A firefighter puts his or her life on the line at work. A person - TopicsExpress

A firefighter puts his or her life on the line at work. A person who does this job has to have the courage to look at a burning building and say, Well, I better run in there and make sure everyone got out safely! He or she will ignore every bit of fear and human nature that screams from ones instincts, saying, No! Dont do it! Its dangerous in there! Run away! And then he or she races across that breach, smiling at death, in order to save the lives of innocent people that he or she has never met. That person is to be honored and exalted as the epitome of the hero. And that is also how a police officer is supposed to behave. Instead, on every discussion of police brutality, I see apologists saying things like, If the cop fears for his life, or If the cop perceives a threat, or The cop cant tell that youre not reaching for a weapon, or similar nonsense. Well guess what? If you shoot an innocent or unarmed person dead because you are scared, then you are a coward. End of story. A hero lays his or her life on the line for the protection of others. He or she protects and serves the innocent, the powerless, the poor, or yes, even the people accused of a crime (especially a minor one). If you ask someone to get their ID, and they, you know...reach for their ID...and you shoot that person 6 times? YOU ARE A COWARD AND UNFIT TO WEAR YOUR UNIFORM. If you see a 12-year-old kid holding what looks like a gun, particularly when the caller said that it was most likely a toy, and you shoot that child dead before giving him a chance to throw it down or explain that its a toy, or risking your life for the 2 seconds that it would have taken to determine it was a toy, then YOU ARE A COWARD AND UNFIT TO WEAR YOUR UNIFORM. If you see a grown man walking around leisurely talking on a cell-phone, inside a Wal-Mart, carrying a toy-gun that is for sale inside that very store, and you shoot that man dead before giving him a chance to throw it down or explain that its a toy, or risking your life for the 2 seconds that it would have taken to determine it was a toy, then YOU ARE A COWARD AND UNFIT TO WEAR YOUR UNIFORM. If you see a man trying to help his child (in a car seat) who is having an asthma attack, and you fire 6 shots in his direction, because you thought he might theoretically have been going for a gun, then YOU ARE A COWARD AND UNFIT TO WEAR YOUR UNIFORM. Your job implies RISK. Thats why you wear a bulletproof vest and carry a gun. If you cant handle the fact that your job REQUIRES you to risk your life for civilians, including the ones that you suspect of having committed crimes, then you need to quit your job and go work something more appropriate to the level of safety that you require. I suggest getting a job as a babysitter, telemarketer, or retail clerk. (But maybe not at a Wal-Mart, as there are some cowardly wimps shooting people at those places...)