Fury

     I learned from an early age to be respectful of the police, not just because it was their job to help you, but also because things could go sour quickly with some officers if you didn't.  Now most cops are just trying to do their jobs and go home to their families, and in a lot of places, they're short on resources and training.  I think by now, though that it has become painfully obvious, unless you live under a rock, that depending on where you live, what color you are and your socio-economic status, we're not all getting the same level of service in this country.
     My father was a reserve police officer for a couple years when we lived in California.  I remember him being very proud of his uniform and his gun.  When I look back on that time, he was a prime example of someone who should never have been allowed on the police force in any capacity, but maybe the fact that he was a respected member of the military helped.  Although I was too little to know the truth, I'm guessing that the weekend his drinking led him to beat my mother for hours, holding us hostage in Navy housing until she was able to escape to the neighbors and call the police, was what led to him being excused from the police force.  He was out within 48 hours, after military command spoke to mom about the anger management training he would be encouraged to take and the AA meetings he would attend.  He took the training but didn't continue with the AA meetings, neither helped him anyway.
     Mom used to say that a lot of cops, and many men in positions of power, had "little man syndrome."  They needed to make up for some aspect of their lives where they were deficient by exploiting or seeking greater power over others in their professional lives.  I had a soccer coach who was a great example of this, maybe 5'5'' and a complete dick during practice.  And not in a "this tough talk will help you in your sporting life and you will grow as a human" way, but in a "I will make you suffer, because I am a sadistic fuck with all the power who never got to play soccer professionally due to an injury" way.
     We've seen lots of video taped examples recently of police behavior that was certainly not helpful; students being tossed across schoolrooms, knees in the backs of bikini clad teens, unsanctioned choke holds, etc.  I'm not going to debate these.  I don't need to.  I've already said the rules aren't the same for all of us for some cops.  It's wrong, and it should make you angry.  Today, I read this article and became even more furious:

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/01/18/detroits-untested-rape-kits-finally-tested-100-serial-rapists-identified-video/

     Seeing that it was from January, I started looking for updated information and found this from September:

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/09/02/rape-kit-testing/71561958/ 

     Protect and serve.  Protect and serve.  11,341 abandoned rape kits is a systemic decision to place the solving of rape cases in Detroit not on hold, but as unnecessary to solve.

          "Worthy said Detroit's kit-testing initiative has identified 2,616 suspects — including 477 serial rapists — and that 21 convictions have been secured. She said 106 cases are actively being   investigated and 1,350 cases are awaiting investigation ... Worthy said DNA in the rape kits            has been linked to suspects in 35 states, plus the District of Columbia."

     Think about the level of trauma for individuals, families, children that spreads out from this kind of decision, spreads out over our entire nation.