In our never-ending political spiral downward, we have decided that our men and women in law enforcement are props in the partisan circus.
From demonizing the police in the wake of the George Floyd murder by the left to the utter disregard for the Capitol and Metropolitan Police by the right beginning on January 6th, the patrons of partisanship have tried to shape the narrative of the men and women who protect all citizens. The latest example is Sheriff William Snyder heeding the call of Governor DeSantis to send deputies to the Mexican border.
I am surprised at Snyder for succumbing to this request. Long before the calls for defunding the police and general disrespect for those that wear the badge, Snyder began thinking about how to prevent Floyd-like travesties from happening here. He also is doing something about how to better confront those who have mental health issues than just having deputies respond.
In any profession there are the 10% who excel, the 10% who are at the bottom, and the rest that just want to do the job and go home. This holds true for law enforcement. The top 10% live and breathe the job. They become the chiefs, directors, and in some cases derive new strategies to combat crime such as Jack Maple did with CompStat.
The guys and gals who fall in the 80% of law enforcement do their jobs whether it is preventing a robbery, chasing a suspect, or giving out a speeding ticket. When their shifts end, they change out of their uniforms and go home. But even off duty, most are inclined to help if they see an accident or a dangerous situation.
Then you have those in the bottom 10%. Most are just slackers. They are there for no other reason but to collect a check and do as little as they can. A few are racists and sadists (like Derek Chauvin) who like the authority that being in law enforcement confers but use that authority not to protect and serve but for their own ego trip.
Deputy Sheriffs on the Texas border 1910
Pinterest
Which brings me back to why using law enforcement to exercise political purposes is so wrong for the citizens and the cops. If we are trying to show every segment of the population why it is important to respect the badge, using the badge for partisan theatrics such as patrolling the border just makes that impossible. The police and the law need to be above the business of politics for them to be effective in the eyes of all citizens.
Is there a problem with our immigration and border control systems? Sure, there is. Under our Constitution that is a federal responsibility. The president and Congress need to solve it and as citizens it is up to us to make sure they do. Federal law enforcement agents are the ones charged with immigration and the border.
Like DeSantis, Texas Governor Abbot is up for re-election next year. Both want to show that they are tough on undocumented immigrants to woo their bases. Martin County deputies have no business going outside the state on such a blatantly political foray. By heeding the call, the sheriff is giving an unfunded mandate to the taxpayers of Martin County. He is also showing for some of our residents that his deputies are their adversaries instead of impartial servants of the law.