To Serve and Protect

People who enter law enforcement do so for many reasons, but they all take an oath at some point that probably includes the words to serve and protect.

The reason we have laws and law enforcement is because there are criminals.  Criminals are defined by what they do, not what they look like.

Criminals do bad things and can be very dangerous.  Dealing with them can certainly impact someone in law enforcement and further, can create a distorted view of the world when you deal with the criminal element so frequently.

Now add in terrorism and law enforcement becomes more difficult and more risky.  They certainly have the right to defend themselves and should be given the benefit of the doubt if a situation poses a believeable threat.

However, they have to be held to certain standards, not allowed to gun down unarmed people because they got nervous, or didn't know what was going on, or failed to control their weapon.  Use of deadly force is not reversible.

I see videos of police actions that are deeply disturbing.  In some cases I realize the video might not be the entire story and wait for the authorities to sort it out.

Howevr there was another young black man shot dead in Tulsa who was unarmed, had his hands in the air and seemed to be complying with police orders.

Yes he was a large man but it seems like his car had a problem and the police arrived, but for some reason they treated him as if he had done something wrong.

Now the situation is in process when the video starts, but he is seen walking with his hands in the air and going to his car followed by a number of police.  Maybe they gave him some order he didn't follw, it looked like he was going to get proof of ownership when they tasered him and then almost immediately shot him dead for some unexplainable reason.

So a college student has a car problem, has no weapons and ends up dead.

I cant understand it and can't imagine it would have ended that way if he had been a white man.

This has to stop.