Dear Police Officers; You Are Not Above the Law

Are police officers above the law? When Mr. Evans, vice principal and part time firefighter at the West Newbury Fire Department, was asked whether or not he thought police officers were above the law. He said, “I think that most police officers are held to a higher standard, along with the regular laws they have to abide by, each town has their own individual code of ethics that each officer has to follow.”

 When also asked if he thought there were some bad cops Mr. Evans said, “Yes, we cannot deny that sometimes there are bad seeds in any department.” How does one view this statement? Aren’t all cops supposed to be the good guys, the ones we can trust and call when we need help?

Most police officers do what they are supposed to do and do not abuse their power, but that was not the case in the Ferguson, Missouri shooting. On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown was shot by officer Darren Wilson. Michael stole a few cigarettes from a convenient store and shoved the clerk. After an altercation between Brown and Wilson, Wilson’s gun was fired and Brown fled the scene. Brown was running away when Wilson fired 12 rounds at Brown, the last being the deadly fatal shot that killed him.

In that case it would be hard to tell if Brown was unarmed or if he did not go after Wilson for him to be shot. Was his shooting the case of a trigger happy police officer or was it the case of self-defense.  No one will know because there were not any eye witnesses. Is this a case of the law trying to protect one of its officers or of insufficient evidence?