Protect and Serve?
By Forrest Joyner
Deputy Sheriff, Missouri
Fostered by the TV image of
the LAPD cars with ‘To Protect and Serve’ stenciled on the fenders, and
the general mis-conception that that’s what we do, the general public
needs to wake up.
Certainly we do Serve,
but Protect? Not really. I work as a Deputy Sheriff in rural
mid-America. In an 800 square mile county, but with a population of only
20,000, we are very much a reactive force. With hardly ever more than 3 cars
working the roads, response time can easily be 20 minutes or more, if everything
goes well. In a slightly different sense, it’s still the same in big city
America. Law enforcement officers can’t be everywhere. 9 out of 10 times, we
are the clean up squad. Whatever is going to happen will have already happened
and we are there to take the report, not to ambush the bad guy as he sneaks out
the back door.
Yet, many, if not most
Americans seem to think that cops are their protectors. The reality is that
they are very much responsible for their own protection. And that’s how it
should be. I’m not my brother’s keeper, nor my brother’s protector. We all
have to take responsibility for our own safety, particularly at home. And where
does that lead us? Sure, firearms for personal protection in the home and where
legal, on the person.
Liberals try to instill the
idea that government is the great protector. There’s that word again.
‘Exchange your freedom for our protection’ is what the Hillary Clintons want to
tell you. This country could not have been born under more different
principles. We are self-reliant and an independent people.
As a citizen, I’ll take the
service that’s appropriate. As a law enforcement officer, I’ll provide the
service that’s appropriate. But as both a citizen and an officer, I’ll see to
my own protection, as should each and every citizen of this country.
Forrest Joyner is a Reserve Deputy in 3
Missouri counties: Adair, Scotland and Callaway. 14 yrs. service, fully
certified Deputy Sheriff 24/7. An Optometrist by profession.
Visit
the Second Amendment Police Department
