Why I Defend Cops

When I'm in trouble I call the police and they come and they help me.

And while I'm a defender of victims of police brutality and unwarranted police shootings, I also am a defender of police.

As someone who has never been arrested, never been brutalized by police, never been in trouble with the police, and has had police officers in her family (I'm white and female, so that helps keep me out of trouble, too), I defend police because their job is one of the shittiest, most thankless and most dangerous jobs in America. I personally would not want to be the first to respond to an armed robbery or a domestic dispute or be the one to pull over a car full of men who look like they're up to no good ... late at night, in the dark, all by myself. No, I'm not that brave, but I give credit to the officers who are. They have the daunting task of dealing with the criminal element day in and day out to keep people like me safe.

Not everyone should be a cop ... just like not everyone should be a nurse or a florist or a photographer or a chef. There are people in every profession who are shitty at their job and police officers are no different. Some of them are abusers who are too angry to do the job, and some of them are just too afraid and too skittish to be cops. Unfortunately, law enforcement officers who are not good at their jobs have the power to really hurt or kill people through misdeed or misjudgement. That's a problem. Shitty cops also put their fellow officers at risk.

I think it's also important to remember that cops only have a split second to make decisions about who is dangerous and who is not. Who wants to shoot them and who is just reaching for their wallet. They deal with mentally ill people, suicidal people, people waving knives at them, people who want to kill their spouses, and people who are high on drugs. They also deal with bad guys with guns who aren't afraid to use them. There are plenty of cop killers out there and no one knows that better than cops. Police officers don't have the luxury of leisurely contemplating what action needs to be taken. So, sometimes they mess up and shoot someone they shouldn't. And sometimes they mess up and don't shoot someone that they should.

Sometimes cops kill people and sometimes people kill cops.

Hindsight is always clear-sighted.

Deciding right and wrong from after-the-fact videos on YouTube is easier than making decisions in real time.

Everyone needs to chill the fuck out and give cops a break.

According to the National Law Officer's Memorial Fund, gun-related police deaths are on the rise with 2016 already surpassing the number of officers shot to death in 2015.

Last month, four officers were shot in four different cities in a 24 hour period. In July, six Louisiana officers were shot while protesters marched in the street in opposition of police shootings. Six officers were shot in Georgia in the past week, and a Tennessee police officer was shot two days ago.

It's time for people to speak out and defend the good cops who protect us and keep us safe.