DeKalb FOP responds to AJC article

Permission to print the full text of the article is pending.
UPDATE:  As of October 20th, 2006, the AJC has not granted permission to print
the original article, nor have they published the FOP's response.

The response is as follows:

Response to:     “Police shootings surge in DeKalb”
                            Atlanta Journal-Constitution
                            Published on 09-30-2006
                            By David Simpson and Chandler Brown

The opening line of this article sets the tone for the entire piece.  “In one case, a teenager simply picked the wrong house to burglarize.”  Are we to assume that had the teenager picked the correct house to burglarize, it would be acceptable?  Are we to assume that because the perpetrator is a teenager, he should be allowed to victimize and potentially kill the citizens of DeKalb County? 

Our police are asked to put their lives at stake each day to promote a safe, orderly community for the citizens of the Atlanta metropolitan area.  Without a police force to counter them, thugs and drug pushers would overrun our neighborhoods ensuring nothing but chaos and fear.

Especially discouraging is the statement by John Evans, “[the police have] got itchy fingers.”  The intellectual bankruptcy of this statement only serves to foster mistrust of the police and introduce an unjustifiable racial component.  Evans would have you believe the police are looking for opportunities to shoot people.  Obviously, Evans has no idea what an officer involved in a shooting must endure.

The decision to use deadly force generally must be made in a split second.  If a police officer is forced to make that fateful choice to shoot, his life is immediately thrown into complete chaos.  It’s not like you see on television.  The officer is immediately stripped of his weapon and placed on administrative leave.  The shooting incident is then picked apart and the officer and his entire career are placed under a microscope.  The officer’s livelihood is placed in the hands of people who weren’t there and who witnessed nothing.  Investigators take weeks or months to determine if a decision made in a split second was correct.  This scrutiny is from within the police department, before it becomes fodder for the media and race hustlers.  Evans’ assertion of a “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality is comedic.

Every unfortunate incident of the use of deadly force must be examined individually.  Was the officer or an innocent citizen in grave danger?  Was there another option that could be utilized in the suddenly violent situation?  From another perspective, how many faithful and good officers are hurt or killed because they do not use deadly force quickly enough?  Might such good officers hesitate too much because of the intense scrutiny they would soon endure?

The reasons for such an increase in police shootings might be several, including a growing lack of respect for the law and increased population.  Statements such as those attributed to John Evans are a perfect example of declining respect for law enforcement.  Outgoing Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, a major role model for our community, struck a police officer without much fear of repercussion.  Clearly there exist societal influences that contribute to a disregard for the authority with which we entrust our public servants.

Population is also a possible factor in the increase of the use of force by police officers.  In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, DeKalb County opened its arms to many evacuees who decided to stay.  New Orleans itself boasts a murder rate 7.54 times the national average and an overall violent crime rate 1.62 times the average (Data Source: 2003 FBI Report of Offenses Known to Law Enforcement via www.cityrating.com).  Did we expect crime to go down?  It may be a non-politically correct factor to examine, but necessary in an objective search for the truth.

The officers of DeKalb County are part of this community.  We live here.  We shop here.  Our children go to school here.  We, too, want to live in a safe, secure community, free of thugs, dealers, and the like.  We are sworn to put our lives in jeopardy to make that happen.  We ought not to endanger ourselves or the community more than we have to, and unfortunately the necessary response to reduce that risk is sometimes the use of deadly force.

For the DeKalb County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #10
Issued October 3, 2006 with concurrence of the following members:

Tom Reiner                      Bob de Graaf                Will Regan
Jeff Wiggs                        Leigh Vaughn                Will Wiggins
Charles Rape                   Billy Peacock                 Martin Vaughn
Bob Hillis                         Ric Palmer                     Mike Bryant