Police Brutality and Resisting

Today is a scary world in which to raise your kids.  I am thankful that my children are fully grown and I hope I have taught them to respect the law and law enforcement.

There are many ugly images and videos in the news reflecting the interaction between individuals and law enforcement. I am sickened by the amount of force and aggression law enforcement use to apprehend or subdue an individual.  At the same time, I question why individuals resist the police.

The latest video involves a black female.  I apologize if black is the incorrect word to use.  I do not know if I should refer to her as African American or something else.  I was born in the USA. My parents are from Puerto Rico, but I am not referred to as Puerto Rican American.  Nor would I want to be referred as Puerto Rican American.  I am simply an American. I am described as white, so I guess it would be alright to describe this female as black.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I am proud to belong to the Puerto Rican heritage. But I was born in America therefore I am American, not Puerto Rican. Perhaps, if people stop addressing the different cultures for those individuals born in the USA, and just refer to us as Americans, maybe racism would be diminished somehow.

Let me return to the video in question. From what I saw, the female exited the vehicle as the officer addressed her to return to her seat. Believe me if it was me, I would have not stepped out of that vehicle until the office approached me.  Or if I did not realize I had been pulled over, I would have immediately returned to my vehicle when told to do so.

Unfortunately, she did not comply by refusing to return to her vehicle. Instead, she stated she was on her way somewhere.  Maybe she was unaware she was pulled over as she entered the parking area. From there it escalated to my opinion aggressive force by the officer.  My question would be why did she not abide to the officer’s request? If she had, perhaps she would have been able to continue to her destination without even a ticket.

At the same time that I question her disrespect for law enforcement, why did the officer need to use so much force? He should be trained to subdue the situation, not to heighten it.

Believe me, I am not trying to defend law enforcement, nor am I trying to defend those individuals that do not comply with the police officers.  Both sides need to come together to address how to better handle these situations which go from bad to worse. In regards to his statements to this female while sitting in his patrol car, they were very inappropriate. And if this is how he truly feels, he should not be in the profession he has chosen.  Officers who immediately use force instead of assessing the situation should also not be in that chosen profession.

I was raised in a traditional Puerto Rican culture, but at the same time I addressed the American culture. After all, I am American right? Well to fast forward this conversation, let’s just say I have and am living the American dream. I have accomplished this without disrespecting my Puerto Rican heritage or the law.  Nor do I feel I have ever been discriminated against. Even when pulled over for a traffic stop. As I do understand there was a reason for the traffic stop.  I obeyed the officer and was quickly on my way.

I have lived by and have raised my children to acquire the American dream. How? By respecting the law and embracing education.  No one can ever convince me that free education is not available to everyone. It can be earned through hard work at school.  Yes it is that simple.  My children earned many scholarships because they worked hard through their high school and college years.

I am writing this because I feel law enforcement and those individuals detained by police officers need to change the outcome so that we could live more in harmony than chaos. Police officers need to be trained to subdue the situation, calm the individuals if possible, without the use of force. Do they really need to shoot to kill? I’ve always questioned, why not shoot the leg or arm.  That should disable the individual long enough to be restrained by law enforcement.

And to the individual being pulled over or detained by law enforcement.  Please comply and change the outcome of that situation.  Show law enforcement you are respectful of the law, and hopefully they will learn to respect you.