Cops Go From Hero To Villain

In the early days of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic when everybody was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, American law enforcement officers with calmness and courage risked their lives and well-being, and that of their families, when they answered the call to serve and protect. This was at a time when not much was known about the virus or its transmission. This was at a time when Dr. Tony Fauci confidently proclaimed on a top-rated Sunday night news show that he was not worried about COVID and that there was no need for people to run out, buy and start wearing surgical masks. More importantly, it was well before testing was available and keep in mind there was no “vaccine” available. I’ll get to that later.

Nevertheless, our police officers went to work as other government employees including public school teachers and elected officials locked themselves in their homes and got paid to work from home. In the private sector, businesses were ordered closed, putting private sector employees out of work with no pay unlike government workers. That quarantine-like bubble of protection wasn’t available to police officers. They couldn’t strictly socially distance themselves from crime victims or suspects. You can’t handcuff an arrestee from six feet away. If first aid was required of say a gunshot victim, that could not be done from six feet away. At the time there was no concern about the well-being or safety of police officers. In fact, they were heralded as heroes for their bravery and selfless service.

That was then, this is now.

 Now a so-called “vaccine” has been developed. Bear with me for a moment as I look inside what is being called settled science on COVID. The people using this term have an agenda. There is no such thing as settled science. A Harvard College professor once reminded me that science doesn’t prove, it only probes. Keep in mind that settled science once believed that the sun rotated around the earth. First of all, it isn’t even a vaccine by medical definition. A vaccine makes you immune from getting a virus or spreading it. It was rushed through clinical trials to market. There is still a lot that is not know about what really is by medical definition a therapeutic. That means you can still catch the virus and spread it and you have to continue to get periodic additional shots to protect you. A recent news report said that several weeks ago, 40% of all COVID-related reported deaths nationally were of people who had been fully “vaccinated”. There is still a lot that is not known about this therapeutic like its long-term side effects. Now something called a delta variant has emerged that is resistant to the therapeutic. In addition to this, reasonable people are asking questions like how long will they have to keep getting jabbed and injected with this therapeutic. The bottom line is that we have not been told the whole story about things and it makes people rightfully suspicious. So-called experts keep moving the goalposts. Ok, enough of that.

Then there is the legal question about government’s authority to force an individual to inject anything into their body as a condition of employment. I don’t care about the efficacy of what is medically best for people. It is still a freedom and liberty issue, and those decisions should be left to the individual to make.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot continues to threaten Chicago police officers with suspensions without pay and termination unless they take the jab. Her order further reduces the ranks of an already depleted force as violent street crime continues at record rates. She had no concern for their health as they continued to perform their duty in dangerous conditions in the early days of the pandemic. Many saw them as heroes. Now their organizations and political class officials are showing their thanks by seeing them as the bad guys in all of this. That is an odd way of thanking them. Making matters more untenable is that feckless police commanders are willing to enforce these city policies. Lightfoot should attack crime and criminals like she does Chicago police officers. Crime rates would drop exponentially. She should attack her useless state’s attorney Kimberly Fox, who refuses to charge repeat criminal offenders or ask for substantial bail in these cases.

So now law enforcement officers are at a crossroads between freedom to choose or losing their careers as local government officials are threatening them with the loss of their livelihood if they do not give in to forced “vaccination.” Some agencies have already terminated and suspended officers without pay, and some have voluntarily resigned. This makes their families collateral damage as many officers are the primary income source for things like mortgages, putting food on the table and tuition for their children.

Thankfully, police unions are showing resolve in this fight.  The Chicago FOP president has told officers to hold the line against these forced injections. In New York, NYPD officers organized a large protest march against forced medical orders. This is a good sign.  These labor organizations possess leverage in this fight against these thankless politicians and should start flexing their muscles by using it.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com