What the hell happened to respect?
Yesterday a report came through of a female police officer who was surprised-attacked by a knife-wielding sociopath as she exited a shop investigating an unrelated robbery. She was rescued by a civilian who saw her on the ground with this maniac attacking her.
Instead of sucking in their breath at the wounds the officer sustained (mostly on her hands. The wounds she sustained on her neck were superficial), people I know mocked her. They spoke of her incompetence, and how terrible her training must have been if she (a decorated officer) let this man (over 50 years old) best her. They laughed at how she went into shock following the attack. They rolled their eyes at how a cop had to be rescued by a civilian (never mind that the attacker was probably so focussed on trying to get at the cop that the civilian took him by surprise also).
I am so disappointed in humanity right now.
I was accused of turning their mockery into a "pissing contest" when I challenged them on how they would cope if some maniac with a knife jumped them unexpectedly. After all, they are trained Martial Artists.
My point is this, to utter such asinine opinions based solely on details provided in tabloid-style, poorly reported journalism; to mock someone who is in considerable pain, who was fighting for her life, whether a trained and decorated cop or no, is beyond contemptible.
Yes, cops ought to be held to a higher standard then every day folk. Every day folk aren't trained to deal with situations as members of the police force are.
However, let me remind you that cops are still people, people. Some of them let the power they wield get to their heads and become raging sociapaths themselves. Others are compassionate, intelligent and incredibly helpful people. No matter their disposition, they feel pain. They bleed. They have bad days. They get caught off guard occasionally.
That is not something to be mocked.
How they hell would the mockers know how it went down that day? How dare they accuse a decorated police woman of incompetence for one mistake, for having a bad day, for getting caught off guard. For all we know, she did everything right, it just didn't work out that particular time. Puncher's chance.
More to the point, no matter what training you've received, training is not real life. The gym is not the street. Kick-boxing in an octagon is not a street fight. A controlled training situation is not being jumped as you leave a shop.
Even more to the point, until you've been in that situation yourself, you have no right to judge how the victim handled themselves. Chances are, you'd be sitting on the curb in a puddle of your own blood, weeping for the shock yourselves if you went through what that cop went through.
Thank-you to the man who rescued her.
The rest of you can go jump.
Where have all the good men gone?
