John Tierney's Open Letter to Police in News-Record

For the second week in a row, John Tierney has written a column in the News-Record critical of the police.
This week’s column is crafted as an open letter to police asking why so many of them use “excessive force and then lie about it.” While Mr. Tierney appears to have a personal ax to grind, I am surprised that the News-Record continues to provide a forum for his anti-police rhetoric.

Being a police officer is one of the few jobs where being killed for simply doing a job is an everyday reality. More than 230 officers have been killed in the line of duty since the start of 2014 (See https://www.odmp.org),and as President Obama has recently -- and rightly-- reminded us, gun violence has claimed many more lives than acts of terrorism. According to CNN, there have been more than 406,000 deaths due to gun crime since 2001.

It goes without saying that being a police officer is a dangerous job where being killed is an unfortunate and everyday reality. As a "civilian," I can’t imagine what it must be like to think that I could die today simply by going to work (which I imagine is in the back of police officers’ minds). It also goes without saying that without the efforts of the police, the number of deaths due to gun crime would be exponentially higher. Have there been officers that have used excessive force, of course. They should be fired, and if warranted, prosecuted. However, let’s not paint all police officers with that broad brush. It’s simply irresponsible
and wrong. Mr. Tierney, please calm down with the anti-police rhetoric and perhaps you should say thank you to the next police officer you see for keeping you safe. I know that your columns will cause me to do just that.

Lastly, I suggest that you focus your ire on those members of Congress that are preventing meaning gun control legislation from being adopted and implemented.

I get what you're saying, but isn't being killed an unfortunate reality for all of us?

Link?

Red_Barchetta said:
I get what you're saying, but isn't being killed an unfortunate reality for all of us?

I don't know how many of us deliberately put ourselves in harms way in the manner that police officers do. That coupled with the fact that respect for police seems to be at an all-time low and you get a very dangerous situation for the officers trying to keep citizens safe.

My son is a dedicated police officer in MA, in a town that has a huge heroin problem, I worry about him all the time because of the crazy people he has to deal with.

case said:

Red_Barchetta said:
I get what you're saying, but isn't being killed an unfortunate reality for all of us?

I don't know how many of us deliberately put ourselves in harms way in the manner that police officers do. That coupled with the fact that respect for police seems to be at an all-time low and you get a very dangerous situation for the officers trying to keep citizens safe.

That's police propaganda. There's no evidence, whatsoever, that police work is any more dangerous now than in the past. If anything, it's safer.

Yes, police are suffering from some pretty poor public relations. You know what might help - when an officer behaves like a true a-h- and harms or kills innocent people, maybe his compatriots could do the honorable thing and condemn the officer and their behavior, rather than make excuses and blame the victim.

Police officer is not even in the top 10 most dangerous jobs. The somewhat risky nature of the work--which every single cop is well aware of when they sign up--should not excuse police misconduct, which is real and widespread.We desperately need better policies, more oversight and rigorous prosecution of police offenders. Empty talk about "supporting cops" is a distraction from the real issues.

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-dangerous-jobs/

Former US Representative John Tierney (D - MA)?

RobB said:
Former US Representative John Tierney (D - MA)?

I googled and googled and googled some more but I could not find the OP's referenced article.

Well said

Grambling said:
For the second week in a row, John Tierney has written a column in the News-Record critical of the police.
This week’s column is crafted as an open letter to police asking why so many of them use “excessive force and then lie about it.” While Mr. Tierney appears to have a personal ax to grind, I am surprised that the News-Record continues to provide a forum for his anti-police rhetoric.
Being a police officer is one of the few jobs where being killed for simply doing a job is an everyday reality. More than 230 officers have been killed in the line of duty since the start of 2014 (See https://www.odmp.org),and as President Obama has recently -- and rightly-- reminded us, gun violence has claimed many more lives than acts of terrorism. According to CNN, there have been more than 406,000 deaths due to gun crime since 2001.
It goes without saying that being a police officer is a dangerous job where being killed is an unfortunate and everyday reality. As a "civilian," I can’t imagine what it must be like to think that I could die today simply by going to work (which I imagine is in the back of police officers’ minds). It also goes without saying that without the efforts of the police, the number of deaths due to gun crime would be exponentially higher. Have there been officers that have used excessive force, of course. They should be fired, and if warranted, prosecuted. However, let’s not paint all police officers with that broad brush. It’s simply irresponsible
and wrong. Mr. Tierney, please calm down with the anti-police rhetoric and perhaps you should say thank you to the next police officer you see for keeping you safe. I know that your columns will cause me to do just that.
Lastly, I suggest that you focus your ire on those members of Congress that are preventing meaning gun control legislation from being adopted and implemented.