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My grandfather was one of our city’s 2 police captains when he retired. I always understood that he would have been chief if he was less ethical. When we sat at his dinner table he would frequently lament that new officers used too much force and were improperly trained 1/...
It really pained him and he was celebrated at his retirement party from his lifelong career for only having shot someone once (accurately in the shoulder to disarm) and that was because the man started shooting first. He was written up in the paper/on the news for 2/...
...deescalating a situation where a (black) mentally unwell man was standing in a busy intersection slamming an axe through the windshields of cars that stopped at the light. The news reported that where other officers might have shot first, my grandfather patiently... 3/
...stood at a safe distance talking to the man until he convinced him to put the axe down. The first time I heard of modern police violence (yes, I now know the idea that it ever stopped is a mirage) was the beating of Rodney King. My grandfather was disgusted with... 4/
...the officers involved but I always understood them to be “bad apples.” It took a shamefully long time for me to realize that the very fact that such a big deal was made out of my grandfather’s deescalation skills & inclination was a PROBLEM. I took far too long... 5/
...to open my eyes to the fact that good officers like my grandfather enabled a corrupt system to keep existing, that when criminal violence was perpetrated by cops, the system pointed to men like my grandfather to erase it without consequences. Most painfully, that my... 6/
...grandfather personally contributed to violence against POC by not speaking out when he saw wrongdoing. I think he thought the only way he could change the system was from within it, but even he knew it wasn’t working when he vented about his frustrations after work... 7/
I love my grandfather (who has since passed) and will always remember him as a man with beautiful intentions and honor... but now also accept his flaws and his damaging role as a willing part of a system that oppresses POC and the poor. I also recognize that knowing him... 8/
...as I grew up created a bias in me to believe police officers over the voices of their victims. It was inconceivable to me that the officers my grandfather worked with could be anything other than “mostly good” and anyone who stood out was another bad apple. I am ashamed... 9/
...and deeply sorry for my role in not believing and lifting up police victims when those were my views. I am certain there were times when I was a police apologist and further harmed POC by thinking I had some sort of “inside view” into the intentions of police officers... 10/
...due to knowing my grandfather and believing him to be “most” cops. I was wrong. I’m not really sure why I am posting this on Twitter but I felt like I needed to say it out loud somewhere for the sake of honesty and in case it was cathartic for a victimized person to hear it.
I’d like to add to this that my grandfather talked a lot about both deescalation training AND marksmanship. He regularly went to the range to practice and said the reason he was able to disarm the man he shot ONCE in the shoulder was due to his attention to training...
...There are studies that demonstrate these techniques get better results both because officers are more effective & because less brutality means a more trusting public & more chance of compliance. We can & should have a higher bar for LE in a nation w/liberty & justice for all.
