POLICE: Just follow instructions

I, like so may others, have followed the recent police shootings nationwide with great concern. I served as an officer for 32 years on the streets of Phoenix, Ariz. I believe our department was one of the best trained, community based organizations in the country at that time.

I retired 13 years ago, so representing the current department would be inappropriate on my part. All the past shooting incidents have a thousand different elements but all share one common thread in my opinion. While each may or may not have been justified under law, all were needless in simple fact. We search for the answer to the problems that seem so vast. Each of us knows the answer to the problem of police shootings. We learned it as children from our parents, we learned it in school from our teachers, we knew it when we got jobs. If you served in the military, you really know the answer.

When given an instruction, do as you are told.

All of the shooting incidents started with a contact that escalated out of control. Why challenge or fight with an officer who has been put into this situation? We must remember that officers in this country make millions of contacts each and every day. We see the result of the ones that go very badly and cause a lifetime of pain for all involved. So to me the answer is simple: Follow the instructions. If the officer is wrong, it can be addressed at another time with his supervisors or through legal recourse. I may be wrong in a simplistic view but in my career every one of the violent incidents were the result of refusing to cooperate and the escalation of force. If following instructions at home, in school, at work or even assembling your latest piece of equipment seems so simple, why would you not listen to a police officer?

JOHN BOUGHTON

Coeur d’Alene