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Black Lives Matter - Ch 2
I WAS NOT PART OF THE GOOD OLD BOYS' CLUB
SOME BLACK AND WHITE POLICE OFFICERS BEHAVE THE SAME
From the eyes of a police officer, I had known some white cops that mostly direct their attention towards the black race and some black cops that directed their attention towards the white race.
From the eyes of a white police officer, why are some attacking me because of my race and accusing me of wanting to shoot a black person. I know that some black officer would fire their weapon quicker than me on a black suspect if their lives were threatened with a weapon or in any life threatening manner.
IT IS NOT ABOUT RACE
From the eyes of a police officer, it is not about race. It is about the physical threats and weapons that were used to attempt to kill or injure me.
From the eyes of a police officer, at times the job has its effect on me. When I investigated rapes, child abuse, shootings, killings, suicides, domestic complaints, runaways, and whatever a criminal decides to do that day, that doesn’t cause me to shoot, hurt others, and asks questions later.
From the eyes of a police officer, we do good works that are rarely seen on the news.
YOU ARE NOT WHITE
From the eyes of a black police officer, I was told to leave a black female residence because I was not white. “Why you want me to leave?” I asked. “A black officer was at my residence one day and he did not do his job,” she said, “I want a white officer because he would know what he is doing. Leave my house,” she said. I left knowing that she would call to request a white cop that I knew would not respond. We are never dispatched to any location because of race.
From the eyes of the five o, another thing that is getting lots of attention is an officer firing his or her weapon at a suspect. When he or she did it, it was asked why they fired their weapon. They could have shot the person in the leg, arm or hand.
AIM AT THE HEART CENTER
The truth is that we are not trained nor is the public trained to shoot at the arms, hands or legs. Why? It's hard to hit moving extremities. We all are trained to fire at the heart center because we are mostly like to hit something. When we are threatened, we are not thinking about aiming at extremities because the other person is shooting to kill or injure us.
SOMEONE FIRED THEIR WEAPON AT ME
From the eyes of five o, I recall that I was shot at in the dark. I responded to a domestic complaint call in my patrol car and as I approached the residence I saw a black male. He concealed himself behind some bushes as I drove closer to the residence. He revealed himself and simultaneously I heard a gunshot and saw an orange flash. I turned the steering wheel to the left as he ran towards the patrol car and threw something towards the windshield.
I heard something striking the front car hood. I stopped the car and exited. I saw a small handgun on the pavement near the left front end of the patrol car. I picked up a 22 caliber weapon and drove towards the direction I saw the suspect fleeing. He was captured by several officers that had responded to my call for assistance. “Why did you shoot at me”, I asked. “I thought you were a white officer,” he replied. “The only thing white on me is my teeth, eyes, and the police car,” I say. He received six years for his behavior. To those of you who are wondering why I did not fire my weapon, I did not have time to do so. My training and instincts kicked in and all I thought about at that time was to get away from the gunshots.
[Taken from Anthony Milton's book, "From the Eyes of a Cop: Black Lives Matter"]
