Just few hours ago I had a pleasure to see on Youtube a certain interesting video of a certain guy from U.S. This guy was so called “certified concealed weapon wearer” or how do You, dear U.S. citizens do call it, and in his video he was explaining how an honest person legally wearing firearms on his body should behave during a routine traffic control.
It was a reasonable explanation.
You should be polite, inform the policeman immediately about You having a gun and keep Your hands in visible places. The policeman is routinely under a pressure and stress and if You fail to calm him, he may initiate routine actions which won’t be pleasant to You. Be polite, behave in a way absolutely not suggesting any danger from You and nothing bad will happen.
All right…
In the same video the same person clearly pointed out, that the policeman during the whole intervention kept his hand right over his gun ready to pull it out immediately and point at the driver. Do not make his work harder than it should be, said the guy on video, for a policeman any routine action is related with high risk and he must not trust You, since You may be a criminal.
Back to the past: The year ~2000 in Poland
Now imagine You are moving back in time to my home country. Imagine You are a truck driver moving across the Poland towards its eastern border. There is a nice sunny weather, You drive Your old truck full of hell know what cargo listening to some of Your favorite music thinking that only ten more hours, and You will be at home in Kiev or wherever You live.
Suddenly You see the police car flashing its light in back mirror, so You turn and stop. You see two policemen in uniforms moving towards Your car…
…and they pull You out of a cabin, smack You in a head, and while You are crawling on a ground one of them jumps in the cabin of the truck and drives away while the second one is kicking You and clubbing till You black-out.
This is not an accurate description, but such cases were quite popular in those days in Poland. Trucks were not equipped with tracking systems and were not that much expensive as nowadays. Especially those from former Soviet Union. The cargo was expensive and worth to get Your hands on it.
Back to the future
So what I, being Pole moved forward in time, would see if I would be in a place of that Youtube U.S. citizen?
Some flashing lights, a car looking like a police car and an armed guy in a suite quite like a Police uniform getting out of it.
Next I would see him reaching for his gun, opening the cover protecting it and moving towards me. He is clearly ready to use the firearm against me.
Trust?
I intentionally underlined the word “like“. Looking like a Police car. Looking like a Police uniform.
Only those “lookalikes” are proofs that I will right in a moment confronted with a true policeman.
He is also reaching for something what looks like a gun… but honestly, how reasonable it would be expect that either true policeman or a fake policeman would use a fake gun? Not much. Both would rather have a real gun, especially in U.S. where access to firearms is far more open than in Poland.
So I have a true gun carried towards me by someone who looks like a policeman…
Identification
Polish Police is using about twelve variants of uniforms, varying depending on rank, function, time of year and… date of production. Each time a Police was checking me over last 20 years the policeman was wearing a very different uniform.
Alike Polish Police was using at least three variants of marking on their cars. I write “was”, because now they use more consistent painting, but number of car models in use still vary a lot. Gladly except a Police we have at least four other agencies which can stop You and run a check, all with alike number of uniform variants and vehicle paintings… Did I really said “gladly”?
The uniform and paint on a car are the only ways of identifying the Police by eye.
To provide other identification You would have to check his/her badge number (in Poland invisible), make a video call to 911 and ask them to provide You with a mug-shot matching that badge number. You can’t do it safely under an assumption that the one who is closing to You is a fake one. If he is fake, You will get a piece of hot lead before You finish dialing the number.
Fake policeman
How hard is it to get something what from short distance looks like a proper uniform? It does not have to be 100% identical. It must just conform to publicly available specifications.
I would be able to sew something like that by myself within a few days, and I am a poor tailor.
How hard is to put proper stickers on Your own car?
Maybe a day of work, maybe two if You are not experienced in that area of work.
Considering the value of vehicles and cargo You can rob with them it is a worth investment.
Logic
Logically speaking the only 100% safe way to proceed is to… escape. Do not stop until You will confirm by calling the emergency line that the car behind You:
- has matching plate number of true police car, and;
- a police car with that number is patrolling that area;
That would be logic.
Except that it is unsafe. No court of justice would agree with Your way of thinking, especially that during the entire procedure You will have to actively avoid capturing… what is a crime.
