar or identical equipment, makes me wonder if this could not also be a reason why citizens fear the police or think they will become victims of the police or be abused by the police. I will say one thing in their defense, they do an excellent job in my town and I respect them, at the same time I do not want to tangle with them as I would surely loose in a very big way.
I have personally seem some of these officers come into our local Chili's for lunch. They are an impressive bunch, dressed in black tactical gear with black Kevlar helmets, body armor, some carrying multiple side arms. They look like Storm Troopers not Police Officers. Even the little kids there are afraid of them. Many of the police cruisers here have two and even three officers in them, they mean business. I though to myself , this is just a bit of over kill here, these guys look like they are ready for a very serious combat engagement engaging a very dangerous threat. My town is pretty quiet most of the time except on the fourth of July or when they have some special event here. If you get stopped in my town I do not advise that you get belligerent or nasty with the police here, you may end up regretting it in short order, they have a reputation here of not tolerating much grief. They will not get nasty with you but you may end up before a magistrate facing numerous charges and possible jail time. I am grateful that we have a police department as we need one, but I am concerned about the arsenal they possess as well as the image they project.
