San Bernardino and The New Reality

First and foremost, the Officer.com family offers our condolences and sympathies to those who were injured in yesterday’s attack and a greater measure of both to those surviving family members of the slain victims. Second, we’d like to congratulate and hail the responding officers and all who supported them behind the scenes, as they reacted in a manner befitting professional and motivated service, truly protecting and serving their community.

Yesterday, as we all watched the incident unfold on national television, we experienced it in a way that wasn’t possible twenty years ago. Back then social media wasn’t really a thing yet and cell phone technology wasn’t what it is today. Back then we all would have had to wait until a news service got a helicopter or news van in the area and a reporter started sharing information, gleaned from witnesses or an agency Press Information Officer, from the scene – or nearby.

In today’s world the “reporting” is very different. Anyone with a cell phone has a digital camera capable of capturing relatively decent resolution video. With the advent of things like Twitter, Snapchat, Periscope, Facebook, etc. every citizen who has an account and a phone can upload, on the spot, photos and videos. The news services report facts gleaned from PIOs less now than they do “facts” they gain through data mining social media feeds.

Yesterday on my own Facebook page I made the prediction that before the suspects were caught; before a motive could be found; before the weapons used could be correctly identified; before an actual investigation to discover FACTS could be accomplished, there would be those leveraging the events to push their own political agenda. I take no pleasure in having been right. Within an hour of the event first having been reported, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted about it in a way that many interpret as pro-gun-control. Later, President Obama did much the same thing except in a more blatant fashion, calling for greater gun control. One talking head had already decided that the event was domestic terrorism and/or workplace violence before there was an accurate count of victims and WAY before a suspect had been identified.

To all of you I say: All three reactions and statements are irresponsible. All three reactions were voiced to suit and support the agenda of the individual voicing it. None of the three actually shows any concern for the American people, our strengths, our resilience, or our ability to defend ourselves unless we are hindered from doing so by those who currently in office.

For the record, there are a few observations I’d like to make.

First observation: Police officers and sheriff’s deputies are heroes.

One video captured with a cell phone by a survivor as she was being led out of the building shows what kind of courage and commitment (not to mention bravery) the responding officers had. In this video the officer can clearly be heard saying, “Try to relax. Try to relax. I’ll take a bullet before you do. That’s for damn sure. Just be cool, okay?” THAT is a police officer reassuring potential victims and unequivocally stating his willingness to sacrifice his life for a bunch of strangers. To everyone in the nation who is on the “all cops are racist murderers” bandwagon, read that again and let it sink in. (https://www.facebook.com/kpcc/videos/10153229768298016/)

All of the officers who responded; all of the officers who ran TOWARD the sound of shots did so in spite of their fear, and rest assured they were all afraid. They merely had the courage to do what had to be done; to honor their oath; to perform their duty. They put on a uniform and pinned on a badge, strapped on armor and a weapon and went to do their job. No matter what they felt in the pit of their stomach they moved toward the threat with the primary intention of protecting the citizens in the immediate vicinity. To everyone in the nation who is on the “all cops are racist murderers” bandwagon, read that again and let it sink in.

Many of the officers who responded yesterday worked way past their scheduled shift and didn’t think twice about it. You see, when you work in public safety and an emergency occurs, shift schedules become suggested guidelines, not actual limitations on hours to work. Police officers, deputies, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics… they ALL work as many hours as necessary to recover from an event like this. And when they finally get to the point where they can go home, very seldom do they hear, “Thank you for staying late.” More often what they hear is, “Get a shower and some sleep. See you in a few hours.” Why? Because no matter the circumstance or how many hours of overtime they’ve worked, all of public safety is underfunded and short staffed and they HAVE to be back for their next scheduled shift, even if it starts in three or four or five hours.

And finally, on this observation, I’d like to point out that some of those officers, EMTs, etc who worked overtime yesterday did so without the opportunity to stop what they were doing and call home to reassure their wives, husbands, children, etc that they were okay. Those family members have to wait, not knowing when their spouse, father, mother, brother or sister will come home; not knowing what their condition will be when they get there; not knowing when they’ll have to suit up and head back out again. The families of those who serve sometimes bear a bigger burden than those in the uniform.

