The Law Is (Not Necissarily) the Law

Amy took her grandmother to the airport this morning for departure. Her grandmother is 77 years old and needs assistance to get into and through the airport, so they had pre-arranged for curbside check-in and an attendant to bring her a wheelchair. So after Amy helped her grandmother check in and get her baggage into the airport, she was going to help her grandmother to the wheelchair and then return to her car and depart. But as she walked her grandmother to the chair, a police woman began writing her a ticket. According to Amy, she then told the officer that she was just walking her grandmother to the wheelchair and would depart as soon as that was complete but the officer interrupted her with something about having a job to do and not caring why she was still there. Amy replied with, "Fine. Then you do what you have to do and I'll do what I have to do," and said goodbye to her grandmother. She told me she was in the car and on her way home literally two minutes later.

Now I appreciate the law. It keeps society accountable for its actions and helps to maintain order (as much as can be said) against the potential chaos that might exist if we had no law. My father is a retired police officer. I grew up respecting the police because he was one. But in my adult life, I've seen enough selfish, short-sighted, power-hungry police officers who abuse their station in society primarily by not conforming to the laws that they themselves enforce, that in these kinds of situations, I find it hard to muster any respect for them whatsoever.

Justice is said to be blind, but as far as I can tell, most police officers are not. They are bestowed with the same powers of vision and logical reasoning as most any normal person might be. But when one of them cannot seem to use their powers of acuity for good, when a law might be broken but the context of the situation might merit it forgivable, and they actively refuse to consider that context (to see the proverbial forest through the trees), I see them as not exercising the law to its true potential but rather inflicting it, as one might a weapon, in order to provide themselves with gratification and others with punishment.

As I said before, I respect the law. It provides me and my family with many protections that we would otherwise not be afforded. But this incident will be brought before a judge. We will respect whatever decision is made. But know this: in a system where cops who beat bartenders or make their wives "disappear" are still not held accountable, every tiny instance such as the one I have just reported where leniency would be appreciated but is not granted is another notch on my wall against respect for the force. I am aware that the Chicago Police specifically as an organization are considered quite corrupt, but when it comes to organizations, what reflects poorly on the individual reflects poorly on the entire group and once trust is lost, it is not easily regained.