The left wants to “re-imagine the police,” with some Democrat-run cities even going as far as to propose completely abolishing their police departments in the pursuit of this pie-in-the-sky idea.
They have proposed sending social workers or community service officers in place of armed police officers, those who they say are better trained at deescalating tense situations.
As if police officers aren’t already well-trained at de-escalation and coping with both distressed and dangerous civilians.
Late last month, in a disturbing example of what the natural conclusion of this Pollyannish “reimagining” of the police would be, a Milwaukee community service officer was shot and killed while responding to a “neighbor dispute” in lieu of an actual police officer.
The Milwaukee Police Department’s community service officers are civilian employees of the department who, according to a 2017 job listing, respond to non-emergency, low-priority incidents such as theft, vandalism, and apparently, “neighbor disputes.”
Milwaukee Public Radio reported:
A Milwaukee community service officer was shot and killed on the city’s south side Monday night. Acting Police Chief Michael Brunson said the killing appeared to be the result of a neighbor dispute.
The Milwuakee Police Department says the community service officer, Naeem Sarosh, was 35 years old and was a well-respected employee who had four years of service with the department.
“This employee was beloved, well respected and well liked,” Brunson said. “This is a tragic day for the Milwaukee Police Department and for this city.”
A 65-year-old man was taken into custody.
There’s a reason that someone called the police to respond to this incident. Clearly, they needed a police officer and this young man was ill-equipped to deal with the type of situation that can turn deadly in a millisecond. You can’t then hit pause to switch from a community service officer to a police officer.
Police officers are trained to respond to such situations. They take an oath to serve and protect and to put their lives on the line to ensure the public’s safety.
Naeem Sarosh was not equipped to defend his own life, sadly, but this means he would have also been unprepared to defend anyone else’s life.
Do we really need to fill police departments–those that aren’t abolished–with unarmed individuals who aren’t capable of keeping anyone safe?
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