Damned if they do, damned if they don't, redux

On September 1st, I posted an article with the above headline, showing how cops in Chicago were abused by locals when they tried to do their job.  The past two days have seen two more incidents where the cops just couldn't win for losing.

In the first, a California Highway Patrol vehicle tried to stop a group of people performing illegal spins and donuts in an intersection - only to be attacked by those involved.

Clearly, those attacking the car (and performing illegal stunts in the road) have no respect whatsoever for law and order, and none for those trying to uphold and enforce it.

Next, a tragedy in San Diego.

A San Diego-area officer fatally shot a man who witnesses claim was mentally challenged and unarmed Tuesday afternoon, marking the latest victim in an unsettling series of black men killed by police.

. . .

Upon arriving, the first responding officer discovered a black male in his 30s frantically pacing back and forth, "not only endangering himself, but motorists," Davis said.

The officer allegedly ordered the man to remove his hand from his front pant pocket. When the man didn't comply, the officer drew his firearm.

A second officer arrived shortly thereafter and prepared to stun the man with a Taser. But as the officer prepared the electronic device, the man allegedly pulled out an object from his pocket, placed his hands together and took "what appeared to be a shooting stance," Davis said.

Both officers discharged their weapons simultaneously, fatally striking the man with several bullets as well as a high-voltage Taser shock. He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead Tuesday evening.

. . .

Olango's sister can be seen breaking down in tears.

"I called for help, I didn't call for you guys to kill him!" she screams in the video. "Oh my God, you killed my brother!"

Again, more at the link.

Initial video released by the police appears to confirm that the officers did not fire until the deceased man pulled something from his pocket and appeared to aim it at them.  Under the circumstances, I can't think of a single cop I know who wouldn't have fired at him.  I'm well trained and experienced in the use of firearms, and I can assure you;  if I'd been there, I'd have fired too!  You simply don't have time to wait until you know for sure whether or not the thing in his hands is dangerous or not.  If you wait, and it is a gun, you're going to be dead before you know what hit you.  You dare not take that chance.

Another aspect is that several shots were fired.  Again, this is standard procedure.  I've written extensively about the so-called 'stopping power' of handguns.  In a nutshell, handguns have lousy stopping power compared to a rifle or shotgun.  It's normal for multiple handgun rounds to be needed to subdue an opponent - and even that may not be enough to stop him killing you.  There are innumerable cases where a dozen or more hits did not disable an attacker.  Again, if I'd been in that officer's shoes, and I'd been armed only with a handgun, I'd have fired multiple times as well.

Unfortunately, people aren't going to consider the facts of the matter.  They're going to react out of emotion:  anger, loss, shock, and anything else you can think of.  The protestors at the scene chanting "Hands up!  Don't shoot!" were repeating a lie, the same lie that's at the root of everything Black Lives Matter does;  but they no longer care that it's factually a lie.  It's become a meme, a cultural assumption that transcends factual truth.  They won't be told, and they won't listen to it even if you tell them a thousand times.  Truth has become irrelevant.

So, two incidents.  In one, criminals arrogantly attacked police for daring to interfere in their wrongful activities.  In the second, police were forced to defend themselves from what they had to assume was an attack;  yet, having done so, they're being pilloried for "shooting an unarmed man".  More riots and demonstrations are likely to follow.

Police can't win for losing these days.  I wouldn't blame the next San Diego cop who's asked to respond to a 'man behaving erratically' call if he said, "Sorry - I ain't going there.  Tell those on the scene that they're on their own.  I'm not going to put my head on a politically correct chopping block for them any longer."  Trouble is, if more police do that - and many of them are doing that, implicitly if not explicitly - then all of us are going to suffer from the inevitable breakdown in law and order.  Those thugs that attacked the CHP police vehicle will grow bolder, and move into our neighborhoods . . . and the cops won't do a thing to stop them, because they know that if they do, they're going to be blamed.

Mr. Trump was right during Monday night's debate.  We need law and order.  It's a foundational requirement before we can fix our society.  Yes, I know that certain elements in our justice system are inherently and unashamedly racist, or high on a power/ego trip of "Respect mah authoritah!"  We've examined their conduct in these pages many times before, and we know they need to be slapped down.  That doesn't alter the fact that without law and order, our social structure itself is doomed.

So how do we get out of this handbasket?

Peter