Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Cops protesting in the streets: The world is upside down

Perhaps it was just so jarring waking up to photographs of police and other law-enforcement officers rallying in protest of possible budget cuts by the Legislature that would cost more jobs.

Maybe I’m just getting old. In my day, it was understood that officers only took to the streets to keep the peace between rival factions. You know, like when the peace-niks and hippies protested the war in Vietnam in the middle of street as busy people tried to clear a path to work.

Or when the pro-choice and anti-abortion people would get together to discuss their differing viewpoints.

I digress, but I once was in the middle of shots being fired as a reporter covering rival groups marching in protest of a Klan rally at a nearby farm. I was grateful for law-enforcement officers being in the streets that day as I jumped behind a stone fence.

But have we come to this? Police officers feel the need to remind us that public safety is tied to public funding.

They must feel the situation is urgent. Officers I’ve known over the years would rather do almost anything than be in a picture of law-enforcement officers protesting or rallying for or against anything. A sign of the times, I guess, but I’d bet they just hated having to do that.

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