Chambered

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Many, but not all of you know that I am a 34 year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department.  It was during the time of LAPD's glory years.  The time of Dragnet, Police Story, Adam-12, and many  motion pictures.  A time of great pride.

But for me, it was a time that I could only share my experiences with others whom I deemed could relate.  "Insiders" like other cops, firemen, emergency room nurses, and clergy.  Those were the people that shared my experiences and somehow could understand.  Anyway, some seven years after retirement, I am just now becoming able to my stories with others, and I do so that they can benefit.  And here is one such story.

LAPD's Rampart Division was, at that time, the busiest police precinct in the world.  More calls for service and more cops per resident than any other.  Just outside the city center, it was an area long abandoned by the wealthy and left for drugs, alcohol, gangs, prostitution, and the mentally insane.  It was the place where I worked the night shifts for my first six years.  And I loved it!  And it was simply amazing.

An early memory of my career involved an incident in Rampart.  One morning just after midnight, I responded to a single family house which had been converted into a rental that housed several lower income families.  One male resident had been beaten by an intruder when he answered a knock at the door.  Although the man was in his 60's, I considered him elderly and defenseless, I guess because I young and healthy.   

Anyway, the intruder, after entering the residence beat the victim severely, left him for dead, and then stole what little valuables he had before leaving.  The victim lost his sight as the result of the beating and remained in the hospital for over a month.

It was not long after the victim's release that he returned home.  I visited with him a time or two and learned that he was terrified sitting home alone and blind.  As strong as I thought I was, I felt his pain.  And I soon responded to yet another emergency at the victim's residence. 

A week or two after returning home, the victim heard someone outside his door, but this time he refused to answer and screamed at the person to go away.  The victim armed himself with an old surplus rifle that a friend of him gave him after the beating, and chambered a single bullet.  As the victim cowered in a chair in a corner farthest away from his front door, he heard the sounds of his door being kicked in.  The victim fired  his rifle, through the still closed door and into the chest of the person outside, killing him.

Now California had a "Castle Law" that essentially gave a person the right to use deadly force against any threat by an intruder while inside a victim's home.  But this time, this intruder had not yet gained entrance at the time the victim fired the rifle, and the Castle Law would not protect him and he was arrested and prosecuted for murder.  And the court ruled that because the victim was blind and could not visually see the threat of an intruder, he was capable of using his weapon responsibly; therefore he was responsible for the intruder's death.

I've said before, "If you are not prepared to stand and fight, then you better be prepared to run for your life.

You decide.  What would have done do?

Stand Up

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Many of you have met me, most of you have not.  So, to set the pace for this post, let me re-state the chorus line from a 1965 song by the Animals.  "I'm just a Soul who's intentions are good.  Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood."  In other words, I'll speak my peace.

That said, most of my followers (but not all) are good people who's personal ethics follow those brought forth by the teachings of the Bible.  Many of you, I hope, are Christians like me, but that is not the issue in this post.  Just sound ethics.

During my travels across America, I make it a point to visit churches along the route.  I love to see the views of others and through them, learn to improve upon my own life.  This trip I realized little difference in the teachings of ethics across the denominations of the Christian churches that I visited.  They all taught the importance of spreading the Word, obtaining Salvation, and following the Way.  But one thing stood out.

I listened to sermon after sermon about following the Gospel.  For those of you are not Christians yet, that means for the most part, to just do what is right.  You knew what is right from birth without ever being taught and most of you strive to do the right thing always.

But I believe the clergy across America has fallen short in their discussions regarding ethics.  They ramble on and on about what is right and good, but many fail to publicly stand against what is wrong and bad.  In other words, as an example, they preach about the ills of adultery, yet they often refuse to confront the adulterer who is standing before them.  And by remaining passive to these issues, they teach us to do the same  And through our own passiveness, we allow America to sink ever deeper into a nation of the damned just as Pompeii.

Tolerance of these issues is not a solution.  Don't accept what is wrong.  Stand up publicly.  Be active in protecting your ethics when ever you can.  Confront those that you know are wrong.  And do the right thing.
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