Due to recent events, police use of force is under scrutiny in today’s society. If you asked a police officer, I’m sure they would tell you that they are just trying to avoid situations like Sandy Hook Elementary and the movie theater shooting in Colorado. After all, the role of police is to protect the public. We, as a society and a country, have no right to criticize the police force seeing as it is our fault that they have to do what they do.

Another thing to keep in mind is that everyone makes mistakes. The men and women in the police force are always forced to make difficult decisions and sometimes, they don’t make the right one. But think about it, have you always made the right choice? Police officers are only human, just like you and me. Killing a man is way more extreme than not doing your homework, but they’re still mistakes regardless of the extremity of them. Why are we trying to challenge and punish the men and women who intend to protect our society? Why are we trying to change a system that has been working for us for hundreds of years? If it pleases you, we could go back to the days of being ruled by Britain.

Don’t misunderstand this, I don’t think any police officer should shoot at a person for no apparent reason. But let’s look at the Beavercreek shooting for example. The man was tossing a gun around. Sure, it wasn’t a real gun, but it looked real to people in the store and the police officers who responded. Regardless of whether or not your weapon is real, the cop’s gun is real and a cop is trained to protect others through the use of that gun. I’m sure that if any other person in this situation was the police officer, they wouldn’t have taken the chance of being shot either. It comes down to this: what is more important? Your life and the life of the public, or a man who could kill you.

I get it, it’s in our human nature to rebel against something we don’t like or we don’t agree with. But when it comes down to it, how hard is it to follow the basic rules of our society? Why argue with a police officer? Why play around with a toy gun that looks real in Wal-Mart? Hopefully none of you ever have to be in a situation with the police, but if you are, just cooperate with them. If you don’t want to be shot at, pepper sprayed, tased, or beaten, then just cooperate with the police and let them do their job: protecting the public.

This story isn’t meant to condone violence. Although in today’s society, police officers occasionally have to resort to violent actions in order to get the attention of the criminal. Not only does aggressive action gain the attention of the criminal, but it also gets the attention of the public. Violence is everywhere whether we want to accept it or not. Society is changing, so the police force must adapt to this new society in order to better protect us.