Police Brutality from a black officers perspective
There are many interviews out there, where police officers are asked about police brutality and their views on it. When you go and read their interviews, most of the officers happen to be white. I wanted to know what the officers of color had to say about the violence and misconduct that seems to be a reoccurrence with authority.
In 2016, a few former and current black police officers were interviewed and asked their opinion on police brutality (Clintonyates. “A Black Police Officer’s Perspective.” The Undefeated, The Undefeated, 11 July 2016, theundefeated.com/features/a-black-police-officers-perspective/). One man, named Tyrone Dodson, was a former cop in Washington D.C, for 29 years. His first words in the interview were, “I'm glad I’m not a policeman anymore”. These words alone can show how he felt towards the role he played in the force. He then went on to say how he handled situations differently than most officers. In his words, he said, “I’ve never shot anybody. I try to talk people out of it. That was just my style. Some guys, as soon as they had the opportunity, they’d shoot. When I was undercover, this guy had a gun. I pulled my gun out and said, ‘Put your hands up in the air.’ He immediately goes in his pocket, pulls out the gun and drops the gun on the ground. I could’ve shot him, but I didn’t. With the grace of God, and I guess my luck, I didn’t have to shoot anybody. I could have, but I always tried to talk them out of it and be patient”. The way he explains how he would stay patient and talk his way through a situation is almost the opposite of what we hear about most police interactions.
One thing that stood out to me in this interview is when Tyrone Dodson says, “When you kill somebody, that can mess with you. Some people I know that killed people on duty, they don’t ever get themselves together. They aren’t right after that. Some of them, they’re OK, but some of them aren’t”. When you hear about a police officer killing someone, have you ever thought about how it messing with the officer? I honestly haven't, but hearing Tyrone Dodson talk about some officers not being ok after killing someone, it makes you think. Some police officers seem so willing to just shoot and not let it affect them. Then there are some police officers, just like Tyrone, that find other options before just shooting. There need to be more officers out there that find other ways to stay patient and only shoot when completely necessary and there are no other options.
In a more current post done by NYtimes in June 2020, police officer Edwin Raymond was interviewed on his opinion on the George Floyd protests (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/nyregion/black-hispanic-officers-nypd-protests.html). As a black police officer, Edwin Raymond has different emotions and a closer connection to what happened to George Floyd, than other officers. Lieutenant Raymond stood there during all of the protests, getting shouted at and trying not to let it get to him since he was just doing his job. He says, “I’m not blind to the issues, but I’m torn,” Lieutenant Raymond said. “As I’m standing there with my riot helmet and being called a ‘coon,’ people have no idea that I identify with them. I understand them. I’m here for them. I’ve been trying to be here as a change agent”. It’s hard when you support and want to help these protestors but you still need to do your job. I feel for him because the protestors just see him as another policeman that is against them all. When in reality, it’s the complete opposite of that. Not all police officers are bad, but we as people tend to group them all together, especially in the middle of a huge protest against police brutality.
In another article back in 2016 titled, “I’m a black ex-cop, and this is the truth about race and policing”, shares the inside of what most black policemen think about how people of color are treated by authority. Something that stood out to me was the stats on how often police officers seem to abuse their badges. “On any given day, in any police department in the nation, 15 percent of officers will do the right thing no matter what is happening. Fifteen percent of officers will abuse their authority at every opportunity. The remaining 70 percent could go either way depending on whom they are working with” (Hudson, Redditt. “I’m a Black Ex-Cop, and This Is the Real Truth about Race and Policing.” Vox, Vox, 28 May 2015, www.vox.com/2015/5/28/8661977/race-police-officer). It’s hard to imagine that these people are given authority and expected to do the right thing, and they go and abuse their power because “they can”.
