Law & Disorder

One year ago, retired St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn was tragically murdered while defending a friend's shop from violent looters, that resulted from the riots that the followed untimely death of career criminal George Floyd in Minneapolis. Captain Dorn served with the St. Louis Police Department for 38 years with honor and distinction before retiring. He was a hero and a leader in his community. His family was not invited to the White House to meet with Joe Biden on the anniversary of his death as the Floyd family was. Dorn’s family did not get a multi-million dollar wrongful death settlement from the city of St Louis like Floyd’s survivors did from Minneapolis. Both men were black.

Last week officers in Minneapolis shot and killed a suspect wanted for a gun possession charge when he produced a gun and pointed it at the police. Members of a U.S. Marshals task force were attempting to arrest a felon wanted on a state arrest warrant. The deceased was a known criminal with a violent history. Using social workers as some of the “Defund the Police” propose, would not have been effective. A protest ensued in a city still tense over the Floyd death.

One of the Nation’s foremost Law enforcement experts, who believes fervently in the “Defund” movement, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) stated that the answer to ending violent crime is to stop building jails. The brilliance that this member of Congress spews almost daily, gives one pause.  Is it possible that anyone, particularly an elected member of the government could be this stupid? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

Representative Sandy Cortez (as she was known in college) is the beneficiary of 24-hour armed security that has no chance of ever being “defunded”. In a scant couple of years since she left the bar she was tending, and was elected to represent the Bronx and Queens, she has lost touch with the reality of crime in her native city.

The city of New York, led by one of the worst Mayors in the city’s history is losing experienced police officers at a record rate as a result of Bill DeBlasio’s police budget cuts and failure to back the force.  He is one of the most prominent political loons championing the restructuring and the downsizing of law enforcement. Sandy and Bill’s ignorance of the rising crime rate in a once great city is tragic. To revitalize the city’s image, New York has launched an advertising campaign inviting folks to visit, despite reports and videos of daily assaults and daylight robberies. Seriously? 

This insanity is not limited to the Big Apple, in the last five years over 3,000 black citizens have been murdered by drug gangs in Chicago. Fact. The clueless Mayor Lori Lightfoot has joined the chorus and endorsed the defund movement. She blames the violence on inadequate gun control laws. No understanding by her of the root cause nor acknowledgement that Chicago and the state of Illinois have the most restrictive gun laws in the Nation is evident. Beginning to think that America is suffering from an abundance of the political dunderheads?

This blatant, continued disregard for the importance of well trained and respected law enforcement personnel by the progressive nincompoops, will not lead to a positive societal outcome.  Gun sales are at record levels. Americans know that they need to protect their homes and families if a diminished local police force becomes a reality.

So, to “circle back” as Presidential Press Secretary Jen Psaki would say, this assault on law enforcement started with the unnecessary murder of a career criminal by a rogue cop. To brand the men and women who protect and serve communities throughout the Nation as evil racists because of Officer Derek Chauvin’s individual actions is ludicrous. His damage to the American police profession should not serve as the rallying cry to defund and denigrate the police or deify George Floyd. 

On the other hand, Captain David Dorn is emblematic of the kind of men and women who serve. He should be venerated and remembered instead of counted as just a victim of the Floyd inspired riots. An emphasis on what constitutes a civil society is a national priority. David Dorn contributed to national civility.  George Floyd did not.

Law and Order is critical to all Americans regardless of color, ethnicity, or political affiliation.