Figurative Language, Hank Williams Jr., Garth Brooks, and Chris Stapleton

DeLong, Christina                                                                                                 September 20, 2017  

 

Searching for answers

 

 

     

    Charles M. Blow, “Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint,” New York Times, Opinion Pages, Dated (2016, January 26). “Charles M. Blow, in his piece “Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint published in the New York Times,” talks through his account of “This is how my son remembers it.” Where at Yale University, an all American private Ivy League college, campus police actions leave a concerned father and myself searching for answers after January's incident. In which, Yale campus police officer detained and held Charles M. Blow, son, at gunpoint. Another headline, but graciously a different ending. The time for a new overhaul in police protocol is now. Searching for justice and answers should never come "few and far between."

 

 

      Time after time I've read stories very similar headlines to Charles M. Blow sons interaction with police officers, which in return left me compelled to react with great concern. We must bridge the line of trust between the public and police officers, instead of further dividing citizens from police who are sworn in to protect the public. I am in complete disagreement in the arriving Yale campus police officer tactic when he “raised his weapon” at Charles M. Blow son, and ordered him to the ground. Was it essential for the Yale campus police officer to draw his weapon? I think the officers’ approach was reckless, clearly the injustice, and lacked controlled training. We all have rights, and the Yale police officer violated the rights of the son of Charles M. Blow and should be held accountable for acting prematurely. When will the problematic issue of police vs. public come to an end?

 

 

      There needs to be a revision of police protocol, to prevent circumstantial stops on the innocent. The returning officer then “asked me what my name was, what school I went to” just to be told “get up” and never mentioning why he retrieved his weapon and ordering the Yale student to the ground. Protocols are in place to ensure police follow them, but by campus police not informing the Yale student why he was asked to stop while held at gunpoint does not seem like a standard protocol that I've encountered before. The Yale campus police officer should have provided answers following his immediate request for Charles M. Blow son to "get up" to begin with.  Men, women, and children need to feel safe again when approached by officers. In the meantime, as if the first incident with the Yale office wasn’t enough, the officer then “asked him to turn around so he could see the back of his jacket” as if the first view of the Yale students back when face down on the concrete was not enough. Did it take an approaching female officer to add clarity to Charles M. Blow son question? “I told her that an officer had just stopped me and pointed his gun at me and that I wanted to know what this was all about.” Then “she explained students had called about a burglary suspect who fit Charles M. Blow sons’ description” do I know why, but not in agreement with how the Yale campus police detained and held Charles M. Blow son at gunpoint.

 

 

      Growing up I was raised to see good in everyone and dreamed of becoming “one outstanding police officer. With the promise to serve and protect. But, after seeing the effect guns, the public, and police had on families. Then, did I realize very quickly how one quick judgment could tear a family’s world apart? No one should feel what Charles M. Blow felt the evening his son, a third-year student at Yale called and explained how a Yale campus police officer detained and held him at gunpoint. Never will the search for answers stop. Today was Charles M. Blow son, tomorrow maybe you, or possibly me.

 

 

      In conclusion, a third-year Yale University student is left horrified that frightful night. His simple college walks back to his dorm stop mattering because apprehending a burglary suspect matching his description took center stage over his lawful rights. You pull your weapon in self-defense, and or fear of threat, not because you wear a badge, or only because you can. One's Rights were broken, and as I search for answers, I am left mortified. No parent should have to search for answers as to why their son is “at the wrong end of a gun barrel, face down on the concrete” with little to no answers.

 

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