Black Lives Matter- research and awareness

The Silenced Ones- Part 1

All Cops Are Bastards.

But surely there has to be some good cops out there, right? Surely not all cops are bad?

Well, it's complicated.

Because if look deeper, you find that those actually good cops are getting punished more quickly and often than those who shoot innocent black people.

I know. It's beyond messed up.

So let's take the time to talk about those good cops who said enough is enough. Let's talk about those cops. Let's talk about the fact that they are no longer cops.

"The message was sent that you don't cross that blue line and so some officers- many officers don't."

These are the words of Cariol Horne, a Black police officer of 19 years who was about to receive pension when she was fired for telling an officer to stop using a chokehold on a suspect.

The job of the police is to protect you. Whether you are a regular citizen or a detainee, once you are in the care of the police you are to be protected. You are innocent until proven guilty.

So let that sink in. An officer was fired for doing her job. Just let that sink in.

How about Stephen Mader, a white police officer who was fired for (and I kid you not)-

    Not shooting.

When Stephen Mader encountered a Black man by the name of R.J. Williams, R.J. had a gun behind his back. When he pulled it out, he told Officer Mader to "just shoot me." Stephen Mader, being the decent human being he is, analyzed it instead of reacted to it.

Based on what he saw, he quickly concluded that R.J. was suicidal. He was trying to get himself shot and killed. R.J was a man who needed help. What Stephen had to do was deescalate the situation. He told R.J., "I'm not going to shoot you brother."

    Williams former girlfriend saw what was going on and called 911 because she saw that R.J. was trying to kill him self. However, the operator only told police the gun in R.J.'s hands part, not the he was being suicidal and needed help part. When the officers arrived, R.J. raised his gun.

    The officers shot R.J. Williams.

    Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that R.J.'s gun was unloaded.

    And while the officers who murdered R.J. Williams didn't face any consequences after the fact, Stephen Mader did. He was fired for not shooting R.J.

    Again, let that just sink in. I mean, what the actual hell?

So while I let you all allow this to sink in, I'm going to talk about my feelings on it.

If our policing system has a "blue line" like Cariol Horne said, then that literally puts citizens in danger. It puts us in danger (especially People of Color) because police are now saying you've got to be "tough." You know what tough is? Tough is having a man point a gun at you and you taking a moment to put together the pieces to spare his life and to help him. Tough is not resorting to the easy way out of an escalating situation (killing the person.) Tough doesn't always mean physical force. It means intelligence. It means caring about the people you serve and protect. It means caring enough to see beyond the surface and to actual use a brain cell or two.

And it just shows how desperately we need police reform. If we are censoring police, then what good are the good cops when they are being silenced by the system. As Cariol Horne said, many cops don't pass that "blue line." Policing nowadays is "see gun, shoot person."

That's pretty stupid, if you think about it.

What Officer Horne and Officer Mader did should be considered honorable by the system. Now it's considered weak and not helpful. These protectors of life are being shoved out and silenced.

Our policing system doesn't protect us.

Our policing system isn't about helping. It's about enforcing.

Our policing system doesn't protect us until it protects us all.

Our policing system has to go.