Nas wrote:
Something happened. I've seen officers speaking out all day.
Tim Cotton is a detective in Bangor, Maine. For a number of years, he was the Public Information Officer, and somehow ended up managing the agency's Facebook page. He is a very good writer and generally a humorist (he was a local radio guy before becoming an officer), and he built Bangor's presence up online through his humor-tinged wriiting about the Department and its efforts. So much so that he's spoken at major conferences about social engagement, and has written a book that is coming out this fall about his experiences as a cop. I learned about him from Mike Rowe a few years ago. He's a good follow.
On his personal page, he comes out very strongly against this cop:
Quote:
My opinions and observations regarding other law enforcement agencies and officers tends to be placed into an imaginary binder that I keep tucked behind the seat of my pickup truck.
I wait before commenting on anything, because usually there is information that might not revealed on a first pass.
Minneapolis is different. I have no firsthand knowledge of what led to the incident, but nothing merits anything that I observed.
I know there are cops who make mistakes. I make mistakes. My professional comrades make mistakes. What I saw was not a mistake. It wasn't a lack of training. What I saw was horrific, and evil.
I know what I would have done if I had been there, but it doesn't matter, because I wasn't there. Society has every right to be disgusted and demand that justice be quickly served.
George Floyd deserved to be here today. Society, and his family should be both heartbroken and outraged.
Now, we have to be better. We have to make sure that we cleanse our ranks from those who should never have done this job.
What you should also know is that we do our best to keep the wrong people out of this career field. We have an arduous interview process, polygraph exams, psychological examinations, physical testing, and yet, we still sometimes employee persons who should not be in the field.
We recruit from the human race, and we don't always get it right. We need to do better to rid the ranks of those who do not have the ability to control themselves as well as those who do not have the internal fire to intercede when the going gets tough.
There are days that I wish I had retired five years ago; May 25th 2020 was one of those days.
I know I speak for most cops when I say, I am so sorry that we didn't do better.