Commentary: Cops Are Not Your Friends
How the Uvalde Police are the Microcosm of a Larger Problem
In the wake of the murders at Robb Elementary School, where 21 people (including 19 students) were killed, city officials and the Uvalde Police Department are blocking the release of body cam footage that recorded their actions (and inactions) during the carnage. Their reason? They say to avoid releasing procedural information that could help future mass shooters. Bullshit.
These cops, who waited outside for over an hour while the shootings occurred, aren’t trained the way firefighters are trained. Firefighters know there are dangerous risks to their jobs. It’s part of their psyche. They know that in any burning building they go into there may not be a return trip. But yet, they do it. They save lives. They are heroes. Cops are glorified security guards. They are trained to protect property and themselves, nothing else.
Anytime we see the people protesting somewhere, violence inevitably occurs. Why? Because the police instigate it. Whether that is by order from above or because their own training calls for them to be antagonistic (or both) is up to interpretation. Cops do not “protect and serve”, at least not the common folks. Their main job is to “protect (property) and to serve (the establishment)”. This is not conspiracy, not anymore.
The citizens who defend the actions (and inactions) of police tend to be white, financially well off, related to or friends of cops, or some combination of these.
“My _____ is a cop and he’s/she’s not bad.”
“A few bad apples…”
“Don’t break the law and you won’t get harassed.”
Etc.
These enablers often don’t understand why the police are awful until they experience it for themselves. Like most things these days, the enlightenment often never comes, and when it does it usually occurs outside their bubble of comfort they have established for themselves over the years.
Cops are not only murdering citizens, they also DO NOT prevent crime. Also, crimes often go unsolved, yet the “answer” to fixing their ineptitude is to throw more money at them. I live in New York, and the crime rate has only gone up since ex-cop and Joe Biden wannabe Eric Adams got “elected” as mayor. Social services are getting cut, but rents and the police budget here are going up. Disgusting.
Bad things are happening right now, and they are getting worse. To paraphrase Jimmy Dore, cops aren’t there to make sure we get home safe, they’re there to make sure THEY get home safe. And in Uvalde, Texas, those cops are making damn sure they get home safe. They are cowards. They are bullies-turned-cops or they are victims of bullying who decided being a cop was the sweetest revenge. Whatever their motivation for “service” the end result sure as fuck isn’t to protect innocent lives.
Eventually, more and more citizens will be taking to the streets to protest their God awful government. It’s happening in pockets right now, and local authorities are doing their best to stamp them out, plant infiltrators to make the protestors seem violent, use tanks and other military equipment to punish the citizenry and to make sure police budgets are prioritized over funding desperately needed programs for housing and other diminished services.
To those who fight the injustice of the police, I salute you. It is often a thankless job and you are generally met with resistance. To the “good cops”, you have actual crime in your ranks. Grow a pair of balls and take down these “bad apples”. To the enablers and defenders of “the boys in blue”, cops are not your friends. One day, you will be in a vulnerable position where money, prestige and even skin color will not help you. And these property protectors will crack your skull or murder you in cold blood just like anybody else.