Policing

One of my boys – Uri – has really taken to a show called American Guns. For the most part, I think this is great. The Wyatts and their crew are a great example of people living their passion. There are lessons about negotiation, fair play, employee management, good business, family relations, safety, history, and respect. The show really has a lot going for it. There is a particular respect for people who serve, which I really dig.
One of the things the Wyatts do at their shop, Gunsmoke, is make guns. If you want it, and it shoots, they’ll find a way to make it. If it’s special to you, they’ll make it more special. If it’s fashion you want, you can have a gun to match your team colors or your purse.
So I found myself surprised that one item of beauty they made so disturbed me. [teaserbreak]Actually I am disturbed that they chose to make this one gun ordered into a thing of beauty. It was a sniper rifle. I can almost understand a police department determining it has a need for such a weapon, but I can’t understand making it beautiful.
It is bad enough that two of the five thousand dollar cost of this weapon went to the paint job, but that’s for the people of Avon to take up with their police chief. But the sole purpose of this gun is to kill humans. It’s use represents the nadir of human society, the point where society and policing have failed, where reason and good counsel have been incompetent to bring a person back from the abyss, where the troubles and disturbances of a lifetime have caused a person to act with such reckless disregard of life that we justify a police chief ordering its termination with extreme prejudice. This at it’s best. At worst, the use of such a weapon could be the end consequence of shoddy policing causing a manageable situation to escalate.
I don’t want a cop taken in by the beauty of a weapon like this when he is about to snuff out a life. I’d rather see a reminder on that weapon that the target is someone’s child, a unique soul who, until that trigger is pulled, can choose a different path, who might indeed be contemplating it, or who could with the right talking down. Perhaps a picture of that cop’s own child should be pasted to the side of a sniper rifle just to remind him that he is about to kill someone’s child, father, brother, or husband.
But perhaps just as disturbing was the appearance of Avon’s snipers in fatigues to come test the rifle. It’s time to stop the militarization of our police forces. Our police are here to protect and serve. That includes each and every one of us. There is no one out there against whom “society” needs police protection.
This is not to say that special weapons, training or uniforms don’t have a place. They are appropriate in certain situations, but the default position should be one of familiarity and a feeling that we are all on the same team. And my guess is that a lot of police training emphasizes this. That said, those who run the police show should also be aware of the impression that those they serve are left with, and adjust their presentation to make sure the right message is received.