Summer Of Violence 2020.
In the fall of 1984 I drove my cruiser down the 700 Block of Meridian Court. The city had given me that area of responsibility; they had given me a zone of 23 blocks to patrol, answer calls and get to know the people who lived in my zone. I was just moments away from meeting a group of residents that would set the tone for the rest of my career.
I was about a week or two out on my own, away from my trainers. I spotted a group of men sitting in the alley of the 700 block. One of the men was committing a misdemeanor crime, a small crime even back then. I pulled the cruiser up next to the group of men and told the man to stop what he was doing. He continued and said something to his friends in a language I did not understand. I exited my cruiser and walked up to him, at that moment he stood up and turned to walk away. I reached for his arm and my world changed.
The city had given me that area of responsibility, but it was not really theirs to give. It belonged to the people who lived on that block and many of the people who lived on that block did not trust or like the police. The fight began and the group of 5 men grew into a group of about 25 men and women. The mat was the alley floor and I did not have a coach or referee. There was not a table of trophies at the far end of the alley, there were no bleachers full of fans. My opponent had 25 friends and family members circled around us cheering him on. I could not understand what the crowd was shouting, I just knew that they were angry with me. I was 22 years old, in great shape, high school wrestler and Judo was my sport. I was not 2 minutes into this fight and I was scared, tired and losing this fight. I had taken him down 4 times and knew if he got back up again, I was finished. I did something to him that I had never done to anyone before; I hurt him and he went unconscious. The crowd went crazy, I pulled him on top of me and held my gun to his head, this kept the crowd from attacking me for the moment.
Unknown to me, my dispatcher had tried to raise me on the radio during the fight, when I did not answer, she sent my team. They were only blocks away. Dispatcher Marva Boston saved my ass that day, as she would save it so many times in the coming years. I miss her,,,,,
25 years after that day, the man I hurt, showed up at the police station on the my last day of my job. I had just finished a really nice last roll call send off and I was told that there were some men outside the station that wanted to see me before I left. I walked out the front door of the station and the man I had fought with and two other men that I had swapped blood with over my career were there. I approached them and we had a brief, good conversation.
One of them stated, “Mr. John we hear you are moving to Montana. Will you be coming back to the beach (Miami Beach)? “
I said, “No and I will miss all of you.”
They smiled and he said, “It’s our city Mr. John.”
It was always their city and I never made it to Montana.
I have very few war stories on this blog, I thought long before posting this one.
Summer Of Violence 2020.
This past summer, what I refer to as the “Summer of Violence 2020”, put police officers directly into our living rooms. We got to watch “Live” how cities react to mass violence and how they utilize their police. What an eye opener America got.
The job is not like “Adam 12” (the name of this blog comes from this TV show).
It’s not like “Hill Street Blues”.
It’s not as glamorous as “Miami Vice”.
The reality check for this Country was not that a rogue cop contributed to the death of a black man, rogue cops are nothing new.
The reality check to this Country is that the police officers in their community may not be there when they really need them.
The police have always had to deal with politics on the job. Prior to the disturbances/riots of the last couple years, police gave their priority to the safety of their citizens. Police would first put down the violence, then work on the cause of the violence.
This summer we watched politics become the priority of the police handlers. We watched police being used or not used to further a political agenda. Whether this agenda is a good one or not, is in the eye of the political party in charge.
The problem with this method of policing is that the politicians handling the police usually do not live in the communities they are effecting.
Violence, on the other hand, can be dealt with swiftly and in an efficient manner. Police have been doing this for generations. Let them do what they have been trained for and give them support after the fact.
The “Summer of Violence 2020” also exposed a problem within the police department that has been festering for decades.
Most people assume that the officers leading the departments are the “Cream of the Crop”. Some actually are, but not as many as you would think. Running a department is a political theatre which sadly many police leaders play to their own personal gain.
Nothing displays the weakening of our front line more clearly than a group of police chiefs kneeling to a violent mob organization.
“Ricky, try to remember who you work for, it’s not your handlers”
Weakness on The Job !
A few thoughts on being a police officer.
Some people think they know what a police officer’s job is like. Family members of police officers only understand the job from a certain perspective; even other officers from the same department often don’t fully understand the role their colleagues play. Not every officer in a department will have the same training or responsibilities as his/her co-worker. The public often assumes that we are all basically the same.
Often heard,,, “Police officers don’t make enough money.”
Bull$hit, we make enough money.
We make enough money to live in the communities we serve, if we budget as all families need to. We can put a roof over our heads, rent or own. We get health insurance for our family and often a pension or retirement plan. Sometimes free donuts and coffee !
Just give us more training and support after the fact.
In other posts I have discussed police officer training, I’m not going to do that in this post.