Send a Tweet
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 35 Share on Twitter 6 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H1'ed 2/27/18

Armed and Dangerous: If Police Don't Have to Protect the Public, What Good Are They?

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   21 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message John Whitehead
Become a Fan
  (47 fans)

Police BADGE
Police BADGE
(Image by conner395)
  Details   DMCA

In the American police state, police have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later.

In fact, police don't usually need much incentive to shoot and kill members of the public.

Police have shot and killed Americans of all ages--many of them unarmed--for standing a certain way, or moving a certain way, or holding something--anything--that police could misinterpret to be a gun, or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officer's mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety.

So when police in Florida had to deal with a 19-year-old embarking on a shooting rampage inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., what did they do?

Nothing.

There were four armed police officers, including one cop who was assigned to the school as a resource officer, on campus during that shooting. All four cops stayed outside the school with their weapons drawn (three of them hid behind their police cars).

Not a single one of those cops, armed with deadly weapons and trained for exactly such a dangerous scenario, entered the school to confront the shooter.

Seventeen people, most of them teenagers, died while the cops opted not to intervene.

Let that sink in a moment.

Now before your outrage bubbles over, consider that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed (most recently in 2005) that police have no constitutional duty to protect members of the public from harm.

Yes, you read that correctly.

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, police have no duty, moral or otherwise, to help those in trouble, protect individuals from danger, or risk their own lives to save "we the people."

In other words, you can be outraged that cops in Florida did nothing to stop the school shooter, but technically, it wasn't part of their job description.

This begs the question: if the police don't have a duty to protect the public, what are we paying them for? And who exactly do they serve if not you and me?

Why do we have more than a million cops on the taxpayer-funded payroll in this country whose jobs do not entail protecting our safety, maintaining the peace in our communities, and upholding our liberties?

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 11   Well Said 9   Valuable 9  
Rate It | View Ratings

John Whitehead Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

John W. Whitehead is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law and human rights. Whitehead's aggressive, pioneering approach to civil liberties has earned him numerous accolades and (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Path to Total Dictatorship: America's Shadow Government and Its Silent Coup

Operation Vigilant Eagle: Is This Really How We Honor Our Nation's Veterans?

Licensed to Kill: The Growing Phenomenon of Police Shooting Unarmed Citizens

Miley Cyrus and the Pornification of America

Common Core: A Lesson Plan for Raising Up Compliant, Non-Thinking Citizens

The Land of the Blind: The Illusion of Freedom in America

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend