Ever watched that TV show, Bluebloods? Comes on Friday nights, and stars Tom Selleck as the police commissioner in New York. This former Magnum P.I. star, who was, as I recall, The Marlboro Man, has a family...the Reagans (no, not that one)...of lawmen and law-women. His dad is a retired cop. His two sons are cops. And, his daughter is an assistant DA. Another son was killed in the line of duty.
Ok, you get the picture.
Last week's episode had multiple parallel-plot lines. The younger son, a Harvard graduate, shoots a guy while working a protection detail. That's the line I'm following here. At the scene, his lieutenant tells the kid to head back to the station to start filling out the dreaded officer-involved-shooting reports. A MOUND of paperwork, so dreaded by cops everywhere.
It's paperwork that can be used by the Internal Affairs guys, as well as the DA's office, as well as every person or group that has an axe to grind, against the officer. Self-incriminating. In most cases, district attorneys are wise enough, experienced enough, to understand the cop's job. Decisions are made in split seconds that can be analyzed to death in the comfort of an office for days on end.
Back to the storyline. Approaching the end of the show, as usual, the Reagan clan heads to Daddy Reagan's house for dinner. Daddy Reagan asks the rookie son how he's holding up. To which he quips, something like, not bad, except for all the paperwork. The older, much more experienced son says something like, yes, Mr. Commissioner, isn't there something you could do about that?
I don't know of any cop who enjoys paperwork. And, I don't know any who relish the thought of having to open fire on anything other than a silhouette target. I do sometimes wonder if the threat of all that paperwork keeps some officers from being as proactive as they should be. And, I wonder how many police officers have been hurt because they waited too long to take action, perhaps thinking of the mounds of paperwork, the endless Monday morning quarterbacking by armchair politicians and do-gooders, the ACLU.
So, with just a slight bit of tongue-in-cheek, I've come up with a simple Officer-Involved-Shooting form, one that should make the cop's job much simpler if he has to take that ultimate step.
Reason for shooting the Scumbag
check all that apply
( ) He/she had a gun, knife, hatchet, tire tool, molotov cocktail, hand grenade, WMD, IED, or some device that I thought resembled one of these weapons.
( ) He/she kept running from me when I told him/her to HALT!
( ) He/she is a known drug dealer or trafficker, and is likely selling or giving narcotics to young people in order to create a new client base.
( ) He/she has been through the system time and again, and is known to jailers as frequent fliers.
( ) He/she has been warned by fellow officers: "If you ever do something like this again, I'm going to shoot you". And, they failed to heed that advice.
( ) He/she made a threat against my family.
( ) He/she called my mother bad names.
( ) He/she failed to do right.
( ) He/she is likely to do something at some point in time that will cause harm to a fellow officer
For lawmen south of the Mason-Dixon line, or west of the Mississippi, you may select the following:
( ) He/she needed killing.
Ok, you get the picture.
Last week's episode had multiple parallel-plot lines. The younger son, a Harvard graduate, shoots a guy while working a protection detail. That's the line I'm following here. At the scene, his lieutenant tells the kid to head back to the station to start filling out the dreaded officer-involved-shooting reports. A MOUND of paperwork, so dreaded by cops everywhere.
It's paperwork that can be used by the Internal Affairs guys, as well as the DA's office, as well as every person or group that has an axe to grind, against the officer. Self-incriminating. In most cases, district attorneys are wise enough, experienced enough, to understand the cop's job. Decisions are made in split seconds that can be analyzed to death in the comfort of an office for days on end.
Back to the storyline. Approaching the end of the show, as usual, the Reagan clan heads to Daddy Reagan's house for dinner. Daddy Reagan asks the rookie son how he's holding up. To which he quips, something like, not bad, except for all the paperwork. The older, much more experienced son says something like, yes, Mr. Commissioner, isn't there something you could do about that?
I don't know of any cop who enjoys paperwork. And, I don't know any who relish the thought of having to open fire on anything other than a silhouette target. I do sometimes wonder if the threat of all that paperwork keeps some officers from being as proactive as they should be. And, I wonder how many police officers have been hurt because they waited too long to take action, perhaps thinking of the mounds of paperwork, the endless Monday morning quarterbacking by armchair politicians and do-gooders, the ACLU.
So, with just a slight bit of tongue-in-cheek, I've come up with a simple Officer-Involved-Shooting form, one that should make the cop's job much simpler if he has to take that ultimate step.
Reason for shooting the Scumbag
check all that apply
( ) He/she had a gun, knife, hatchet, tire tool, molotov cocktail, hand grenade, WMD, IED, or some device that I thought resembled one of these weapons.
( ) He/she kept running from me when I told him/her to HALT!
( ) He/she is a known drug dealer or trafficker, and is likely selling or giving narcotics to young people in order to create a new client base.
( ) He/she has been through the system time and again, and is known to jailers as frequent fliers.
( ) He/she has been warned by fellow officers: "If you ever do something like this again, I'm going to shoot you". And, they failed to heed that advice.
( ) He/she made a threat against my family.
( ) He/she called my mother bad names.
( ) He/she failed to do right.
( ) He/she is likely to do something at some point in time that will cause harm to a fellow officer
For lawmen south of the Mason-Dixon line, or west of the Mississippi, you may select the following:
( ) He/she needed killing.
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