Seventy police officers have been killed in the line of duty in America this year. Twelve military personnel have died in Iraq and Afghanistan combined during the same time period. Where are we truly at war - the streets of America or some far away medieval land?
Police officers have been ambushed by trained marksmen wielding assault weapons and armor piercing rounds, bullets which cut through flack vests and car doors like Swiss cheese. Law enforcement personnel are afraid to do their job as entire neighborhoods are abandoned at night. The mantra becomes “I’m the one coming home to my family”. Violent anarchy has become a way of life for portions of our population. Children must grow up having to sleep through the sound of gunfire in the night while terrified police learn to shoot first and ask questions later.
Who is responsible? Everyone, no one, or maybe that’s just the way it is? Empathy for those who suffer on the “other side” is a lost notion. We no longer seek to “love our neighbor” no matter who they may be. It has become acceptable to pick and choose who is worthy of empathy.
In my over 32 years as a criminal defense attorney in California I have been witness to about everything law enforcement can do wrong. Over the same period of time I have also developed many strong friendships with police and former police officers of goodwill. I have shared the pain of a widow and her family whose husband and father were murdered for no other reason than he was a cop. I have also set an innocent man free who was convicted of murder against the fervent opposition of a prosecutor’s office that knew the truth, and opposed it anyway. This case is chronicled in my book “When Darkness Reigns”.
The social fabric of our culture is unraveling before us, the only answer our society has offered is the use of greater force. Mass incarceration has been the result. It makes us feel safer for awhile by appeasing our ever growing anger. A proposition to make it easier to implement the death penalty, surely that will restore order – that sounds good! Heavier penalties for repeat offenders, even if the offenses are minor – that sounds good! We have even begun yelling “Lock her up!” in response to a presidential candidate – this has become an American mantra. I ask you, where does it all end.
In 1858 Abraham Lincoln reminded our nation that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” This biblical truth remains as true today as it did then. Let us hope that the soul of this nation will once again turn to the “better angels of our nature” so that we may avoid the rupture of our national heritage and union. It is not too late.