The Donut and San Bernardino

NOTE: I originally wrote this for my Facebook page, which has since gone viral across the web. I wanted to share it with you – it’s been copy pasted in the original content from my page at Chief Scott Silverii, PhD.

As a non-fan of professional baseball I always thought how ridiculous it was when players stepped on deck and began swinging their bat with the weighted ring (donut) on it.

Good thing I’m not the commissioner of baseball.

It’s the same thing with the “militarization” of American police.

The danger of allowing observers and non-fans of law enforcement to dictate practice and procedure is that when cops are dispatched on deck to face a pitcher throwing 500 mph fastballs instead of the 92mph pitches they’re equipped for; they lose.

This isn’t the MLB. When cops lose, so does society. We don’t keep score in earned runs but in lives lost.

Watching coverage of the San Bernardino terror incident, I noticed no one; not the media, witnesses, victims or the talking heads who spew hatred for sponsored endorsements had a thing to say about the bullet proof vests, ballistic helmets, rifles or the armored vehicles used to efficiently terminate the killers.

Local cops.

The same ones who change your flat tire, arrest your abusive spouse and swallow the resentment you show for the oath they swore, are who stopped the massacre of innocent people.

Does it make sense for a home run hitter to take the plate with a weighted donut wrapped around his wooden bat? No, not at all.

Just like it’s not good practice for cops to go battle gear forward for daily duty. But equipment is designed for a reason. Be it the donut or the APC, it’s there for a purpose.

Thankfully it was available in San Bernardino. Hopefully it’ll be available for the next massacre coming to a soft target near you.