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Black Lives Matter - Ch 3
I FIRED MY WEAPON TOWARD THE GROUND
From the eyes of a police officer, I was chasing a driver in my patrol car for speeding. (It was revealed later that the car had been stolen.) We turned several corners and he crashed the car into a wall and exited the vehicle. He ran between two houses and I ran after him in the dark through several dark backyards. I was sweating, breathing heavily, and I did not know where I was. I caught up to him and he had nowhere to run. “Stop! Police!” I yelled. He turned around and raised his hand and pointed it towards me for that split moment through all of the mental stress that we both had experienced. It looked like he had a gun in his hand. Standing in a poorly-lighted backyard, instinctively I reached for my weapon and had a thought to fire my weapon in the ground. I did that and he fell to the ground. I apprehended him safely and patted him down. “Where is the gun?” I asked. “I don’t have one. I pointed my hand at you thinking it would cause you to think that I had a gun,” he said. “I could have shot you,” I said.
SHE CUTS ME
From the eyes of a police officer that swore to protect and serve, I worked undercover in a prostitution sting. I was parked in my undercover car talking to a local prostitute about how much it would cost me for her services. I agreed to her price and identify myself as a police officer at the same time showing her my badge and telling her she was under arrest. She attempted to exit the parked car after she saw the handcuffs in my hand. I grabbed her left hand with my right hand and a struggle occurred in the front seat. She did not want to be arrested all of a sudden. I saw a knife in her right hand. I released her left hand and grabbed her hand with my right hand. She did everything to free her hand and in doing so, I received scrapes from the saw-like blade of the knife. Once again, instinct kicked in and I was able to get the knife from the black female's hand. From the eyes of a cop, if things had gotten worse in the front seat, I would have been faced with a decision to fire my weapon.
WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPEN HAD I FIRED MY WEAPON?
From the eyes of a cop in today’s emotional climate, if I had fired my weapon shooting the female prostitute, I know what the news headlines would be. “Police Officer Shoots Female.” Then those who say they speak for the black race would come out of the woodwork, demanding justice or whatever they want to benefit from my actions. Here is a twist: what if it was a white police officer under the same conditions experiences the same thing? You know what would happen. The so-called “we are exercising our right” crowd would take to the streets to riot, steal whatever, and burn down property all in the name of the suspect.
IT IS THE SUSPECT'S BEHAVIOR THAT DETERMINES THE OUTCOME
Now you should realize that it’s the suspect’s and the officer’s behaviors that determine if a weapon should be fired. When a suspect shoots at the police officer, I have never heard "why the suspect didn’t shoot the police officer in the arms, legs or hands?" Because that is not considered. They shoot to kill or injure, to prevent from being captured, leaving the wounded officer. It is not the same when an officer shoots a suspect. He remains on the scene to render medical assistance and whatever assistance that is needed to save a life and to protect the suspect.
Someone mentioned to me she rarely hears about the good things police officers do. I agreed with her. I told her that it depends on the agenda that others want to use a police-related shooting for and some use it to incite others indirectly to riot, hurt and destroy.
WHERE IS THE FATHER?
From the eyes of five-o, I have done lots of good things that were not on the news. I recall one time that I responded to a single mother that lived in the low income housing area. We talked and I learned that she was struggling with the lack of finances among other things. I told her that I would pick her up the next day and take her to the shoe store because she needed some shoes for her kids. I bought her children some shoes and some groceries.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS
I had worked in a jail and prison and have spoken to a few that regret their actions and others blame others instead of taking responsibility for their actions. I am grieved when I hear blacks, whites, public officials, radio and TV talk show hosts saying that the police officer was wrong to shoot an armed person or any person who hit them and put them in fear of their lives.
[Taken from Anthony Milton's book, "From the Eyes of a Cop: Black Lives Matter"]
