JULY 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 7

THE OATH MADE ME A COP I

THE OATH MADE ME A COP I wore uniform and a badge, did so with pride and thought I did a good job. Lots of turmoil today, lots of comments from cops and people in general. To serve, I was required to take an oath. Honestly, I do not remember the exact oath words from those days. Sure, I applied the oath as best as I could. But memory fades. Today I looked up the oath as required by the Texas Secretary of State. “I, Bobby Welborn, do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of police officer of the State of Texas, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State, so help me God.” Short and to the point. No allowance for murder of a citizen by law enforcement, a clear duty to interfere if you see anyone committing such an assault, a clear duty to protect those who peacefully protest and petition, duty to enforce all laws, always, against all law breakers including police officers. You see, the First Amendment clearly protects free speech and a free press. The Preamble provides for justice and domestic tranquility. Texas clearly cites what is legal and illegal use of force, when deadly force can be used, and defines criminal homicide. No cop can deny what an officer’s duty is, especially in the use of force. And no officer should advocate an exemption for brothers in blue who violate the Constitutions and laws. I began this by confessing the Oath of Office faded in my memory. Boy, do we hear a lot about saying the Pledge of Allegiance. How about every police meeting, -every public and private gathering we open with the Oath of Office? We think prayer and pledges are important reminders, I think the Oath of Office is also. Consider the George Floyd case. Did you see officers honoring the oath they took? I did not. Cops and citizens, quit supporting illegal actions from police. You are ruining the value of the Oath of Office they took. You blemish my badge. If they cannot live the oath, they can get out. I thought the oath made me a cop. BOBBY WELBORN SHERIFF JOE For those not familiar with Joe Arpaio, he is the County Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. He keeps getting re-elected repeatedly. These are some of the reasons why: Sheriff Joe Arpaio created the “tent city jail” to save Arizona from spending tens of millions of dollars on another expensive prison complex. Inmates sleep in tents! He has jail meals down to 20 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them. He banned smoking and pornographic magazines in the jails, and took away their weightlifting equipment and cut off all but “G” movies. He says: “They’re in jail to pay a debt to society, not to build muscles so they can assault innocent people when they leave.” He started chain gangs to use the inmates to do free work on county and city projects and save taxpayer’s money. Men work in pink “Clean and Sober” shirts. Their underwear is also pink! Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn’t get sued for discrimination. He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So, he hooked up the cable TV again but only allows the Disney channel and the weather channel. When asked why the weather channel, he replied: “So these morons will know how hot it’s going to be while they are working on my chain gangs.” He cut off coffee because it has zero nutritional value and is therefore a waste of taxpayer money. When the inmates complained, he told them, “This isn’t the Ritz Carlton. If you don’t like it, don’t come back.” He also bought the Newt Gingrich lecture series on US history that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series that tells the truth for a change would be welcome and that it might even explain why 95% of the inmates were in his jails in the first place. With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record for June 2, 2009), the Associated Press reported: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed wire surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts. On that Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing pink boxer shorts were overheard chatting in the tents, where temperatures reached 128 degrees. “This is hell. It feels like we live in a furnace,” said Ernesto Gonzales, an inmate for 2 years with 10 more to go. “It’s inhumane.” Joe Arpaio, who makes his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. “Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live-in luxury until it’s time for parole, only to go out and commit more crimes so they can come back in to live on taxpayer’s money and enjoy things many taxpayers can’t afford to have for themselves.” The same day he told all the inmates who were complaining of the heat in the tents: “It’s between 120 to 130 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents there too, and they have to walk all day in that sun, wearing full battle gear and getting shot at, and THEY have not committed any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!” Sheriff Joe was just re-elected for the fourteenth time as Sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona A FAN OF SHERIFF JOE SHERIFF D. CLARKE SAYS IT BEST! It’s not the police who need to be retrained, it’s the public. We have grown into a mouthy, mobile phone wielding, vulgar, uncivil society with no personal responsibility and the attitude of ‘it’s the other person’s fault’, ‘you owe me’. A society where children grow up with no boundaries LE AGENCIES FN 15 PROMOTION ENDS 7/31/21 or knowledge or concern for civil society and personal responsibility. When an officer says “Put your hands up,” then put your hands up! Don’t reach for something in your pocket, your lap, your seat. There’s plenty of reason for a police officer to feel threatened, there have been multiple assaults and ambushes on police officers lately. Comply with requests from the officer, have your day in court. Don’t mouth off, or fight, or refuse to comply... that escalates the situation. Police officers are our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. They’re black, white, brown, all colours, all ethnicities, all faiths, male and female, they are us. They see the worst side of humanity... the raped children, the bloody mangled bodies of traffic victims, the bruised and battered victims of domestic violence, homicide victims, body parts... day after day. They work holidays while we have festive meals with our families. 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They have extensive training, but they are human. When there are numerous attacks on them, they become hyper vigilant for a reason, they have become targets. When a police officer encounters any person... any person, whether at a traffic stop, a street confrontation, an arrest, whatever... that situation has the potential to become life threatening. You, Mr & Mrs/Miss Civilian, also have the responsibility of keeping the situation from getting out of control. Many law enforcement officers are Veterans. They’ve been in service to this nation most of their lives, whether on the battlefield or protecting us here at home. They are the only thing that stands between us and anarchy in the streets. If you want to protect your child, teach them respect. 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