“Blue Lives Matter is a media company, founded and run entirely by active and retired law enforcement officers. In today’s evolving society, an increasing number of citizens fail to accept responsibility for their actions and attempt to escape the consequences through outward blame” (“About Us”). The Blue Lives Matter movement is an important organization that is needed to inform the community about the diverse roles that cops preform, to restore the view of cops to a positive one and to protect cops.
The Blue Lives Matter organization was originally founded after the murders of NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu in 2014 (“About Us”). Earlier that year, there were deaths of two African Americans, both in which cops were involved. These two incidents became the center of the public eye and caused an uproar of animosity towards cops. This organization is a way to support law enforcement and to help prevent officers from injuries and getting attacked while on and off duty. Blue Lives Matter started a membership program after the extreme number of attacks on officers. “The Blue Lives Membership was created so that citizens who aren’t afraid to support law enforcement could become actively involved in providing law enforcement officers with life-saving equipment and training, and providing financial support for the families of heroes killed in the line of duty” (“About Us”). This is important, because officers
do so much to help protect citizens, but sometimes even they need assistance.
A police officer has many roles in our society today which, in the bigger picture, all benefit the community. “They monitor criminal activity, take part in community patrols, respond to emergency calls, issue tickets, make arrests, investigate crimes and testify in court as needed” (Kokemuller). A majority of law enforcement officers abide by the phrase “serve and protect”. “Police officers serve their communities by helping citizens in times of crisis and emergency, such as when a natural disaster hits. To protect citizens on the road, they issue tickets to dangerous and careless drivers. To protect them in their communities, they make arrests that deter illegal and dangerous behavior” (Kokemuller). Police officers strive to help the community and to keep it safe. Another role of a police officer is to investigate crimes that take place. When someone calls 911 and reports a crime that was committed, officers and detectives get statements from all those that are on the scene. Officers also gather any evidence that is found at the scene and section off the region where the crime was committed (Kokemuller). Cops also have the job of responding to calls and emergencies. All officers are CPR certified and have emergency response systems which will allow them to help you to their best ability (Kokemuller). Aside from the most common roles of an officer, cops play big parts in the community itself. “Their public service roles include speaking at schools and businesses, where officers educate people on how to avoid dangerous situations and handle emergency situations. Other forms of community involvement include drug prevention and education and driver safety programs” (Korkemuller). This prominent involvement in the community helps to create a beneficial relationship between law enforcement officers and citizens. Without officers who would protect us? Who would help us during an emergency? Who would educate the community about safety? The Blue Lives Matter organization helps to protect our officers who then protect us. We need this organization to help both police officers and ourselves.
There are many people in our society today who think of cops as the bad guys. As a result of recent events, citizens often don’t feel safe around cops and think the worst. The Blue Lives Matter Organization can help to restore the view of cops back to a more positive one. In 2014 when Officer Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu were murdered, their murderer posted very degrading comments on his Instagram. Earlier that day, before the shooting of the two officers, Iamaaiyal Abdullah Brinsley had killed his ex-girlfriend in Maryland. While on his way to New York Brinsley posted a picture of a gun on Instagram with the caption: “I’m Putting Wings On Pigs Today. They Take 1 Of Ours … Let’s Take 2 Of Theirs. #ShootThePolice #RIPEricGardner #RIPMikeBrown This May Be My Final Post I’m Putting Pigs In A Blanket” (Corcoran). This man was going to New York City with the intention of murdering two innocent police officers. In this post Brinsley refers to these two heroic officers as pigs, which are dirty, gross animals. When you associate our police officers with an animal like a pig, you completely disrespect the people who go out every day to risk their lives to protect us. In 2016 a police office in Auburn, Massachusetts was killed in the line of duty. “The mother of slain Auburn police officer Ronald Tarentino says she sees a wave of disrespect for law enforcement officers. Sharon Tarentino told the Boston Herald: “I just wish people had a little bit more respect for what they do — nobody has respect for them anymore,” adding the death of her first born hit her like a sledgehammer” (“Mother of slain cop: No respect for police anymore”). This man is spoken about in the highest of terms. Everyone who knew him saw him as a protector and someone that only wanted to help people. Aside from the fact of brutal murders of police officers, there are many people who feel to openly disrespect