There has been a series of incidents recently with a similar pattern. A male member of the public firstly acts in an illegal way (e.g. carjacking and assaulting the victims; threatening people on a bus with a knife and scattering them off the bus; committing traffic offences and then resisting arrest while fellow passengers assault the officer).
In each case there is a threat to the safety of the officer because the offenders show no respect and they do not do as requested. Instead of complying with the request of the officers, they behave in defiant ways and threaten the officer. Then the person is shot.
Not long afterwards, members of the public solicited by the media pass judgment when they do not know the details and blame the officer. It is about time that the media put forward some clear warning messages to lawbreakers.
In Syria, Lebanon or elsewhere you may throw things at police officers in an attempt to undermine them. If you do it here, you will be shot. If you are a criminal (and you know if you are) and you are arrested, do not fight with the officer or else, with the full backing of the government and the vast majority of law abiding Canadians, you might be shot.
If you happen to have a knife or a gun, do not point it at the police officer and especially do not make threats to harm the officer.
The police are there to protect law-abiding citizens. If you carry a weapon and point it at the police, you are not law-abiding. There is a reason the police carry guns. They need them to enforce the law so as to make Canada a safe place for the rest of us who never threaten police officers.
It is time to stop blaming the police for doing their job. It is time to stop supporting criminals who refuse to behave in a civil way. The latest death in Alberta was a man who had allegedly hijacked several cars and wreaked havoc, assaulting several innocent people. Not surprisingly, he was shot. The police in Alberta are doing a good job. Keep it up. We need protection from those who run amok and threaten innocent people.
William Paul Green
St. Albert, Alberta
