Justice is served by the police
Gina Maccarone
sophomore
The column that was in The Observer yesterday about the situation in Cincinnati gave me much to say in response.
Being from Cincinnati myself, I got a taste of what was going on over break. The whole situation just made me so upset, I felt unsafe in the place I've lived my entire life. All of the controversy about the role of the police has made me wonder, "What if there was no one willing to protect the law anymore?"
These riots happened out of anger after the shooting and death of a man running from a police officer, who did not know whether the man was armed or not. The article in yesterday's paper comes down on the entire Cincinnati police force as a result of this and other incidents that are dissimilar, but ended with gunfire. I'll admit that there is racism and prejudice present among certain police officers, but not all of them.
I'm not condoning the shooting of Timothy Thomas or putting blame on anyone either. But there are things not being considered in the profession of a police officer. When an accountant makes a mistake, someone loses money. When a police officer makes a mistake, someone possibly loses their life. That's some major responsibility there.
But cops are people, they're human. Fear is part of human nature, so is self defense. So is imperfection. When one feels that his life is in danger, he reacts. In certain instances, a police officer may react in the wrong way.
Whether he reacts out of his own personal beliefs or merely out of instinct, it is part of his job. There are police officers who want to do their job well, but sometimes it seems that they can't do anything right. When an officer feels that his life is in danger, should he be passive and possibly sacrifice his life when he is merely trying to enforce the law? Again, I know there is corruption and bigotry within the system. But no system is perfect.
We must let those who are trying to serve justice do their job and improve upon the areas and individuals that do not serve justice as they should. For who is going to want to try to serve the community when the community has no respect for the police force in the first place?
Gina Maccarone
sophomore
Howard Hall
April 18, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, April 19, 2001
