> Behalf Of dendriite
> From: "Kevin Tarr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > dendriite:
> Sure........I believe that murdering children is a horrendous crime
and
> (comparitively) harsher penalties should be applied to those who
murder
> children with intent.
> Law officers are adults working in a dangerous job that they
*chose*. I do
> not believe that the harsher penalties prevent the deaths of law
officers.
> Law officers are not better or more important than other citizens,
and the
> fact that they have become a special interest catagory only
increases the
> insulation from the society they work to protect. Law enforcement is
a
> necessary function in society, but giving officers elite status with
special
> protections only leads to corruption, not better law enforcement.
>
> xponent
> rob
First, of course, I think very few policemen would agree that harsher
penalties prevent the deaths of law officers. Most cops can tell you
stories of criminals who were unwilling to fire at policemen, knowing
that it would almost certainly result in their death either at the
hands of the police or the state itself.
The second problem I have with this is your idea that because
policemen _chose_ to do what they do they deserve no special
protection. Exactly the opposite is the case. _Not all choices are
equally virtuous_. A police officer _chooses_ to put his life at risk
in order to defend society against its malefactors. That is not a
morally neutral choice - it is a positive one. In return, society
owes those who implement its laws certain things. The first and most
important of those is honor. As we should respect soldiers for what
they do, so should we respect police officers and fire fighters for
what they do - because all three put their lives at risk to protect
those who (presumptively) would not necessarily do the same were the
situations reversed. The second, however, is that society must take
every step that it can to protect those officers - to make sure that
this sacrifice remains potential, as opposed to actual. One of the
easiest things that can be done is to say, simply, that killing an
officer of the law is not simply killing an individual person - it is
an assault on the fabric of society itself, and as such, must be met
with the harshest possible punishment. Police officers are not above
the law, but they are the instruments of the law, and because they are
human beings who have demonstrated their willingness to risk their
lives on behalf of their fellow men, punishing those who harm them
does not give them a special status - it is the least that society can
do to protect its guardians.
********************Gautam "Ulysses" Mukunda**********************
* Harvard College Class of '01 *He either fears his fate too much*
* www.fas.harvard.edu/~mukunda * Or his deserts are small, *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Who dares not put it to the touch*
* "Freedom is not Free" * To win or lose it all. *
******************************************************************
