Everyone but the Democrat leaders of our major cities wants to see the rioting, looting, vandalism and attacks on police stopped. It’s not brain surgery or rocket science. It can be done quickly, effectively and with a minimum of community disruption. Unfortunately, it can’t be done with leadership in cities that either supports the rioters and looters or lacks the intestinal fortitude to confront these anarchists. All these so-called leaders, (mayors, city counsels, city managers and chiefs of police), would have to do is allow the police officers out in the street to arrest those who are violating our laws. Then, district attorneys and city prosecutors would have to do their jobs and try these crooks for the crimes they have committed.
The reason this isn’t happening now, is that many of the elected officials owe their elections to money that was infused into their campaigns by left leaning, progressive organizations. These people have put policies, procedures and orders in place that encourage rioting, looting, arson and anarchy. First, they order the police to “stand down”. No one thing stops civil unrest faster than law enforcement officers making arrests. If the street cops are ordered to stand by and watch while businesses are broken into, looted and burned, the rioters are emboldened.
To make matters worse, in many of these jurisdictions the elected county and city prosecutors have implemented the “progressive” idea of releasing suspects, even some felony suspects, without the requirement of posting bail. This creates a revolving door where the arrested rioter/looter/arsonist is booked and immediately released to riot, loot and burn again. No wonder these cities have experienced weeks and months of public disorder.
The first thing that needs to be done, is to vote out all city, county and state elected officials who have ordered or endorsed having the police stand down when so-called “peaceful protests” cross the line into illegality, such as blocking roads, attempting to break through police lines, throwing rocks, bottles or other missiles at police or counter protesters. The same goes for elected leaders who support releasing arrestees without the requirement of bail or the failing to file criminal charges against those who riot, loot and vandalize.
If any one of the police administrators would put the health, safety and well being of the people, businesses and the officers they lead, ahead of their own careers, they would defy any stand down orders where citizens lives and property, (both private and public) are put in jeopardy.
Here is a template on how law enforcement should handle organized anarchist public violence, in case those in charge have forgotten how to confront BLM and anarchist violence, instead of just standing and watching the chaos. First, the anarchists, in particular, almost always wear masks, hoodies and backpacks, usually filled with rocks, bricks, bottles and plastic baggies of human urine and feces. With the corona pandemic, they have an excuse for wearing masks. The bad news is that the masks and hoodies make it difficult to identify these dirtbags even when they are caught on film committing crime.
The good news is that it makes it easier for undercover cops to infiltrate their ranks prior and during their riotous activities. While enough uniformed, riot gear equipped officers should be deployed to stop the rioters from going into areas they most want to destroy, squads of the biggest, baddest undercover cops should be in the anarchist’s crowd. They will be able to make arrests at the first toss of a brick, bottle or bag. Another advantage for the cops is that a bad guy wearing a backpack is easy to control by pulling on the backpack. After a few arrests are made in the crowd, most, if not all of the missile throwing will stop.
If I were a chief of police and one of these anarchist riots were heading my way, I would deploy police snipers to high ground and advise them and the “peaceful demonstrators” that anyone attempting to throw a Molotov cocktail into any building, will be shot under the assumption that that building is occupied or that a fire could spread to an adjacent building that is occupied.
When the rioting and this pandemic are over, state laws, municipal codes and county ordinances should be enacted that will prohibit demonstrators from wearing masks or other apparatus that hides the wearer’s identity. Anonymity encourages criminal behavior. Restrictions on the length and width of sticks carrying signs should be encoded into law, also, so that they cannot be used as weapons and backpacks should be prohibited.
While real peaceful demonstrations should be allowed and encouraged, weapons that turn these protest marches into riots, should not. We need to take back our streets and restore order.