This time, I thought I'd let you in on an interesting interchange I had with one of our readers about the interview I had with Chaplain Hargrave. Here's the interchange that took place....
[kfloritto@kermode.net:]
Hi Coy...
I've been catching up with reading the articles via Ste. 101 and have been enjoying yours very much. After reading the articles re your interview with Chaplain Rickey Hargrave, I wonder if you've reached any conclusions about some of his observations...
When he describes the police belief that wearing a gun is a deterrent to crime - yet, if the latter were true, would there not be considerably less capital offenses where a guilty verdict meant death to the perpetrator - and is it not likely that the policeman/woman's gun is more a means of self-defense for the gun carrier than a deterrent to the criminal/potential criminal?
You compared the police officer's role as a closer-to-home parallel to Rush Limbaugh's description of the military..."to kill people and break things." What of the police role as protector of people and property - to ensure an orderly, law-abiding society where children can play freely, where old folks can walk their dogs at night, where ordinary people can do ordinary things without fear of being accosted by others?
What of police force's role in the schools - teaching children the importance of cycling - even crossing the street safely? Are we not pleased that drivers caught speeding through school zones are "encouraged" to slow down in the future? Surely the description "to kill people and break things," for the military as well as the police force, is one of Limbaugh's outrageous exaggerations designed only to enhance particular position, but not one to which we generally ascribe...???
Cheers,
Kathy
I responded to Kathy's letter by basically telling her that the comment I made was more in reference the unique stresses, pressures, etc. that police officers face. She responded back with:
Coy:
(Quotes in quotation marks are from me that I wrote Kathy about and non-quotated remarks were from Kathy:)
"Unfortunately, to perform all of the said duties you mention, a very high risk factor is inherent in everything they do."
My intent, in mentioning just a few of their many duties, was to indicate that many aren't lfe-threatening - nor do they involve the potential taking of life. If I missed the mark, I'll have to hone my writing skills.
"Crime doesn't end when the business day does or take vacations--it is everpresent 24 [hours]/7 [days a week]. It is to our shame in civilian society that we forget what these men and women have to put up with in a day's work and that we grouch simply because they pulled us over for a traffic ticket that may have made us a few minutes late for work."
