Drop The Photo Or I’ll Shoot (Update)

What to do when a cop gives you an order?  Well, most of the time it’s a good idea to obey first, complain later.  They have guns, you see, and that tends to be the big unequalizer.

But yesterday, I received a nastygram from a tough cop named Jim Donahue.  He was the subject of a post a while back about some other cops who didn’t think too highly of him for calling them “grunts” in a story he wrote at officer.com, a cop website.  Donahue wasn’t just an ordinary cop.  He’s an important cop.  No need to ask him.  He’ll let you know regardless.

Donahue was pissed because he was not treated with the respect he deserved by other cops.  No ring kissing.  No bowing and scraping.  Instead, they treated him the way they treat civilians.  Like dirt.  Donahue was not amused, and he let the other cops know about it.  You see, it’s not like Donahue, who was out of uniform at the time, expected cops to treat people civilly.  As he explained,

“I am wearing my only sweatshirt, which has a breast emblem from my previous department in Michigan. I just got my “high & tight” haircut tuned up yesterday. It would not be a great leap of faith to think that I may be a retired cop, a current cop, or minimally, related to law enforcement based upon my appearance and demeanor.”

That’s right.  Donahue looked like a cop, and when you look like a cop, other cops should at least show you the respect due a fellow officer.

Included in my post was a photograph of Donahue, showing exactly what he meant.  He looks like a cop.  And not a pretty-boy, TV type of cop either.  More like the type of cop who would smack down some big-mouthed, jeans with a hole in the knee and Mr. Natural t-shirt kid for mouthing off to him.  You would have to be fool to mistake Donahue for anything but a cop.  Of course, it he had a can of beer in his hand and a smoke dangling from his lips, he could be mistaken for a redneck on a Fox TV cartoon show.  He’s got that cartoonish quality about him.

By now, you’re probably wondering, so what does this he-man cop’s cop look like, that he’s willing to rip his fellow officers for not showing him the respect he deserved.  Well, Donahue doesn’t want you to know, so he sent me this email:

Dear Sir/Madam –

Yesterday, I became aware of a posting on a blog.  The display page of that blog leads me to believe that you either own the rights to the site or that you are in control of it.

My picture is displayed on that site.  The picture was taken from Officer.com which is a copyrighted publication of Cygnus Business Media.

I must insist that my picture and any likeness of me be removed immediately.

Jim Donahue