Second Observation: All the rhetoric about the militarization of law enforcement should immediately stop.

To all those who complain about “the militarization of law enforcement,” I say – go watch the videos from yesterday’s attack. Take a look at all of the equipment used and USED PROPERLY with good reason for use. Among the “military” equipment I saw used was armored vehicles, body armor, helmets, weapons and more. You know what I didn’t see used? A single military tactic. I didn’t see officers operating under Rules of Engagement as soldiers acting against enemy combatants.

There’s a big difference there. In America we classify (correctly or incorrectly) terrorism as a crime. That means that we can’t use military personnel in response. We use law enforcement professionals to respond to terrorist (or other) attacks. Those law enforcement professionals act under controls set by Constitutional law, federal and state law, county law and department guidelines as detailed in General Orders and Standard Operating Procedures. There are a LOT of controls on how and when law enforcement can use force. The military uses Rules of Engagement and those rules are set by commanding officers, changing from mission to mission, weekly, daily or sometimes hourly.

What we so often hear about as “the militarization of law enforcement” is a function of appearance and equipment, not operation. In a time where officers are being attacked in numbers greater than any other in recent history, why are people complaining about officers wearing better protective gear and adjusting their method of carrying weapons because of such? Are we mandating “soft target” officers? President Obama all but did so when he called for “softer” looking uniforms. Understand this: as the threats to citizens and officers increase, the level of protective and response equipment officers have has to also proportionately increase. If you, as a citizen, don’t want to see officers and deputies wearing external body armor and helmets then do something to reduce the threats those officers experience in the course of doing their duty. BUT… that might mean YOU have to step up and take a stand against crime and criminals and stop making excuses for the crimes committed.

Third observation: Gun control laws are a miserable failure and are costing us lives.

Whether you like it or not; whether you like guns or not; whether you own one, carry one, don’t own one, don’t know anything about them… whatever. The simple historical FACT is that in every state where gun laws have been eased and more citizens have become armed, personal and violent crime rates have drastically and immediately decreased. In all those states where greater gun control laws have been enacted, there has been ZERO impact on personal and violent crimes. ANY IDIOT can see that creating more gun laws and further UNCONSTITUTIONALLY restricted any citizen’s 2^nd Amendment right will have zero further effect on crime. It follows logically that if you want to impact crime in a positive fashion, you arm more law abiding citizens.

Further proof that gun control is a failure and that there is a political agenda in support of it: California already has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation. NONE of their gun control laws saved a life yesterday. Do you know what might have? An armed citizen in that building who could shoot back. As to the political agenda, not once but TWICE in the past twelve hours, the President of the US Conference of Mayors, the Mayor of Baltimore – itself a crime ridden city – released a press release calling for a national movement to “fight back against gun violence.” Well, ma’am, nothing says, “Stop shooting those people,” quite like two large caliber holes in the bad guy’s chest. You want to stop mass shootings? Stop the shooter as fast and as efficiently as possible.

Yesterday’s attack in San Bernardino was a heinous crime – terroristic or otherwise – perpetrated by three people who had no respect for human life. NOTHING we do can force an appreciation for human life into another person’s soul. The sad fact is that there are people in the world – on every continent and in every nation – who wish others ill for inexplicable reasons and, often, over petty differences. Until such a time as we can reach inside someone and flip a switch in their value system, we depend on the men and women who serve as law enforcement professionals to respond to such events and act in a courageous fashion. We require them to sacrifice. We require them to train. We require them to swallow their fears and perform their duties.

Yesterday, San Bernardino gave us a shining example of how that should be done and every citizen in this nation should be offering them a hardy “WELL DONE!” along with a side dish of, “THANK YOU!” If you, as a citizen, are reading this and thinking negative thoughts about the police, YOU are part of the problem. Adjust your attitude and start helping instead of hindering the safety of our country.

Stay safe, brothers and sisters. Stay strong, American citizens. Stay TOGETHER as America’s Response Team and we can defeat any enemy.