Dear Officer

   Recently one of my favorite people posted this on social media.

   Now this person means well, and I'm pretty sure this didn't originate with them, but I feel a response to this is necessary. So, for your consideration, my own version of 'Dear Officer'

Dear Officer,

  I want you to know that I see you.  I see you driving around on your cell phone in between bouts of pulling people over for talking on their cell phones. I see you  harassing men for preaching the gospel in public. I see you at traffic stops, not because the driver has  actually done committed a crime, but because your real job is to bring in money for the  state via ticket-writing.  I see you arresting people for filming you while doing your job. I see you drive past the man stuck in the ditch so that you can  bother the man going  2 miles over the  completely made-up speed limit.  I see you drive past the man walking down the side of the road whose car has broken down so that you can get to  the donut shop.  I see you, and your bosses,  dispatching a SWAT team to serve a warrant. I see you serving as a crime scene historian,  dutifully taking notes after the crime has occurred and, unless a lead falls out of the sky and lands in your lap, going no further. I also see that no amount of money or manpower is too much if another officer  has been wronged. I see you executing  no-knock warrants to the  wrong house and killing the inhabitants. I see you  killing unarmed men because you felt 'threatened'.  I see you lording your status over the populace, and glorying in the hero worship. I see that if you  kill a man while on the job, you keep your job and are given several days to get your story straight before you are questioned.  I see your fellow officers lie for you, and cover for you. I see that you aren't a 'peace officer' but rather in 'law enforcement', which is a totally  different mindset.  I see you armed with para-military gear. I see you deploying tear gas against the people you've sworn to protect. I see you arresting  people for possession of  a plant. I see the 'us versus them' mentality in your eyes. I see that you are flesh and bones like me, that your  uniform shouldn't give you less accountability, but yet it does.