Ferguson, Missouri Brings America To A Crossroad
The $25,000 Question
For quite some time opposition to police tactics has been growing in America. The use of deadly force has been escalating among police officers leaving many wondering if police were using excessive force. In situations where in times past officers used batons, tasers or bare hands to subdue suspects they are now using lethal means to deal with citizens seemingly without hesitation.
More often than not it seems today that bullets are flying where batons used to be swinging which leaves us with the question “Are police using lethal force more than they should?”
Police Officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown
Does The Deed Justify The Actions
The shooting incident involving Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri has divided the nation in many ways but mostly along racial lines.
There are those who accuse the officer who shot Brown of being a racist policeman with an agenda against blacks. Others have said he was simply a lawman protecting himself against an aggressive individual who attacked him. No matter what side you align yourself with there is one thing that is certain: an 18-year-old young man is dead whose only offense known to the officer at the time was walking in the street when he should have been on the sidewalk. This and this alone prompted the confrontation between Michael Brown and police officer Darren Wilson and it should not have ended with someone dead.
State Police Facing Protesters in Ferguson, Missouri
A Minor Infraction Leads To A Deadly Confrontation
Walking in the street when a sidewalk is available is illegal. Even if there is no sidewalk available you cannot walk in the street. You can walk along the shoulder but not in the street. Walking in the street is a simple pedestrian violation that is punishable by receiving a citation just like jaywalking if a policeman decides to issue the offender one. It is not a felony or a crime but a simple violation worthy of a fine. The problem occurred when officer Wilson took offense to Michael Brown and his companion ignoring his request or demand to get out of the street and the situation quickly escalated to a deadly one but it shouldn’t have.
Police officers are trained to handle various situations that they may confront in their daily patrols. They are trained to be level-headed when dealing with the most rowdy civilian. Even though Michael Brown disobeyed the officers instruction there was no need for him to aggressively pursue him for a minor infraction like walking in the street. The officer’s actions only helped to aggravate a minor situation into a major one. Was Michael Brown wrong? Yes. Was officer Wilson wrong? Yes. But officer Wilson was more wrong because he, a trained police officer, literally made a mountain out of a molehill.
Instead of calmly turning around his vehicle and approaching the young men he gunned his car in reverse almost hitting them. Instead of getting out of his vehicle and asking them for identification to issue them a citation he positioned his car in a way that a physical altercation resulting in the shooting of Brown occurred at the car and later in the street.
It never should have come to that but it did and it did due to the aggressive nature of the policeman addressing a minor infraction.
Michael Brown
Just The Facts
The officer’s approach to this situation was all wrong. It is up to every officer of the law tp evaluate every situation and determine the appropriate actions to take. Darren Wilson’s actions were aggressive and over-the-top given the situation he was facing.
Be that as it may now America finds itself at a crossroad. Not because an unarmed black male was shot and killed but because a police officer overreacted to a minor situation.
Forget the fact that Michael Brown was black or that the officer was white and just look at the facts of the occurrence. Should anyone who is simply walking in the street end up shot to death by the hand of the police because of it?
I think we all know the answer to that question.
