Dave Richards for April 3rd…………….
--Three of my favorite Springtime events are either here or almost here. First, the month I’ve been waiting for since November, April is finally here! Next, the City of Woonsocket Children’s Egg Hunt is this coming Sunday! All children of city residents are invited to Rivers Edge Complex off Davison Avenue at……well, better make it 12:30pm this Sunday. Dozens of prizes and cratesful of candies and eggs will be available on the three soccer fields literally for the taking when the horn sounds PROMPTLY at 1pm (no matter where you are at the time).
Note the location. Rivers Edge Complex is the park with the Bike Path, Putting Green, and Soccer Fields. Parking is located INSIDE the Park. You must pull into the long driveway and drive to the parking area. You do not see it from the road. It is NOT the Veteran’s Park.
You’ll notice I told you to get there at 12:30pm. There’s a reason for that. Years ago when we had the Egg Hunt at another location it was easier to get to the fields for hunting if you arrived almost at the last minute. Not so at Rivers Edge park. You’ll be walking a bit further, and that takes time, so please plan for it. All the other kids are not going to wait for yours to get there. When the horn blows, the fields are stripped bare in a very few minutes!
The third event is the Children’s Fishing Derby coming up on Saturday April 14th at Cass Park in Woonsocket. I’ll have more on that next week.
--Time now for our weekly rant. I sometimes use this time to take a light-hearted look at a problem. This is not one of those times. This subject is just too serious to joke about.
I am increasingly disturbed by the sheer number of police shootings we are seeing in the news. These horrible events must stop. The solution is simple. The deaths are totally needless and are, from what I can see in the reports, caused by somebody not following the rules. Often they could be avoided if the suspect simply complied with the orders of law enforcement officers immediately and without argument. The shooting of the unarmed person who reached for his cell phone INSTEAD of complying with the orders of police was a perfect example of this.
Every citizen of this country should, and now that I think of it, every non-citizen should also learn one simple fact which some of us have been and all of us should have been taught as children. “When a police officer gives you an order, you comply immediately and without argument.”
There will be plenty of time and opportunity later to explain yourself or offer proofs of your innocence. But. And we cannot stress this point too strongly……..BUT if you fail to comply immediately with the order of a police officer YOU ARE ALREADY WRONG! Even if you are innocent of any crime, you have now broken the law for having failed to comply immediately. It is called “obstruction of a police officer in the conduct of their duty”.
Comply first. If you didn’t do anything wrong, you will be given every chance to explain it later and all you will have lost is a little of your time, not your life. And if you did do something wrong, you will avoid tacking additional charges onto whatever you have coming. By the way, if you think you can get away from the cops…….c’mon…….in the 21st Century? You have a better chance of being hit by lightning than not being caught eventually (with evasion and flight charges added)……hey, they caught Bin Laden, you know.
Yes, I realize you may not be thinking rationally when one or more police officers make you the focus of their professional attention, perhaps with guns drawn, so now is the time, as you read this, to resolve that if you ever find yourself in such a situation you will not turn it into a death sentence.
Right now, while you have your wits about you, think for a moment. You’ve got to realize that police officers are people just like you and me who are trained to take control of a situation quickly and completely and to protect themselves and others, yes, with deadly force if needed.
If you think you’re nervous in such a situation, police officers are, too. They are on edge and tense, as anyone would be, when they draw their weapons. They don’t know if you are hopped up on drugs. They don’t know what crazy thing you will do which might prevent them from keeping their promise to come home from work to their family safely. They are trained to take control………..and if you are not within their control, they will put you under their control. Don’t challenge it, this is not a game.
So once again it’s not that we need any new laws. We have the laws we need. But we do not yet have the compliance with existing laws we need to make everyone safe. Let’s make sure everyone gets this message that you are always wrong if you fail to comply with the order of a police officer. This isn’t TV, you know. This is real life.
--That’s what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.
Thanks for reading.
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