Insane, isn’t it?
You escape from someone who could be an armed criminal and thous You do commit a crime?!
Request for trust
To turn this insanity into something sane, healthy and logic one must add one and hell strong requirement:
“Any citizen must trust the State that every policeman is a true policeman”
Then You no longer see looking like policeman guy preparing to fire at You from his gun, but a representative of Justice who is serving and protecting You from the evil. What to be afraid of? He won’t shut me, right? I am not a bad guy, but I do understand, he may not know it, so I should somehow let him know I’m good.
Nothing can go wrong.
Lack of trust
This was what the guy on video said. This was his way of thinking.
Yet on the same video the policeman was clearly all the time ready to use the firearm.
Why?
Why the policeman was holding his hand right over his gun all the time while talking with a good guy in a car. Why keeping hands on Your knees or an attempt to get out of the car might trigger risky action on his side?
Because anyone can be a criminal. The policeman must not trust You are a good guy. Blah, the sole fact that he decided to check You means, that he suspects some problems with You.
So one another line must be added to our code of conduct:
“Any citizen is a potential dangerous criminal on the run”
Asymmetry
The entire Police system is designed around two base concepts:
- The citizen must trust in every policeman.
- The policeman must not trust that every citizen is a good person.
Without the first nothing would work, because there is absolutely no way to make a positive identification of policeman at the first glance.
Without the second the mortality rate amongst members of the Police in countries where violent crimes are everyday business would be skyrocketing.
By the way, from how the policeman behaved on video I may assume that U.S. is such a country. Poland is not, so our Police is not touching their weapon during routine operations. Yet the do have it.
For me this asymmetry is something at least unfair.
The message
What subliminal message is this asymmetry telling us?
First that there is no partnership between us and government justice system. We have to trust, but are not trusted. If there is no equality, whom do we are? Citizens? Or subjects?
Second message is more sinister: the government is weak. Very weak, and with zero authority. Only a weak person and with no respect whatsoever must touch the weapon to feel safe. If the government is strong only a real desperate would actively oppose the Police and against such a desperation a hand-gun offers little or no protection at all.
Good old British “Bobbie”
The message passed by first British Police was much more clear: “We do wear clubs to smack You and whistles to call so many of us, that You stand no chance even if You have a sabre, grenade or a crossbow.”
And we do use a club because You can have the damn walking stick too.
In my opinion it was much closer to partnership and much stronger message than today guys with body armor and firearms.
Fear robs of reason
Gosh… Body armor and firearms…
Are You really so much afraid of me?!
You must be, right?
And if You are so much afraid, then You must live in continuous stress. Under a continuous, solid pressure.
I know from experience that stress and fear are not friends with a good reasoning. Anyone knows that.
So, what do You think that I am thinking seeing You in a body armor and carrying guns?
That You have gone far far away from the land of cold reasoning to the land of “everyone is trying to kill me”. And that absolutely anything may trigger a deadly violent reaction from Your side.
Or, if I am a blind idiot who trust in everything what Uncle Sam do say, that there is a violent crime in progress or will just start in a moment.
Hey, don’t come any closer!
Stop!
I am afraid of You too!
Go away! Go or…
Fear is symmetric
This asymmetry of trust produces fear. And Your fear is clearly visible and communicated. I will be afraid too. Either of You, since a scared armed person is like a grenade without a pin, or of the unknown enemy You are afraid of…
Neither of us has any reason to be calm and cool and either can explode on any moment.
Summary
This is not the first time when I do observe that the “freedom”, “equality” and “trust” are becoming more and more empty words.
Just think about what I just wrote.
And, to be clear, the good old “Bobbie” with a club and a whistle can be a man I trust. Even if he will mistake me for a felon, even if he will have a very bad day all what he can do it is to whack me a bit with some not so hard stuff. I can survive it. I can take that risk. Sorry man, my wrong, still be good friend, right?
Sure no problem, Bob.
But not with 9mm piece of lead in my belly. Sorry Bob, this is a problem.
Old coder's ramblings about software concepts and quality. 