“Years before my badge and gun were taken , I remember feeling much more afraid of the administration and people in power at my department, than I ever was afraid of a “bad guy” breaking the law.”
I’ve been somewhat silent with politics this last few months. Not because I don’t care, but because it can consume me if I don’t check myself, and I start abandon my post at home and work. I can become negative and part of the problem and not the solution. I deeply care about our country. Deeply. That’s why I am writing these few thoughts about how powerful and scary government can be.
I’m going to get into my thoughts about how scary the deal is with Jeffrey Epstein, but let me paint a quick picture.
When I was in the Salt Lake City police academy in 2007, I remember feeling such a sense of pride and honor before getting out in the field. When an instructor would ask the class “Why do you want to be a police officer?” 95% of the class would say, “To help people!” And that was true with me. I wanted to make a difference. And the truth is most police officer, even if they seem like total jerks when you come in contact with them, too also started their career wanting to help people.
But then some harsh realities set in once you become aware of the system that’s currently in place.
Within about a year or so I remember telling one of my best friends on my shift, “There’s something wrong with how we are doing things.” He wanted me to explain. I told him that our supervisors seem to only care about the stats we were producing. The numbers. Many of the Sgt’s (especially the ones trying to make names for themselves to climb the ladder) only seemed to care about arrests, tickets, and stops. “Kick some &$$ and take some names.” That was the wise RA RA chant before each shift. A way to hopefully get us excited to “Help people”. By kicking the &$$’s and taking their names.”
And just where were their &$$’s going after they were kicked, and where did their names go after we took them? And why? These were the questions I had in my mind. Now don’t get me wrong. I was as guilty as anyone trying to further my career in the beginning. I understood a few things really quickly. If you want to promote or transfer to a better squad, make arrests and write tickets. A lot of them.
Why? Because when a spot opens up and you have several candidates to put in for the job, the first thing they look at is… drum roll.. your numbers.
But why would a Government agency want to create more work that’s not needed, all in the name of the law? Well, that’s easy, and you know the answer; the government is addicted to power and growth, especially with money they don’t have. They believe they are the answer to our problems. They believe that they need to take care of us in just about every aspect of our lives. All in the name of the law, safety, and equality.
A sad irony hit me once while I was pulling over a guy for a minor traffic infraction on my police motorcycle. I ended up just writing him for a “seatbelt violation”. I then went on to “Sell my ticket” and let him know I’m actually giving him a “break.” But he said something that made me think, “You’re giving me a ticket for my safety not wearing a seatbelt, but you’re on a motorcycle? How safe is that?” I was speechless. And he had a point. The truth was, I was just trying to get to my 20 tickets for the day, not ruin his day. But with that type of government “Goal” for the day, how can you not be ruining many people’s day? There’s around 25 Salt Lake City motorcycle cops, and each one of them needs to around 20 a day. You do the math at over $100 a ticket.
Here’s the audio just in case you have friends that don’t believe police departments can have quotas.
Now back to the police academy and how this can possibly tie into Jeffrey Epstein.
In class, one instructor said, “The quickest way to lose your job is, sex, drugs, and money. Integrity issues, lying.” Interesting. Isn’t that how it all comes crashing down in anyone’s life, anywhere?
Here’s the problem. The longer I worked for the PD, the more I saw these problems within the highest levels of the department. Lie after lie after lie. Then cover-up after cover-up after cover-up. All to hide what they really did and all for their political careers. This is one of the reasons why our local law-enforcement leaders need to be elected. So they can answer to the people and not to an agenda driven mayor.
Years before my badge and gun were taken , I remember feeling much more afraid of the administration and people in power at my department, than I ever was afraid of a “bad guy” breaking the law. That sad irony hit me a few times sitting in my patrol car. “I am more afraid of the chiefs than actual bad guys.” I wonder how many good cops out there feel the same way? Because the truth is, they are the ones who can permanently destroy your life forever if you cross them or their agenda.
A few simple things we all know about Jeffrey Epstein.
- He hung out with very very powerful people. In Hollywood and in Government.
- He was involved in illegal sex with minors. (That’s just the tip of the iceberg)
- He was getting ready to testify on facts he knew with these powerful people.
- He is now dead under the most suspicious circumstances possible.
- He was in the hands of the Government.
So you’re telling us that the government who can’t even handle keeping a key witness alive on a suicide watch, pretends to promise to keep us safe with more gun control? Right.
If this Epstein incident isn’t incredibly chilling and sobering to each American, on the “Left or the Right”, I don’t know what is.
Some would say the highest levels of integrity must only be found in the top levels of our local and Federal United States Government; (yes, that’s the way it should be)But I would argue the higher you go in government, local and federal, the more corrupt and dishonest it gets. It scares me. And it should scare you.
Now back to putting my head in the sand.
See what Eric is up to today….
