Anonymous law enforcement officer: “I have not forgotten my oath”
Dear Citizen,
In a not-so-distant past, I raised my right hand and swore an oath. A week removed from high school, I swore to support, protect, and defend the Constitution and the United States of America. My journey led me to a distant sandbox, where I sacrificed my youth in service of my country. Years later, I found myself swearing a similar oath as a badge was placed over my chest. For the better part of my life, I have worked, lived, sweated, bled, and sacrificed to honor that oath.
My life has been spent in service to my country and to the very ideals that separate the United States from every other country. The idea of individual liberty and restricted government was unfathomable in its time and was met with great opposition. Our Founding Fathers stressed the importance that power lies within the individual. Furthermore, our Founding Fathers urged protections for liberty by restraining the power of the government.
Fast forward to 2020. I cannot fathom how quickly we have discarded liberties in the name of public safety. We are blindly following the decrees of our elected representatives while ignoring the actual realities of our present situation. With each new COVID-19 diagnosis, we continue to see the fatality and hospitalization rates drop. The statistics no longer justify the actions and decrees by our local government. There is no pandemic exemption to the Constitution, and these lower rates do not and cannot justify the actions and decrees by our local government.
Our elected leaders, drunk with power, “know” what is best for you, the individual. The realities of unemployment, an increase in suicides and depression, a rise in domestic abuse, financial burdens, etc., are blatantly ignored or excused. Skate parks are filled with mulch, and citizens are threatened with fines or imprisonment for their failure to comply with governmental orders. Masks are now mandated. Forgo the mask, and you are met with emotional baseless attacks: you are selfish and do not care about your fellow citizens. No, you just agree with the health experts the politicians are ignoring.
The decision by the Alachua County Commission, at the behest of Gainesville’s officials, to reverse their own earlier vote to remove the mask mandate should cause alarm: The mask was never about your safety; rather it was and is about your conformity and acceptance of their power. Though a mask may be a small infringement, it is still an infringement, nonetheless. It is important to remember that liberties are not stolen overnight; they are taken a little at a time.
I never thought I would see the day when Americans turned on each other. Having a front row seat to this “epidemic,” I now understand how the Germans turned on their own during the 1930s and 1940s. Alachua County residents who are unable to wear a mask for any reason are directed to show their “papers.”
I am baffled by the sheer number of calls for service involving the tattling on Americans for just living their lives, all in the name of “public safety.” I am equally dumbfounded that some of our leaders have demanded increased law enforcement presence at their homes when they feared public outrage based on their decisions and actions. This protection is generally not afforded to domestic violence victims, for example.
The leadership lacks the intestinal fortitude to face you, the citizen. I want you, the citizen, to know that we take our oaths seriously. Though I cannot speak for everyone, many of my peers are of the same mindset: We will not enforce unconstitutional orders. I will not sacrifice my morals, nor will I act in a manner that discredits what I have spent a lifetime defending. I will not be the muscle for those who hide behind closed doors and actively seek power that is disproportionate to the reality of the situation. Lastly, I will protect you and your ability to engage in the very liberties given to you by our creator. I have not forgotten my oath, though it is apparent that our representatives have. You have an ally in this fight.
An Anonymous Law Enforcement Officer
The opinions expressed by letter or opinion writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AlachuaChronicle.com.
First and foremost, I would to thank the writer for his/her service to our country. You have done far more than our so-called local leaders have or will ever do. They continue to serve their own private agendas at the costs to our freedoms.
As a retired law enforcement officer, who then pursued a career as an RN, I also salute him.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen a growing number of the law enforcement community who will not uphold the oaths to which they swore. If you have any doubts, YouTube is rife with them.
Hopefully, they’re not in the majority. I guess we’ll find out.
Thank you, and all others, for honoring your oath! I salute you. I pray Sarasota County officers will do the same!
“The leadership lacks the intestinal fortitude to face you, the citizen”
Meanwhile you won’t even have the courage to put your name by your words. I doubt you’ve served.
C. He has to be anonymous or he may lose his job!
Politics!! Thank you anonymous law enforcement officer!
You are restoring my faith in the system. Thanks for upholding your loyalty oath to the US constitution and
For your service.