officers and their authority. Earlier this year, a video was posted on twitter which showed four girls twerking on a police officer’s car in Rochester, New York. These girls laugh throughout the video and seem to be having the time of their lives, while completely undermining the authority of cops. Daily Wire states that “the disrespect from the girls is infuriating” (Prestigiacamo). The girls in the video see no wrong in what they are doing and that seems to say something about many teenagers today. “This culture—where disrespecting police officers is applauded and deemed cool, where law enforcement officials who continuously lay their lives on the line are demonized and endlessly scrutinized for every move they make—is a recipe for disaster for all law-abiding citizens, be they black, white or orange” (Prestigiacamo). At the end of the day police officers all over the world risk their lives daily in order to protect us. The least we can do as citizens is show them a little respect, especially when they work under the slogan “serve and protect”. The Blue Lives Matter Movement can help bring a more respectful view to cops by showing the good they do and proving that they do not hurt people just because they have power. Part of the Blue Lives Matter mission statement says that “We will work towards relentlessly defending law enforcement from baseless attacks and work to promote the good work of police officers. Law enforcement is under attack in the media and police need a voice, so we proudly take on this role” (“About us”). This group will continue to strive to protect the image of cops and show the good that they do for our community.
With all the events in the past few years, our police officers need extra protection more than ever. In 2016, State Representative of Iowa Ken Rizer proposed a Blue Lives Matter Legislation that would increase penalties for targeting police officers. Many people in the state did not believe it was necessary, because they never had problems regarding the targeting of police. “But with the death of two Urbandale officers on Wednesday, Rizer believes his proposed
bill, which would potentially designate acts of violence against police officers as hate crimes, will have renewed momentum when the legislature reconvenes in January” (Sanburn). Rizer originally proposed this bill due to the multiple police involved shootings that left many cops dead and injured over the past year. But, Iowa is not the first state to implement a law to further protect cops. “In March (2016), Louisiana became the first state to pass Blue Lives Matter legislation, which for the first time made it a hate crime in the U.S. to target police officers” (Sanburn). In response to Louisiana passing this law, many other states have proposed similar bills to help protect cops. Some people think that it’s wrong to call it a hate crime against cops, due to the fact that hate crimes are usually made against specific genders, religions, race, and sexual orientation (Sanburn). No matter what you want to call it, the targeting of police officers is still a crime at the end of the day, and all measures should be taken to further protect them. Louisiana’s legislation has increased penalties in hopes to decrease the number of attacks against police officers. “In Louisiana, the Blue Lives Matter law allows for an additional penalty of a five-year prison sentence or a $5,000 fine for felony convictions against officers and an additional $500 fine or six months in prison for misdemeanors. That’s in addition to laws on the books that allow for added punishments of $1,000 and five years in prison for battery of an officer, for example, which is considered a felony” (Sanburn). President Trump has also talked
about making efforts to further protect our police officers. “Mr. Trump has said cities need more police officers and more use of “stop and frisk” tactics. While young organizers demanded a decrease in police funding and an increase in community programs, Mr. Trump vowed to put an end to a ‘war on our police’” (Alcindor). Stop and frisk is a way to remove guns and other illegal weapons from the streets. It would not only protect police officers, but it would further protect
our communities. If there’s less guns on the streets, we may see a decrease in shootings or crimes involving weapons. On February 9, 2017, President Trump signed pro-law enforcement and anti-crime executive orders. “These Executive Orders recognize that the most important crime-fighting measure is to stand behind the officers who are on the front lines. The people who risk their lives every day to protect Americans need to know they are supported 100 percent” (The White House). President Trump put these Executive Orders into place in response to the violence against law enforcement in the past year. The first executive order “will ensure that funding supports officers on the street, and anyone who tries to do them harm will be aggressively prosecuted” (The White House). The second will look at ways to reduce crime and increase public safety, and the third “instructs the Attorney General to form a separate task force to focus on destroying transnational criminal organizations and drug cartels” (The White House). All of these orders show President Trump’s efforts to protect our officers and our communities throughout the country. The Blue Lives Matter movement and organization can continue to push for more legislation like this which will protect our law enforcement agents and even help to protect the citizens of America.
