PAX Centurion - April / June 2016

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • April-May-June 2016 • Page 63 MyWord Search Solutions… From Crime on page 60 From Summer on page 59 correct world we live in. Hopefully you all recall the former Boston officer who used a racist and derogatory term in describing a Harvard professor who had been arrested by the Cambridge police in a letter he sent to the Boston Globe in July of 2009. I never met or spoke to this officer and cannot attest if he was a good guy or a bad guy. What I do know about him is that he quickly lost his job in a very public way. In March of this year, a Medford police officer posted what he probably thought was a funny Facebook post containing a picture of a mushroom cloud from an atomic bomb with a text stating “Japan has been at peace with the USA since September 2, 1945. It’s time we made peace with Islam.”Although this officer probably thought this was funny, the City of Medford didn’t, and an Internal Affairs investigation was commenced. He was forced to publicly apologize. No matter how funny you think a Facebook post may be, please ask yourself (1) is this going to offend people? and (2) is it really worth it? It’s the world we live in folks. It may be your own social media, but as a police officer, you represent more than yourself, and you are held to a higher standard than others. Be careful about posting controversial or offensive things, particularly in the summer season where it is nice to have a couple of cold beverages at the end of every day. Anything posted on the internet can quickly spread like wildfire, and an offensive post that is capable of growing exponentially is likely to bring you the fifteen minutes of fame you don’t want. And also likely to earn you an unpaid vacation that you also don’t want. Think (and don’t drink) before you post. Having said all of this, I wish you all great weather, plenty of sunscreen, no mosquitoes, nice beach days, and coolers filled with cold summer beverages. Have a safe summer and continue to watch out for each other as the ever-present video cameras watch you. Preparing for the summer… From Anderson on page 47 From Stay Alive on page 10 Be prepared, be aware and stay alive… after you finish writing a report. When you read some of the bulletins and follow some of the news you discover that there are many more of these incidents happening around the world that don’t make there way intoAmerican mainstream media or if they do they often go unnoticed because they are not afforded the same amount of coverage as some inane quote from one of the many excellent presidential candidates that have graced our nation this year. (I am noting my sarcasm in case it doesn’t come across.) In addition to being prepared we need to be aware; aware of what is going on around us, aware of who is around us and what they are doing. As I mentioned before I am just as guilty as anyone else of having tunnel vision and being aware of my surroundings. We need to do everything we can to fight our inclination to be hyper focused on a task to the exclusion of everything that we are surrounded by. Societal norms today do not make this any easier; we have all seen people almost have a really bad day walking around with their head buried in their smart phone as they walk blindly into traffic. I don’t want to sound like I am telling anyone how to live their lives; I just want to encourage police officers to try whenever possible to be ready for the danger that continues to threaten free societies. These situations are thrust upon us with little if any warning and Boston has not been a stranger to them. As I write this I just learned about an attack in France where an individual pledging allegiance to ISIL has murdered two French police officials at their home. The exact circumstances of the attack are still developing news but needless to say it makes clear that the police have been made direct targets by terrorist organizations all over the world. Sorry for all of the doom and gloom; I hope everyone enjoys the summer and gets some good quality time with your family and the ability to enjoy life. Be prepared and stay safe.