Law Enforcement

Howdy all. Just wanted to post a quick link, but also some thoughts. I found this account of a reporter's experience in the LAPD deadly force video simulator very interesting. The simulator sounds very interesting, though he didn't answer some details I would have loved to know - it's apparently a thing with real actors, weapons with laser blanks rather than bullets, etc. More interesting was the perspective the reporter was able to give on what it's like to be law enforcement in that sort of situation. I don't really want to speak specifically of any of the recent cases in the media, as I am not researched enough to comment on them.

What I do want to say is this: Being in law enforcement [and civil service, etc] is a hard job. Thank you to those who can do it, and to those who do it well. It can be hard for many people, myself included, to have empathy for those in that position as the viewpoints and situations involved are so very different from our experience; I hope that I never hold a gun, much less fire it. To those who are entrusted to do that every day, I salute you for having the strength to do your jobs.

Ok, now that I said my deep thoughts on the subject, I had one other peripheral thought about this: If you ever see a traffic cop managing stuff at a light that's gone dead, or anyone in that sort of position, take a moment to thank them. Far too often it's easy to be impatient with the person directing traffic when it's not their fault the light died, a wreck happened, etc. I had a long chat with a traffic cop once after they spent a while directing traffic at Chester / Cordova [after a wreck]; she was very good at directing traffic, keeping things at least flowing, and I took a moment when the traffic had died down to thank her - I had needed to cross and she was very clear in both letting me know she was aware and when to actually cross, at the same time dealing with a driver who had decided that clearly the detour around that particular block didn't apply to them. We spoke for a little bit, and she told me that the situation with that driver was pretty normal, and that they got a lot of anger and impatience while doing that job! People arguing about the street being blocked off, angry they had to detour, and so on. I was glad that I got the chance to talk a little, as it was a perspective I hadn't seen before; more importantly, it reminded me that even a traffic cop deserves some appreciation for the job they're doing and not just impatience at the situation one usually encounters them in.