MINNESOTA INCIDENT –SOMETIMES IT’S ABOUT PERSPECTIVE

We have all seen the same footage, from several cameras, of the incident in Minnesota where a federal law enforcement officer shot and killed a woman who was accused of hitting him with her car. Yet opinion, for whatever an opinion is worth, is sharply divided. Some believe the shooting was just while others are demanding that the officer be charged with a crime, up to and including, murder.

In this case, perspective is not necessarily about the observable evidence. We see the same things, in this case. In this case, for many (but not all) the perspective is about WHO is viewing the videos. If one is anti-ICE and anti-deportation, the perspective is influenced by political and social viewpoints. If one is in favor of immigration laws being enforced and is generally supportive of law enforcement, that, too, influences the perception.

I must admit that I am influenced, but not yet persuaded, by my own perceptions and biases. I believe in legal immigration, I believe that illegal aliens who have committed criminal acts, should be arrested, jailed, and eventually deported. I am ambivalent about illegal aliens who are peaceful and productive. I live within driving distance from where nursing student Laken Riley was brutally assaulted and murdered, so that also colors my perspective.

I am the father of a career police officer and was, myself, a police academy honor graduate and spent over 25 years as a law enforcement chaplain for several agencies, including a sheriff’s department, four city police departments, a police academy, and the F.B.I. I received state certification as a Law Enforcement Instructor, a Defensive Tactics Instructor, a Chaplain, and a Field Training Officer. I shot either Expert or Master every time I went to the range. I completed over 1,600 hours of training and, for two agencies, was a sworn officer. All of that influences my perspective.

Yet for all that, I don’t know ALL of the facts nor do I have access to any evidence other than what I have seen on television. Like everyone, I have a tentative opinion but, unlike so many, I recognize that all I have is an opinion influenced by perspective.

So, I will, as all must do, wait for the investigation or investigations to be completed. I refuse to be drawn in by one side or another and will await the final results. In the meantime, all we have are shouting, sometimes angry, voices who are speaking out of their own perception of the incident that, indeed, was a terrible tragedy.