Where's A Cop When You Need One?

I read about the 92 year old woman in Atlanta that was killed by three narcotics officers and when I read the first article, it mentioned something about a warrant that gave immediate access to the premises without requiring them to announce their presence. Of course, now I can't find that article and there has been ample time to coordinate the information, and the only person that could disagree with the present version, is dead. So, I'm guessing the present story will be the one that stands on record. Where was a cop when a 92 year old woman was getting her door kicked in, in a rough neighborhood in Atlanta? Could she have called and gotten help? How did shooting first become proper procedure? This story reminded me of a personal incident that I experienced about a month and half after 9/11, although, thank G~d, it did not end so tragically. The Patriot Act had just been implemented and "the police state" now had foundation. I was on my way home from synagogue on a Friday evening. I was attending one that was about 70 miles from where I lived, so I was on my way home on the highway, when I saw red lights in my rear view mirror. I pulled over and then realized I was blocking a major exit and remembered something about the latest law to protect those that are supposed to protect and serve us. The law had something to do with enough room for traffic to leave a lane clear when drivers come upon an officer pulling someone over. I don't know what it was, but it crossed my mind and I attempted to at least pull on up out of the exit lane. At that same split second, another patrol car appeared on the scene, spinning through all the lanes and coming to a screeching halt right in front of my vehicle. This "Barney Bad Asterisk" jumped out of his cruiser and pulled his gun on me. Now the officer that had originally put his lights on, was now at my window, as I had been ordered at gun point to put my keys on top of my car and of course keep my hands visible. The reasonable officer at my window just stood there and said, "Ma'm you changed lanes without signalling." I immediately said, "I'm sorry." He asked me what I was doing, where I was going. I told him and he looked at the "other officer" and just shook his head. He asked me for my driver's license so I got it out and gave it to him. The other officer still had me at gunpoint, except I had permission to get in my purse. Which if I was going to be a danger, that would be where I could obtain something, I would think . . . But, I'm just a citizen, what do I know. Anyway, did I mention I had two bumperstickers? One said "Jesus, changing the world, one life at a time." And the other, "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem," and a "Clergy" sticker in the window. I obviously gave every indication of a potential combatant. The officer asked me why I had moved my car after I started to stop. I told him about the exit lane and that new law. The goofball that still had a bead on me, asked what new law? [I wish I could type his tone.] I told him, I didn't know exactly, but it had something to do with keeping him safe in traffic while he took aim. The original officer, who was very nice and very much just wanting to resolve the entire situation, gave me my license back and told me he wasn't writing a ticket, but warned me about signalling a lane change. I said, "Thank you." As I put my license away, he noticed my badge and asked. I told him I was a police chaplain. I asked him to please be careful, as the behavior that I had witnessed tonight was really frightening and could result in panicked reactions. He indicated, he was well aware of that fact and then realized the other officer still had his gun out. He told him to put it away. By the time, I got back into traffic and on my way home, I saw that the "Barney BA" had already pulled over some other car and was reading them his riot act. I surmised frustration from the last incident.

Then, this week after reading about the 92 year old and remembering my own experience, I heard another situation. A woman was taking her elderly grandma to the hospital and was speeding on a low traffic road. A police officer saw her when she was on the hospital road and turned on his lights and "followed her" to the hospital, to give her a ticket. That's right! When he did see where she was going, he simply followed her, rather than escort her. He then got rude, belligerent, and wrote her the ticket, because that was proper procedure. What happened to the days, when there was an emergency, you tried to get a policeman's attention, so he would provide an escort? Since we keep hearing about a shortage of manpower in law enforcement, what crimes are going on while they are keeping the world safe from "old ladies" and middle aged women drivers? What happened to the days when a "policeman was our friend?" We've all realized and come to accept, when we feel victimized or violated or fearful, it is very difficult to get a quick response from law enforcement agencies, but when did they become the entity that makes us feel victimized, violated and fearful?

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.