It happened again. For the 11th time this year. A cop in Albuquerque shot someone. Six of them fatally. Sigh.

It's a hard job, I know, but this last shooting really makes you wonder. There was a Native guy who went to the bus station trying to get to Oklahoma, and the ticket agent said there would be an extra fee to exchange a ticket. He got upset and stormed out. The guy was more than a little off his rocker. He got a knife and cut his wrists enough to bleed and wandered around downtown. The police were notified and responded.

The story first given to the public was that the guy had a knife and advanced on the police. Assault with a deadly weapon, right? Shooting deserved, right? Well, we found out the next day that the guy was wielding a butter knife. While the shooting was front page news the first day, the fact that it was a butter knife was buried without fanfare in the newspaper the next. Cops are good, mentally ill are bad. End of story. Sigh.

I know there are a lot of crazy people in my town, and the po po come into contact with the worst elements of our society. But they get paid well to do this dirty job, they are trained to detain criminals in a variety of ways without firing a piece of metal through someone's chest. They carry mace, tasers, clubs and guns and are trained in hand-to-hand combat. If the officer could have waited one more minute, the crisis intervention specialist would have arrived on the scene (and might have noticed the butter aspect of the knife). There is, however, this shoot-first-ask-questions-later mentality that apparently comes with their authority. Protect and serve is more like cease and desist.

On the personal side, I got a red light ticket recently for making a right turn in my cab a half a second after the yellow light had disappeared on a street corner. I had to go to cop court. I acknowledge that my turn occurred a half second late but argued that I made the safer move by continuing my action rather than slamming on the breaks and ending up in the crosswalk. It was a benign move that caused no incident.

The cop in charge of cop court had no sympathy or understanding of the human nature of the situation. My vehicle had not passed the line before the light change and therefore was in violation, owing $75. Now, the fine in criminal court is $10 plus $59 court fees. Why a camera picture costs $75 is beyond me. If I wanted to wait around until the afternoon, I could have pled my case to another person (employed by the cops) and waste the entire day. Basically, I was screwed. There was no human understanding. Pay the fine or do the time.

This is why I (and many others) do not like the police. The basic lack of human understanding for anything. They see the general public as a threat, they assume the worst out of individuals, and much of what they do is make people pay fines to fund whatever it is they want.

I have never called the police to help me solve my problems. Basically, I take the stance of I'll stay out of the cops way and they will hopefully stay out of mine. This works for much of my life, but when I do have to deal with them, it is rarely to my benefit. The funny thing is I'm a good guy. I don't go out and commit crimes against society. Yet because of the way the cops treat myself, friends of mine and many of society in general, I side with the views of most sociopaths, criminals and mentally ill. The cops are out to get us.

I will not say all cops are bad. I really don't know how the police handle things in your town, but I do know they are looking for trouble. They are looking for ways to fine you. To pay a fee. To fund their programs. But when it comes down to it, they will shoot you for cutting your own wrists with a butter knife.

How can we change this? I have no idea. I don't know whose idea it was to take old football players, arm them to the hilt and tell them to police the area. They are bullies with mustaches, women included. If a regular person walked down the street with as many weapons as the police carry everyday, most folks would assume that person is dangerous. Do you think a uniform means they will use these weapons protect you? Or are they protecting themselves? Are they serving their own needs and wants?

The po po does protect, and it does serve. I just don't think they protect and serve us.

Chris Jungle has no criminal record.