Reform the Police and the Legislature

 © Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, May 5, 2007

It is a known fact that I am a strong supporter of law enforcement.  No one is more pro-peace officer than me.  The unmitigated evil, not to mention the over abundance of scum, that our law enforcement officers have to contend with today, coupled with the bleeding-heart radicals such as the A. C. L. U., make their jobs not only dangerous but virtually impossible.

That being said, I am seriously concerned about the quality of some peace officers that are being set loose, with guns, on society.

The tragic and criminal behavior of at least two Atlanta police officers in the matter of the “no knock” warranted home invasion and homicide of 92 year old Kathryn Johnston, the despicable behavior recently of Los Angeles riot police, the erratic behavior of Glynn County Sheriff’s Department personnel toward a Canadian tourist for speeding, and the juvenile performance of Hillsborough County, Florida Deputy Sheriff Kevin Stabins, all demonstrate the need for a thorough review of the hiring process that candidates for these jobs go through the training they receive.

To arm an individual with an array of deadly weapons, to invest them with the police power of the state, and to trust them to make the appropriate decisions with respect to the enforcement of the laws requires that they be more capable of intellectual discernment on a level higher than that of a middle grades student.

Rigorous background checks should be required of all police candidates.  This inquiry should center not only on whether these people are felons or financial deadbeats.  It should also include and in-depth inquiry into their psychological and social characters.

Of course, all of this costs money, and that may be the rub.

We have a Georgia General Assembly, controlled by the Republican Party, and a Republican Governor, who spent roughly four months in the regular legislative session, only to have the latter veto the supplemental budget of the former and thus require the calling, sometime in the next few weeks, of a special session at the tune of about $43,000 per day in cost to the taxpayers. 

I might understand the differences these folks have with one another if the General Assembly was of one political party and the Governor another…but these folks are all Republicans…you know…the party of low taxes and less government…don’t you believe it.

It is prima facie evidence of the old adage:

        “It doesn’t matter which pack of dogs you lay down with, sooner or later you are going to get up with fleas.”