I support the Black Lives Matter movement. At least what it was originally about. I don't support what it has evolved into. It started off being about ending violence against black people. It has turned into an anti-police movement.
I agree that some police officers racially profile. But, not all of them. Unless a police officer openly admits to hating black people, the only way to spot a racial profiler is with their record. Statistically, the jails are full of black people. Mostly men. That's because a poor person is more likely to commit a crime. Black people are more likely to be poor. If a black person is arrested for committing a crime, that doesn't mean racial profiling was involved. These crimes are more likely to be survival related. Illegal, but necessary to provide for your family. Crime rates for these crimes go down when the minimum wage raises to be a living wage.
One argument is that black people get stricter sentences then white people for the same crimes. The punishments for crimes are not decided by the people arresting the criminal. Don't blame the police for the sentences determined by a judge. Check the judge's record. Do THEY racially profile? These judges are probably also going easy on domestic abusers. Aka........bad judges,
I'm still angry about Troy Davis being executed. No physical evidence. All but one witness recanted. And he was executed anyway in Georgia. It's Georgia. Is there racial discrimination in Georgia? Absolutely! His life mattered. He was accused of killing a cop. But it was nighttime and the weapon was never found. No evidence at all that he's the one that did it. He never got a thorough investigation. He never got a fair trial. Yes, because he was black. Even life in prison would have made more sense then execution! His life mattered.
It could either be racial profiling or that the detectives simply are bad at their jobs in his case. Good detectives would have looked for evidence. All they had was finger pointing. The guy Troy was with was an intimidating guy. Why didn't any of them ask, could the guy he was with be the real killer? No? Too much work? Bad at their jobs! However, if a different detective caught his case, who knows what the outcome could have been. Not all detectives are racists. Apparently, the judge and jury in his case were racist.
I am angry about Tamir Rice. A 12 year old shot for playing with a toy gun by two police officers. They just saw a black kid with a gun in a park. Argument goes that it looked real and they were following protocol for the situation. No, they weren't.
Statistically, less then 12% of police officers fire their weapon in the line of duty. They are trained not to shoot to kill. They are also trained to say "police, put down your weapon!". Tamir was a kid with a toy gun. If one of the officers had said "police, put down your weapon", he would have done it peacefully. Instead, these two officered killed him within two seconds of arriving at the scene. Two seconds! Not enough time to do their job the right way! That's bad police work!
https://www.policeone.com/use-of-force/articles/3468102-Shooting-center-mass-The-dangers-of-denial/
There is one example where I side with the police. Freddy Gray. A career criminal who died in police custody in Baltimore. Guess what, buried in all of those media reports was an interview with another prisoner. That prisoner said Freddy caused the injuries to himself on purpose. Hummmm a career criminal trying to make the cops look bad at a time when there is a lot of anger towards cops. Hummmm yup, THAT sounds real to me!!!
The people who are more likely to hate law enforcement are those breaking the law or who knows someone who has/is serving time in jail. That's displacing blame. Blame the person who committed the crime. If it was a crime of survival, blame the greedy rich people who refuse to pay their workers a living wage. But, the police officers are just doing their jobs.
Too many police officers have lost their lives since the movement started. Killed in hate by someone who should be blaming the real cause of their problems. Their lives matter too. There are some cops who are racist. But most aren't. Sometimes a bad cop is confused for a racist cop. Not all cops are good cops. It doesn't mean they are racist. It just means these cops are bad at their jobs.
The problem is most cops are good cops. Good at their jobs. They are out to get those that broke the law and don't care about race, gender, religion, or anything else. For the good cops, it's about if you broke the law or not. They treat all of their prisoners equally. These are the cops that don't shoot first. These are the detectives that investigate until they have proof they have the right person. They are part of a very high percentage of those in law enforcement. Don't paint them with the same brush you paint bad cops with.
Be mad at the bad cops for not doing their jobs. But thank the good cops who do their jobs right! They deserve thanks. Not the hate they are receiving now. They aren't the cause of the problems. They can only stop the problems with the help of the communities they serve. A resident can't expect their community to improve when they aren't helping the police do their jobs. Residents and law enforcement need to work together.
Black lives matter, so do cop lives. ALL lives matter. This isn't a problem that will ever go away completely. But, it will get better once attitude changes. An anti-cop black dude is more likely to get shot. Even by a good cop. Because that's the guy most likely to put the cop in a real situation where they'll have to protect themselves. A good cop will aim for the shoulder though. The black dude would end up behind bars, not dead. That's the real statistic to look at. The number of black people incarcerated vs the number killed by a cop. Judging from the prison population, my guess is arrest is the most likely outcome.
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