This is so wrong I can hardly contain myself! It’s wrong (and illegal) what the President said way “okay.” And it’s wrong that not one of these police officers stood up and said, “No, I am not going to do that, Mr. President, you are wrong, dead wrong!”
In my generation of police, I honestly believe that more than one of my colleagues would have challenged a president who said that. That’s what courage is. And courage is standing up for what’s right. Sadly, that was obviously lacking among the police present at Suffolk County Community College in the Town of Brentwood near Seldon, New York. A most shameful response from the men and women who have sworn to protect and serve us.
My dear friend and colleague, Capt, Cheri Maples, died yesterday from complications from a bike-auto accident she suffered a year ago. She was confined to a wheel chair during this time after a long time in the I.C.U. As a police officer, lawyer, and dharma teacher, Cheri would have stood up even if she was in a wheel chair. She was a radical and a rebel along the lines of what physicist and Nobel laureate Niels Bohr (1885-1962) described:
“Every valuable human being must be a radical and rebel, for what she must aim at is to make things better than they are.”
Now here’s what Pres. Trump said:
“When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddywagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, please don’t be too nice. Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over? Like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody. Don’t hit their head? I said, ‘You can take the hand away, OK?’”
He just told a group of police officers that it’s “okay” to commit a crime. If they do what he asked them to do, will he pardon them?
Mr. President, NO! We cannot and will not take the hand away. Okay?
This is a sad day for police in America.
Read the full article HERE.
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 
Thank you, David. On behalf of Cheri, Thank You. On behalf of every intelligent person in policing, Thank You.
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Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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I am a public defender in Minnesota, and my childhood dream was to be a cop. I’ve been absolutely horrified by the things I’ve learned and seen, both professionally and personally (especially working right down the street from where Philando Castile was killed, Yanez walked free, and the Police Federation leader – who wears white supremacist patches on his motorcycle jacket – prevents de-escalation training). I struggle between still wanting to be a cop and seeing what the profession could be, and being absolutely disgusted with nearly every officer I know. This blog is a breath of very fresh air that is much needed.
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Stay tuned. Be part of the “fresh air!!”
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Trump wouldn’t be saying that if his wealthy friends were treated that way by the police. Wouldn’t have problems with the MS-13 gang in the USA had quit exercising its neo-imperialism/neo-colonialism rule in Central and South America since the late 19th century.
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Thank you for posting this and so quickly. I feel so alone sometimes in the roll call room. I know many of my colleagues consider this type of rhetoric to be “pro police,” but I couldn’t disagree more. Trump’s words, and more importantly the cheering by the officers, is only going to increase the ever-widening divide between law enforcement and the citizens we are supposed to protect. Your blog helps me to feel less isolated. Thank you for speaking out.
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Dee, It’s about our ability to define ourselves within the blue subculture — some aspects are positive, others debilitating. Be yourself. Stand up. Press on. (and stay in touch!!)
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I knew there would be a response to this here.
This should raise major concerns about selectively choosing people for political events as well as the police that remained silent. It is standard operating procedure for politicians to rig their own audiences when ever they can, and I suspect this is no exception, which might be why there was no one speaking out against him on the spot, but it is still shocking that in addition to remaining silent they applauded him when he said this.
Fortunately there seem to be police around the country making statements against this but Trump is still egging on the worst ones.
If we don’t have more retaliation it will be because of those speaking out against Trump not those applauding him.
Thanks.
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Glad to see today many police leaders speaking out that it’s NOT OKAY! See:https://www.yahoo.com/gma/police-departments-distance-themselves-trumps-comments-encouraging-police-072206108–abc-news-topstories.html
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