by Diana Parsons

Created on: May 16, 2008   Last Updated: July 13, 2010

It frightens me sometimes to watch the news, just knowing that my children are growing up in the world it reports. Always epidemics of unjust and violence seem to prevail. I know good things happen and never get reported, but it's still very unsettling to know that so much negativity can actually happen.

I was even more saddened the other day when I caught the story of the cops in Philly beating three suspects. I couldn't believe the heroes of our children would set such a bad example. What would my six year old think if she walked into the room right now and witnessed this? What did I think of what I had just witnessed?

The story told by the reporter stated that not long before the scene shown on tape; the three men were suspected of some sort of murder and lots of gang activity. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what these guys were supposed to have done. All I could think in my horror was this couldn't possibly be happening. How could our heroes disregard their duties? If they have given up and resigned themselves to vigilante style justice, what type of system is left for the rest of us? After all, these guys were still suspects, right? Innocent until proven guilty, the foundation of our judicial system; what makes our courts fair, judgment by a jury of our peers.

I'm sure all of the years I have told my children that the police are our friends, they are who we go to when we need help, could have been erased in moments. The brutality of that beating was caught on tape and watching it left no less than a bad taste in your mouth. Not only was a police officer attacking a suspect, but a mass of officers, at least three to four on one, ruthlessly beat these men before placing them under arrest.

I don't believe criminals should be given any chance to repeat violent behavior, but neither should the enforcers of our laws and ethics. I cannot view someone with such hate and anger as the safe haven our law officers should be. If it weren't for the uniforms these men were wearing, they would have appeared to have been as dangerous and lethal as any gang they are on the streets to control.

Maybe they have been desensitized by so many years on the force, or maybe they were right in their conviction of guilt, but they could never be right about enforcing their own justice. There is no justice in lowering yourself to the behavior of a common thug. If there were honor in this type of behavior, we would be awarding gangs with streets of their own and medals to announce their bravery in beating down an unarmed person with the help of five friends.

I hope my children and yours will endure this type of behavior, and I pray these officers understand what they have done by their actions. I hope the victims grow from this experience and the scars fade to a softer shade as quickly as possible. Because those beaten that day weren't the only victims, countless citizens and family members can be counted as well. Anyone who sees it will surely carry a piece of that moment forever.

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