I’m going to expose my lack of knowledge when it comes to social media and / or computers. I just watched this video on Facebook and attempted to somehow download it to put up on here. I have done this before with YouTube but clearly it’s beyond me with Facebook so please click on the link and watch the three minute video before reading ahead.
There is a lot online at the moment about police violence or things of that ilk and this video is attempting portray an American police officer over stepping the mark, or at least in this case attempting to. He is trying to get a driver who he has pulled over for speeding to step out of his car. The driver doesn’t want to and is telling him to just fine him and let him go on his way. The video is only three minutes long so we have no idea what happened prior to this recording or after when some other officers turn up. He first threatens to pepper spray him for not getting out the vehicle but in a comedic way his pepper spray is empty at which point he takes a hold of his taser. He suggests he wants him to step out of the vehicle because he is concerned for his safety. If you have watched the video then this paragraph was pointless but humour me.
This might sound counter intuitive but I actually feel a little sorry for the police officer. Yes don’t get me wrong he is clearly not handling the situation well but he’s also clearly not suited to the task he is attempting to carry out. He has no authority in a job which demands above all else authority. He is clearly either nervous, scared or simply not suitable. And that’s what I want to focus on. This man is not suited to the job he is trying to carry out. Now that could mean the job itself makes demands of people that rely on authoritative bullying, but somewhere down the line they have employed and trained this man who should not be doing a job which can lead to situations which result in potentially killing someone. One day either he will be killed or he will fuck up and kill someone. For me, he as a human being has been failed by a police force and a crumbling system, which has allowed someone clearly dangerously unsuitable to find himself in a situation above his head. He may not be a victim on par with or in the style of George Floyd but it’s important to recognise it is this kind of thing too which highlights a corrupt and failed state and it’s institutions. Thankfully this movement isn’t just focusing on the individual, people are seeing the bigger picture, but it’s also important to see the human being too even when he is being a dick.
Observations and Misunderstandings 