Quote:
Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan
This career is great.......was great. It has always been a risk-reward proposition buoyed by great compensation and a good retirement, the latter two references adding incentive for placing ourselves in danger every shift and being willing to die for something larger than ourselves. Additionally, qualified immunity allowed for us to be able to make mistakes made in good faith without the fear of callous legal ramifications and/or prosecution. Essentially it allowed us to be human. The current climate expects perfection from law enforcement; an unrealistic expectation. Couple that with the very real proposition of losing our pensions, a reduction of resources due to the "defund the police" movement and body cameras designed to allow hindsight criticism of highly dangerous, rapidly evolving and fluid situations, and you have a recipe for career disaster. It was bad enough that one incident in your career would likely lead to termination or forced retirement. Now, one incident will likely lead to an officer being charged with murder, for example, over a textbook and easily justified shooting (...e.g...criminal points gun at officer, officer shoots criminal, it's all caught on camera and the criminal's gun was recovered at the scene, but the officer gets charged with murder. WTF?!?!).
I was told many years ago by older officers that they "felt for me and others who were just beginning their careers." They went on to state that the world was no longer friendly nor respectful towards law enforcement and that I/we'd have a very difficult time bridging the chasm. These officers also stated they would never have chosen to become cops in today's world. Fast forward many years and I finally understand what they meant. It isn't worth it, and I feel for those applying and trying to get hired in a world that becomes more unfriendly by the day.
Ultimately there will be people in uniform to carry the torch, but disenchantment awaits them. It's unfortunate because the vast majority of us enter this profession to do good things and protect innocent people. We are not flawless, but we are full of heart and we enjoy being of service. It's unfortunate that we are just pawns in a much larger scheme.
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I agree with everything you said my friend. The sad part is that what is happening is not what the vast majority of folks want but because of the actions of a small militant group who are supported by the MSM and virtue signalling politicians. Take care of yourself and those you work with. Stay safe.