Police Officers in America strive to protect and help all citizens in any way they can.
Whether it’s a life or death situation or preventing a small robbery, they want to help us as best as they can. While most officers are like this, there are some who have done things that are out of line. Two infamous examples of this are the cases of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Michael Brown was an African American teenager who was shot by Officer Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in August 2014. This incident caused an extreme amount of chaos in Ferguson, Missouri and all around America. “What is known for certain is that around midday on 9 August
2014, Mr Wilson was driving a police car and encountered Mr Brown and a friend walking down a street. Minutes later 18-year-old Mr Brown was dead, suffering at least seven gunshot wounds, according to county prosecutor Bob McCulloch.” (“Ferguson unrest: From shooting to nationwide protests.”) These are the facts of the case, everything else seems to be up for debate. Officer Wilson says that Brown was aggressive towards him and had at one point tried to grab his gun, at the end of the day he believes he was doing his job and there was nothing done out of character. On the other hand, witnesses say that Brown was compliant with the officer but the officer was instead aggressive and shot unnecessarily (“Ferguson unrest: From shooting to nationwide protests”). In the end, Officer Wilson as not charged with anything but there were a lot of violent protests in response to this ruling. The case regarding Eric Garner takes place on two different occasions. Garner had been seen walking the streets in Staten Island in July, 2015. When a unmarked police car pulled up, the officers believed that Garner was selling untaxed cigarettes. The officers wound up letting him go with a warning. (Baker et al) A few weeks later Garner was approached by two officers again but this time they didn’t let him go. “As they moved in, a cellphone camera held by a friend of Mr. Garner recorded the struggle that would
soon be seen by millions. The chokehold. The swarm of officers. The 11 pleas for breath. Mr. Garner’s final words- “I can’t breathe”- became a rallying cry for a protest movement” (Baker et al). A police officer had wrapped his hands around Garners neck and the pleas for breath is what created an extreme controversy about this case. This case and the ones that occurred after it, caught the public eye and started debates over race and law enforcement. Mr. Gjeshbitraj, the man who named Eric in his 311 complaint, said “The last time I called the cops, someone got
choked to death, Eric got killed because I called” (Baker et al). Mr. Gjeshbitraj says that after what happened to Eric Garner, he will not call the police for another complaint again. Events like these is what causes people to turn away from cops and there to be issues between cops and citizens. At the end of the day someone was killed in both of these incidents and there is nothing that can be changed. Each and every case like this has multiple stories; the officers story, the “victims” story, and the witnesses’ stories and only one of which is true. It is hard to separate the facts but the best thing that can be done is try and prevent tragic events like these from occurring again.
Cases that involved police officers and African Americans is what started the Black Lives Matter Movement.
In order for Americans to start trusting law enforcement again, there needs to be a solution to the misconduct of police officers. In the past few years, body cameras have been placed on officers in order to see what took place in an encounter. Even though this is helpful, many incidents have been filmed but it didn’t change anything. One possible solution is to periodically test police for racial bias. Project Implicit, out of Harvard University, created a way to identify all different types of bias. According to Shaun King, “American Police should be required to
take these tests or others like them. However, it has to happen, we must test American law enforcement officers for all possible forms of bias and consider a serious course of action depending on the results” (King). He acknowledges that there is the chance that officers could lie on the test to alter their results, but believes these tests can be created in a way that dishonesty can be detected. Another way to potentially fix police misconduct is to put in place reasonable use of force standards. Due to events in the past couple years, especially Eric Garner, I think this is a necessary way to help resolve unnecessary force. King states that officers should first use verbal strategies and then physical force if it is needed. “If physical contact is not working, an officer must have on their person a suite of non-lethal weapons including pepper spray and Tasers. Officers must be trained on how to use traditionally non-lethal weapons because they can become lethal if used incorrectly or abused excessively. Furthermore, police must never become physical or violent in retaliation for words that may be exchanged with a person” (King, “Police officers’ use of force”). Racial bias tests and physical force standards are just two of many ways we can try to put a stop to police misconduct.