Our Mantra: It is not the critic who counts.
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Excerpt from the speech “Citizenship In A Republic”
Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne, Paris, France
April 23, 1910,
THE DANGERS FACING POLICE
- Ambush style killings of law enforcement officers are on the rise; officers in New York and across the country have been killed simply because of the color of their uniform – blue.
- On average over 58,000 officers are assaulted each year, with over 15,000 being injured. On average 149 officers are killed in the line of duty each year. (source: nleomf.org)
- The number of law enforcement officers killed by gunfire in the United States is up 57% over 2013 statistics. (source odmp.org)
- On average, a law enforcement officer is killed every 58 hours in the United States. (Source: nleomf.org)
WHY “STAND WITH COPS” NOW?
- Ohio’s law enforcement officers feel frustrated and under attack due to recent incidents
- Law enforcement officers pride themselves on building relationships with their communities
- Those relationships are being threatened by outside forces
- Officers know that the vast majority of the community supports them but often times, those in disagreement are much louder.
- We need to stand with cops to sustain the important link between community members and those who keep the community safe.
- Learn more at StandWithCops.org
“We have learned over a long period of time, having made our own mistakes, a pullover related to a license plate should not, in the normal course of events, lead to lethal force,” said Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley. “Therefore, reform is in order.
Really? Perhaps reform is in order, but it would be in reforming politicians, who on one day express deep sorrow regarding the murder of an officer, and less than a month later hold a press conference to in essence denounce the actions of an officer who may have acted in defense of his police life, which does matter. Will the evidence show that the U.C. officer involved in the fatal encounter was one shot away from ending up like P.O. Kevin Crayon, who was dragged to his death by an “unarmed” 12 year old auto thief on Sept. 1, 2000? At this point, intelligent, rational people who are prejudiced cannot come to a conclusion. But the Mayor, who has not seen the tape, or heard the evidence, can call for reform. Sad, but true.
What evidence do we have at this point? We have an officer, doing his job, in an unpredictable environment where the outcome is often most influenced by the actions of a violator. We have a traffic violator, who unlike most violators was not known for a strong adherence to the laws of our society, but rather had, as reported by a local newspaper, a “criminal history in Hamilton County includes at least a dozen arrests for misdemeanor drug crimes and traffic offenses, court records show. He also served time in a state prison on a 2005 marijuana trafficking charge.” Now we have an initial police incident report indicating that there were witnesses to the officer being dragged by the car, along with physical evidence that would substantiate that account.
Unfortunately, those that seek anarchy will likely engage in assaultive behavior and wanton destruction of property no matter what decision the Grand Jury makes after hearing the evidence. It makes no difference to them, since they have already reached their decision. Sadly, that is the nature of prejudice.
