Courtesy, Professionalism & Respect is the slogan that the New York City Police Department uses, they also have this on the side of every police car in the City. What most people don't know unless you're extremely close to me is my Father was & still is a Police Officer. He has been one since I was little, and I never heard him talk about anything he ever experienced on the "Beat" as most officers call it. He was always nonverbal about what he saw and what he did while he was on the street putting the "Bad Boys" away. I didn't realize that when I got older, what I was going to learn quickly about the police was something my Father would never be able to prepare me for. This was going to be what I see as my induction into the real world, and the biggest gangsters around weren't the Bloods, Crips or Drug Dealers I had to worry about; but the Police!
I would be a liar if I told you I was a big fan of cops, there's nothing positive I can honestly say about them even if I tried my hardest to. I don't have anything against the Police as a whole, but the majority I've come across shoot first and ask questions way later. In my eyes that is the exact opposite of the Courtesy they speak of, or preach of to citizens on a consistent basis. Whenever I see the Police I feel like a criminal not a citizen, and this is coming from a person who doesn't have a criminal record whatsoever. The only time I've actually ever seen the inside of a prison was when I went with a Program called The Blue Nile. We went there to empower all those young men we saw in Rikers Island. We were like a voice of reason and a living testament to those young men there that we are not all doing negative things in our lives. And I'm even more certain that the officers there realized that also. Its unfortunate to see the jails & prisons filled with hopeless individuals who felt like the only means of respect or even love they would get was to do something negative to receive it.
I won't say that every policemen goes out with the intentions to lock someone up, because that would be unfair as well as bias. What I will say though is they make it very hard for you to believe they come with a certain level of Professionalism, or Respect when they are out to get the "bad guys" they were trained to take in. If on some level I've lost you, what I am saying is those bad guys aren't always really the "bad guys" they are "protecting" people from. Not every person being stopped by the police are criminals; & when I think of a criminal, skin tones or complexions, races or an ethnicity doesn't come to mind. Rather it's something that should NEVER be embedded in the minds of an officer of the Law, and I feel that it definitely is. As hurtful or even bold as that statement may be, I haven't been shown why my opinion is wrong. Especially whenever I do hear something about the police it isn't to protect or serve, but to persecute and sentence.
About two weeks ago my younger sister shared something with my mother, my other sister and myself that was extremely disturbing. It was a YouTube video of a African American male, in his early to mid 20's being gunned down by the Police in San Francisco California. I'm not sure if the video is still up, but from what I was told it was graphic. The young man was very cooperative and was handcuffed but was still being chastised by the officers. They shot this young man in broad day light in his neck, then left him squirming to death on the pavement as he bled to death. Now if a witness would have never taken this graphic video of that young man being gunned down like an animal, I'm pretty sure those officers would have denied everything. They would have even had the "My word against your word" state of mind.
What's even more disturbing to me is the fact that situations like this one occur daily. That man's mother now has to make funeral arrangements for her son who was persecuted by the very same people who swore an oath to protect on the day the graduated the Police Academy. What angers me are these people who obviously committed a crime, don't get placed in prison or don't get death row. Instead they get a slap on the wrist and a pat on the back. The murder that would have placed any other individual in prison for the rest of their life, simply didn't apply to the "officers of the Law". Its as though they are almost above the Law in a sense, which definitely doesn't put anyone at ease ANYWHERE I'm sure. How well do you expect mothers to sleep at night knowing that she has to protect her sons from the very same people who swore to protect them? I definitely don't see or want to understand the dynamics of that at all.
Why must anyone feel like they need protection from the protector? My biggest outrage also comes with the fact that every police officer situation gets swept under the rug like it never happened. Not to get off the topic, but some months back I had a situation with the Police myself. I was in the park real late at night just sitting down listening to my music. I was sad about situations going on in my life at that moment and used that park as an escape from whatever was going on in my life. I don't even remember how long I was sitting there before I saw a police car enter the park. It circled the entire park before it stopped right where I was.
Even now as I write about what happened I'm filled with anger and disgust. The car stops in front of me and an older officer with a younger one comes out behind him. I get flashed with a light and the older officer asks me what I was doing in the park this late and it was closed.
My answer to him was ok, I didn't know and as I'm walking out he says come here. My first instinctive action was to let him know my father was an officer and my Uncle was a detective. All of a sudden his hostile attitude changed and he was a lot more pleasant. They checked me to see if I had anything on me and the younger partner took my ID to see if I had a criminal history, which couldn't be found because I'm not one or have never been one. The older officer asked me did I know which precinct my father was in and I told him I didn't know because I didn't deal with my father and he wasn't a good one. He looked saddened and said he hoped one day our repore would be better. They told me they were sorry for the inconvenience and they left.
As much as I hate to admit it I believe I wasn't harassed as much as I would have been because I told them my father was a cop. I guess I was one lucky young black male in American that evening. The only thing I have to say is I don't ever think I'll trust the police in this lifetime. Something drastic has to happen for me to even have an ounce of belief that the Police will ever be people who genuinely care about my well being. Until the Police Departments across America Sincerely have Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect, I will continue to believe they are filled with Corruption, Perjury and Racism. NO ONE is above the Law, and I pray that when God gets to them one day, he has a lot more mercy on their souls then they did with the victims who came across the wrath of a Police officer! Where is the Police code of conduct when you need it?
