I was a young tough living up in Canada and I was walking through a seedy section of town with some other thugs that I’d met on the street five minutes earlier. All of a sudden we saw a police cruiser and even though none of us had done anything wrong and no one was armed or holding drugs, someone yelled, “COPS!” and we all took off running in different directions. The policemen jumped out of the car and began pursuing us.
I heard the unmistakable sound of shots being fired POW! POW! POW! POW! and I heard them whining and zinging by my head. I ran into a fenced area and leaped over some bushes and hid. The policeman found me and ordered me out. I told him I was unarmed but he screamed at me to shut the “F” up and come out of there with my hands where he could see them. As I came out I saw his hand shaking like a leaf as he stood there pointing that cocked handgun at my face. He was more scared than I was.
Later as we were being interviewed the detective asked me why we ran. I related what happened and when we heard someone yell, COPS! it just seemed like the thing to do. We hadn’t done anything wrong and after an investigation they let us go with no charges. I wonder what they would have done if he had killed me?
I remembered this incident as I saw the S.C. policeman shoot that unarmed man right in the back 7 times. I watched the video clip over and again POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! It reminded me of those bullets winging after me.
One time down in New Orleans I got in a fight with a man and I had him down by the hair on his head between my knees and was banging his head on the concrete. Someone grabbed me from behind and I whirled around and hit him. Big mistake it was a cop. He hit me with a slap stick and gave me a brain concussion. When I awoke it still took five of them to put me in the paddy wagon. They took me to the hospital and a doctor was trying to sew up my head. I hit the doctor. They took me to the jail and 7 of them beat me unconscious. All my ribs were broken, my nose, and my clavicle. My “cellie” told me they beat me for over an hour long after I had been knocked out. New Orleans finest had seen enough.
I was sick to my stomach when I saw that policeman shoot that guy in the back in S.C. I get disgusted watching the police go overboard and beat people senseless. I do agree that if the perpetrators would simply submit to the police and not resist, most if not all incidents like this could be entirely avoided. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world. Sometimes people being confronted by cops are drunk, stoned, have warrants out for their arrest, are mentally unstable, or are just plain scared. They act stupid and resist or run and it can lead to misery. I don’t think it has anything to do with race. I was white and they shot at me and beat me senseless. I think those cops are putting their lives on the line and when ANYONE crosses it they are asking for more trouble than they can imagine. Resisting arrest or running from police is like daring to pick up a rattlesnake. You can do it and maybe even get away with it, but don’t be surprised when you get bit and end up in the hospital and/or the graveyard.
Hmmm . . . Isn’t most sin like that?
Personally I wouldn’t be a cop for anything because I would probably kill someone the first week. I’m glad they are there and they have my respect even if there are a few bad apples out there making them all look bad. When cops break the law they should be taken off the streets and prosecuted just like any other criminal; otherwise we should give them our utmost thanks and appreciation for doing a dangerous job and keeping us safe.
By the way we have an excellent speaker coming to our church that broke the law and even got caught up in the mafia. The cops caught him and Jesus found him and converted his life to one of winning souls. He is an excellent orator and will be at the 2nd Sunday as our special speaker of the month at Honey Lake Church this weekend beginning at 11. BE THERE!
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death.”
April 10, 2015 – Click here to listen