Normally, I post a reply on Facebook in regards to things that are bothering me or have gotten my attention lately. It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog post, been working on the book I hope to publish before the year is out, This time its the recent shootings of Black men in Charlotte, North Carolina and Tulsa, Oklahoma that have me transfixed. As a recently retired 25 year plus career police officer and one of color as well, I feel these shootings very,very deeply, I already know that there are a group of people out there locally, regionally and nationally that will exploit these tragedies to lift their own profile and social relevance and will blame everyone else yet offer little or no real solutions to remedy the problem and when the emotion dies down they will disappear like they always do until the next time this occurs.Please don’t listen to them watch them during the downtime and you will see they offer little of nothing beyond words and are extremely self-serving.

I didn’t realize it at the time but I was a part of a renaissance when I became a Policeman in 1988,also I didn’t realize it then but young black men and women and other minorities were also joining this profession just prior to me coming on and going forward country wide. We are joining a profession that had been pretty much closed to us for centuries,until a few Strong Black men decided to take the job and advocate for more of us to get hired. Organizations like the Guardians and ultimately The National Black Police Association came on scene to defend and insure the rights of Black Officers that were being discriminated by Police Departments all across this country that did not want us and did not want to change.

When I was a child there were no Black Fireman so if you had a fire in your home The white fireman would destroy a black persons home putting out the smallest of fires and laugh about it because there were no blacks on the job the counter that behavior, It was the same way with the police again because there where no blacks on the job to counter that behavior by being in the system, being there to observe or speak out against the racism they were exposed too. These Black Police organizations sued these racist police departments into Hiring more minorities, changing their working conditions, allowed them to be promoted and be assigned to special and coveted positions within the departments , They held regional and national conferences in the spring, winter, summer and fall to educate , uplift, encourage,re energize and nurture the people in this profession from the daily racism they faced at work.

When I had about 15 years on the job I witnessed a chasm in the process that led to the eventual break up of that organization, several thing were lost in that process , mostly the national presence and power and even an opportunity to make itself know when a young Black man decided to run for the Presidency of the United States Barack Obama. During my career I witnessed Black police officers that fought for one another for collective reasons turn to fight against each other for individual reasons. At the same time police Departments across this nation began to hire less of us, When I became a Police officer there were over One Hundred of us male and female on the job as I was walking out the door toward retirement there were less then 50 of us and most of them didn’t even support the local organization that had been taken over by corrupt self serving people. Because most of us served 20-25 careers without the necessary back fill That renaissance is over and all the benefits of inclusion and positive contact are gone. The organization still exist but a lot less of a force that it had been.

The bottom line is that there are less of us on the job, so we aren’t even their any more to be the conscience of the department or are to busy worrying oneself to have any real benefit to the community.

You might say how do we fix it well. here we go, these sort of things ebb and flow, while we are in that ebb period we should be thinking about what is necessary to change things for the long term. If you live in a city you should demand that the Police Department institute Community Policing Department wide Top to Bottom, You as individuals need to be more political astute. When you elect a Mayor you are giving him or her the ability to hire the police chief and the chief that he hires will shape the spirit and philosophy of the department, if he his against police brutality then the rank and file aren’t likely to offend, If he is soft then the department will view him as weak and do whatever they choose, You shouldn’t even consider voting for someone that doesn’t feel the same way as you on issues that are important to you. If you want a certain kind of cop serving your neighborhood why would you not try and be involved in how your city recruits, hires and trains officers as well , If you want a different kind of officer you should also be encouraging and supporting the officers that show you they have love for the community as well, waiting for these old institutions to change on their own will never happen and only begat more tragedy, Some of you will have the luxury of watching these occurrences from a distance but each person that falls will bring you or someone in your family closer to being one of the watched as well. Stand up my people or continue too fall……

First and foremost, If you want to raise the quality of life in a community a good place to start is a lasting meaningful employment initiative (Jobs Program). When people are gainfully employed they don’t have time to hang out on street corners or engage in meaningless pursuits because with a job comes responsibility to your employer and your family, people who have jobs have better self-esteem, better self-worth a…nd feel franchised into the American Dream. No meaningful attempt to intervene in the lifes of people will be lasting unless you look to raise the quality of their lives and nothing does that like a job, almost everyone young and old can remember what they did with their first paycheck (I brought myself a pair of white converse all-stars). Taking the attitude that we are gonna take the guns off these streets is a travesty or even waiting for congress to change or strengthen the present gun laws is like mining for fools gold, we need to change the mindset of the people who use them now, right now, if they felt their lives had more meaning than it would be possible and they wouldn’t be on the streets, trust me nothing diminishes the level of criminality and violence in a neighborhood like jobs don’t take my word, just look at communities where they have a lower level of crime………Jobs must be at the core of any foray into a positive future.

Secondly, A fully functional top to bottom Community Policing program is a must and central to that effort is that the community must be able to trust the police department. With a formal program everyone receives the same training and is given the same tools to succeed and shares in the same vision and it’s success, The Police Department and Community become partners and work together toward solutions to common problems in the neighborhood. The police in those neighborhoods have to do long tours in the area, must become a part of the fabric of the area, walking patrols greatly enhance that position, contact with the children in that area strengthen that relationship as well. The police have to be accessible and not aloof, that positive relationship will solve problems and murders over time.

Speaking of Children, any city that doesn’t put it’s children first is just fooling itself if it thinks its ever gonna prosper, just think about about it why would any business relocate to a place where children are dying on the streets, An ambitious, concerted effort to formulate quality education, robust recreational and cultural opportunities are central to that. A quality education would give kids marketable skills that could sustain them for a lifetime, quality recreational opportunities would help with honing their basic socialization skills, and lastly cultural actvities would expand their minds and give them an opportunity to actualize talents they may not even know they possess. I could go on but I think my point has been made.

Lastly every citizen needs to understand that we are all a part of what makes this city what it is and more importantly what it can be, Its a beautiful place with great and unique attributes and if we don’t do everything we can to make it the best place on earth it won’t be, I’m willing to do all that I can to make that happen, if you feel that way I want to work with you.

I LOVE BRIDGEPORT CONNECTICUT.