OPINION:
Is it reasonable to believe that one may break the law, then verbally and physically abuse the person attempting their arrest — and yet be totally innocent of resulting outcomes? Is it reasonable to believe the person involved in criminal behavior has no responsibility to peacefully submit to authority? Certainly not. This foolish attitude has gained considerable currency in our society, but such “thinking” urges the poor and ill-informed to follow a downward path — a path of self-destructive, criminal behavior.
America is great because of its laws, and the near-universal compliance with those laws of its citizenry. What has happened to our respect for law?
One doesn’t see justice in the thugs, criminals and vandals who loot and burn the property of innocent citizens, or in those who savagely attack bystanders. And what of district attorneys’ refusing to prosecute crimes of assault on police officers? Does endorsement of lawlessness help the poor community, or does it send them further downward?
Inner-city poverty will not be solved by blindly excusing crimes. Defunding police and emptying prisons will most assuredly result in even higher crime rates and continuing poverty for individual and neighborhoods. This is an example of misguided sympathy, as warned against by C.S. Lewis, wherein misconstrued good intent engenders lawlessness, thus fomenting evil results.
In a recent, highy publicized case, a known criminal violently resisted police arrest, struggling against officers and taking them to the ground in an combative tumult. He extricated himself from their control and lunged toward a weapon in his car — while the police, with guns drawn, repeatedly ordered him to stop. He didn’t. Should this man be crowned a folk hero, presented as a role model, revered by a suddenly politicized National Basketball Association? Does the involved policeman deserve a prison sentence? Something is out of balance here.
Police misconduct should be addressed in a court of law (complete with exculpatory evidence), not in streets occupied by criminals.
FRANK GARDINER
North Provo, Utah
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