Dear mothers and fathers of Uvalde,
with great pain and sadness have I received the horrifying news of the recent happenings in your city.
My hands trembled when I reached for the TV-remote to raise the volume while the news anchor proclaimed the numbers of children lost to the violent insanity of one disturbed young man.
My already shattered soul was further demolished when I heard of the utter incompetence and inaction of the local police force. Those officers, one would think, should be prepared, trained, equipped and at the ready to strike down any threat to the most precious members of our society with the shiftiness of a falling lightning bolt...
But instead those overpaid posers took ages to arrive at the scene, build up a perimeter, call for backup, just to… wait.
For over an hour, the police, heroes of the neighbourhood, the thin blue line, did nothing to stop the slaughter that was unfolding within those accursed halls of education.
But not only did those men in uniform allow the killer to pursue his murderous plan uninhibited, they also made sure you could do not:
That’s right; the police prevented the parents of the endangered kids from entering the shool. They used force, teasers, mace and threats, not against the killer, but against YOU: parent trying to save their children.
I can only faintly imagine the tremendous feeling of betrayal, disappointment, helplessness and impotent rage you must have experienced. You are prevented from saving your dying child by the very people whose (tax-funded) job it is presumably to safeguard your children.
Your disdain for the police is absolutely understandable. And that’s why it pains me so much to tell you, that the police are not obligated to protect your children.
The job of the police is to enforce the law (to protect private property, for example), not to protect the citizenry.
You may think this unjust and nonsensical, but it is the law.
You cannot force a police officer (who is a human being with feelings, I remind you) to endanger his life on your behalves. In fact you should be thankful to those officers for preventing you from entering the building and possibly escalating the situation even further.
Just like spoiled children have to eventually accept that they are not the centre of the world, you have to accept that no one is obligated to protect your family. Likewise, you are also not entitled to protect your children, if doing so hinders the police form fulfilling their duty.
If you have trouble with that, I advise you to seek therapy.
with great pain and sadness have I received the horrifying news of the recent happenings in your city.
My hands trembled when I reached for the TV-remote to raise the volume while the news anchor proclaimed the numbers of children lost to the violent insanity of one disturbed young man.
My already shattered soul was further demolished when I heard of the utter incompetence and inaction of the local police force. Those officers, one would think, should be prepared, trained, equipped and at the ready to strike down any threat to the most precious members of our society with the shiftiness of a falling lightning bolt...
But instead those overpaid posers took ages to arrive at the scene, build up a perimeter, call for backup, just to… wait.
For over an hour, the police, heroes of the neighbourhood, the thin blue line, did nothing to stop the slaughter that was unfolding within those accursed halls of education.
But not only did those men in uniform allow the killer to pursue his murderous plan uninhibited, they also made sure you could do not:
That’s right; the police prevented the parents of the endangered kids from entering the shool. They used force, teasers, mace and threats, not against the killer, but against YOU: parent trying to save their children.
I can only faintly imagine the tremendous feeling of betrayal, disappointment, helplessness and impotent rage you must have experienced. You are prevented from saving your dying child by the very people whose (tax-funded) job it is presumably to safeguard your children.
Your disdain for the police is absolutely understandable. And that’s why it pains me so much to tell you, that the police are not obligated to protect your children.
The job of the police is to enforce the law (to protect private property, for example), not to protect the citizenry.
You may think this unjust and nonsensical, but it is the law.
You cannot force a police officer (who is a human being with feelings, I remind you) to endanger his life on your behalves. In fact you should be thankful to those officers for preventing you from entering the building and possibly escalating the situation even further.
Just like spoiled children have to eventually accept that they are not the centre of the world, you have to accept that no one is obligated to protect your family. Likewise, you are also not entitled to protect your children, if doing so hinders the police form fulfilling their duty.
If you have trouble with that, I advise you to seek therapy.
