If I got held up - I'd want Jackie Chan to be there, or Shahrukh...whichever

Who exactly are we catering to? When you become a police officer - you agree to fight the good fight, to put yourself in harm's way and protect citizens, right? In the same way that the troops fighting wars oversears understnad the risks associated with their jobs ...so here's my issue with the police. By all means, do your thing...but please put the tasers away? Maybe? Pretty please? I don't know...

So okay, here's the thing. Recently I've been hearing a lot about the police and the funny shenanigans they pull...and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are way too many rules in place that help keep the cops safe, and not nearly as many that keep the citizens safe [very possible from the cops themselves]. I understand that it is harder to deal with criminals and disgruntled and disorderly men and women in the streets these days – but seriously guys, where is the line?

Before I continue rambling, for anyone reading this – this is my own opinion…I could be wrong, I could be misinformed. Please correct me if I am wrong… ok. So I’ve taken care of the whole opinion ownership thing …lol…

I was watching a news report about a man who died after being stabbed (I believe) – he had to walk a block away from his house, while he was bleeding, to get to the ambulance. Why? Well, apparently, when the 911 call was made there was mention of a gun (not too sure about this, I think it was speculative at the time of the report). And when a gun is mentioned, the cops and ambulance can park FAR away from the house in question, wait for the police to assess and handle the situation. Ok, that’s cool…save yourselves. But let’s assume there was a gun involved, and the man was shot. Would you want a man, who is most likely bleeding profusely to walk a block to help save himself? Nooooooo. Bring him a freaken gurney! And seriously…ok there might have been a gun involved. The cops should have been front and center – put on a vest, use those tactical, bullet-averting skills they teach you at the police academy and maybe try to “serve and protect” a man in need of assistance??? In this case, once the situation inside the house was assessed (no gun) the ambulance still couldn’t drive up close enough …why? There were fire trucks and police vehicles blocking the way. You’ve got to be kidding me??? And not ONE of them brought the man out of his house on a stretcher…nope. But thank fully they did ‘walk him to the ambulance’.

Okay, so on to the next thing – taser guns. Really? I thought they only used things like that on angry bears in the woods?!?!! Yeah, it’s not as deadly a weapon as a gun (tell that to Robert Dziekanski’s family) so I guess I understand it…but what’s next? Using tranquilizer guns – I hear they can shoot from upto 10 feet away…maybe they can modify them to make the range 1 block away? Ooooh!! Ooooh! Maybe they can just dip the end of an arrow in curare (poison used by natives to kill animals, also used as anesthesia in ect :p) – Archery refresher courses for the cops yaaay! :-)

I am not saying I would like to see the police get hurt, I’m not saying that at all. But what happened to the good old days, when a man could be restrained with handcuffs, not high voltage? If I’m in the middle of the street and a guy comes at me with a gun I want to be sure that the cop walking down the street will do something… not hide behind a garbage can until the man gets bored of me and drops his gun….I’ve seen them do it in Jackie Chan movies – you can get someone out of that situation and nope, I don’t think I ever saw them use a taser gun…just a few strategically aimed hits and kicks. Hell, let’s get some bollywood actors over here to teach them a move or two. C’mon – you’ve seen it! One man vs. 10 bad guys…he always manages to get out alive and the bad guys are rolling around in pain on the floor. His weapon of choice? A stick.

But in all seriousness, what happened to the good old days when the police were these buff men and women who could run faster than the bad guys, and could restrain them if need be? Yes, they knew how to shoot a gun, but they also knew how to disarm a criminal and had the sense to grab a gurnery from the far-away ambulance and carry a bleeding man from his home to the ambulance. Sadly, the man I’m talking about (44 year old Garth Isfeld) died in hospital. Not sure why – but needless to say, the family is less than happy about the events that took place after he was injured.

Thoughts?