Tears of a Cop, PTSD, Blue Wall of Silence

[TimmyBoy]

I feel really bad for the police officer who had to shoot this kid. It reminds me of my time as a cop. I learned alot as a cop. Had one guy in my department who was involved in a shooting and he was messed up about it for awhile. Internal Affairs would question him every so often and he didn't like to talk much about the shooting. Eventually, couldn't take being questioned by Internal Affairs anymore and just quit. Another dude, brand new rookie to the job, had to shoot somebody on his second or third day on the road with his FTO, came under investigation. Imagine, brand new to the job, was never a cop before and the next thing you know you are involved in a shooting and under investigation. Another one of my friends, involved in a high speed chase, did everything by the law and department policies, dude wrecks, car blows up and he is on the 6 o'clock news because the guy he was chasing almost dies. Newspapers got the heat on and they want him to lie to the papers to get the heat off. He refused. He never traded away his integrity. You always have to watch your back from crooks on the street and you have to watch your back from the corrupt system you work for. You sometimes see innocent people go to jail and guilty people walk free. You see the dirtiness of corrupt politicans and crooked businessmen. You see how honest law abiding citizens sometimes get screwed over. The Police "Blue Wall of Silence" really exists in my view, but it is misunderstood. It's not just crooked cops that have to live by the "Blue Wall of Silence" in order to prevent being held accountable for their crimes, but it is also honest, law abiding cops who must become part of the "Blue Wall of Silence" in order to protect themselves from a corrupt system which will go after innocent people to satisfy or appease political pressure. It is a wall that is created by society and not police officers but is part of the culture of the police. Cops have the second highest sucide rate of any profession in the United States. They truly are heros and have a very tough job. I feel terrible for this police officer and he has my sympathies:

SWAT Team Shoots 'Armed' Fla. 8th-Grader By KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer
38 minutes ago

LONGWOOD, Fla. - An eighth-grader was shot and wounded by a SWAT team officer in a school bathroom Friday after he pulled out a pellet gun that resembled a real weapon and later raised it at a deputy, authorities said.

Sheriff Don Eslinger said the 15-year-old boy brought the gun to Milwee Middle School in his backpack. Eslinger said two students saw it and one persuaded the other to report it, causing a scuffle.

The alleged gunman ordered one of the students into a closet, dimmed the lights and ran from the classroom. He then went around the campus carrying the weapon, Eslinger said. Deputies eventually isolated him in a restroom, and the school was evacuated.

Eslinger said negotiators tried unsuccessfully to start a dialogue with the boy, identified as Christopher David Penley.

"He did not respond," Eslinger said. "He refused to even comment. All he said was his first name. He did not drop the firearm."

When the boy raised the gun at a deputy, he shot the youth, the sheriff said.

Penley was taken to a hospital, where he was on "advanced life support," the sheriff said.

"He was suicidal," Eslinger said. "During this standoff, and during the chase, the student said he was going to kill himself or die." At one point, the boy held the gun to his own neck.

No one else was injured. The sheriff's office confirmed later that the weapon was a pellet gun fashioned to look like a 9mm handgun. The tip of the gun had been painted black, covering brightly colored markings that would have indicated it was nonlethal.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060114/ap_on_re_us/school_evacuated

Here is a web site I would like to share with the forum, Tears Of A Cop:

http://www.tearsofacop.com/police/police.html

 

[Stinger]

My son-in-law is a Deputy Sheriff, I've learned alot from him, I understand what you are saying. Too many don't.