Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
Those who read my writing and/or interact with me in other venues beside Officer.com know that I'm not a fan of our current President, Barack Obama. I have carefully avoided commenting on him, his politics, his actions, his words - because I do firmly believe that, when at all possible, law enforcement should never be politicized. That said, a matter of law enforcement was recently thrust into the national spotlight when President Obama made some ill-informed comments about a police sergeant and how he performed his duties.
Now, please understand: I might be more forgiving if President Obama had ever served in any military service because doing so would have put him in situations where he may have had to make immediate decisions based on precious little information with potentially large ramifications resulting. I might be more forgiving if President Obama had ever served as a police officer or deputy sheriff or even if he had, at some point in his legal training, attended a citizens' police academy or something similar. Through all of my research, reading and inquiries, I can't find any instance of President Obama having done so much as go on a ride-along to increase his knowledge of police work and how law enforcement professionals go about their duties on a daily basis.
With that all said, let me call your attention to the events that occurred in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where a police sergeant received a call for a possible breaking-&-entering in progress. The description he was given, from what I've been able to read, was "two black males wearing backpacks". Having been given such a description we can all agree it would be quite ludicrous for the sergeant to have responded looking for suspects of any other gender or race. He was dispatched with particular information provided and guess what he found?
He found a mature black male in the residence in question and said black male was less than cooperative with the sergeant. What I think has been overlooked is the fact that until that black male suspect has been positively identified AND cleared of any suspicious activity, he needs to be fully cooperative with the police officer doing his job. Instead, that black male suspect chose to be belligerent, insulting and arrogant. The end result was an arrest which made national news; became the topic of discussions about race; and inspired our President to accuse the officer of "acting stupidly".
Perhaps - just perhaps - if President Obama hadn't, just moments before, made the statement that he didn't have all the facts or any first hand knowledge, his comment would be more easily forgiven. However, our President admitted no being fully informed and then accused the sergeant of having acted stupidly.
Of course, his comments just caused the matter to be brought under more of a spotlight and caused law enforcement professional organizations to speak out in support of the officer. In this case, speaking out in support of the officer means speaking against the President and his friend, a Harvard professor. Oh, wait... did I fail to mention that the black male suspect who was arrested was the President's friend? Yep. So, because the President is as human as the rest of us, it appears that he admitted little to no knowledge and then blindly sided with his friend and made unsupported comments about the police sergeant.
I am on record repeatedly with my thoughts and beliefs about racial profiling, race-based legislation, etc. I don't believe
any single race or group of races, minority or otherwise, should be given preferential treatment in the eyes of the law. The law is supposed to be fair and impartial and applied equally to everyone no matter what their gender, skin color, sexual preference, etc. Yes, I know that doesn't always happen. The police officers, too, are nothing more than human and equally capable of being flawed or making mistakes - just like our President.
In this case I do believe that the President would show a trait of leadership; a trait of strong character if he would admit that he spoke out of line and without having all the facts. I think it would be to his credit if he'd admit to simply being human and apologize to the law enforcement professionals involved for having passed judgment without having first had all the facts.
In my opinion - my "two cents worth" that I freely admit may not be worth even that - failing to do so leaves President Obama looking arrogant and smug; sure that he has done and can do no wrong. Everybody knows better. Does he?
