BLM and Police

One huge misconception about the Black Lives Matter Movement is that they are anti-police.

I have mentioned this before, but I cannot say it enough - BLM is NOT against the police, BLM is FOR speaking out against police brutality that rises from systemic racism. BLM wants to END systemic racism and state violence, NOT our means of safety. The police are vital to our nation, excessive force and racism are not.

I am fortunate enough to live in a small city in Iowa where police officers are accessible.

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with an officer in town to discuss police/community relations.

I was pleased to hear about the efforts the police department are making to connect and work with the residents of this town. They are showing up, listening, participating, and being proactive.

Not only do they have meetings with the community and work with existing groups in the community, they also have body cameras, dash cameras, and checks/balances in their system that keep their officers honest. Although it is not required by the state or federal authorities to keep track of, they require their officers to keep track of the race and gender of every person they pull over or have an encounter with. This allows them to see if officers are disproportionately targeting particular people.

The police chief has been very proactive about making sure his officers are not abusing their power.

What was also clear to me in our visit today was that these sort of efforts were not necessarily the norm across the nation. The proactive and progressive efforts happening in my city sounded largely due to the police chief. We have some really good leaders. Leaders working for positive change - but that is not happening everywhere.

The officer I met with today has been in the game for 20 years. When he was trying to get hired onto the police force he was one of about 400. These days there are about 100 people up for the task each year and many of them don't pass their tests. Not many people want to go into this field. Not many teens or young adults are lining up with dreams of being a police officer. This is a huge problem. A national problem.

Shaun King has written 25 articles exploring solutions to police brutality on the NY Daily News.

In his first article he lays out this issue of the decrease in interest to hold jobs such as police officers.

For starters, police officers are overwhelmingly white and male. Many police departments are lacking diversity and the ability to match the demographics of their departments to the demographics of their civilians. In many cases, these departments are labeling BLM and liberals as cop killers and cop haters and naming themselves as conservative. They draw a line that is uninviting to their community, especially to their minority civilians. King says:

"Men like Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee demean the entire Black Lives Matter Movement and further advance the notion that liberals hate police. The consequence is that the profession is being positioned as a purely conservative one. In the end, we get out what is put in and the supply to the profession is clearly on the path to becoming increasingly white and conservative.The racial and cultural divisions within police departments are so fierce that African-American officers in cities like St. Louis have formed their own separate police union and stand in stark opposition to policies and practices of their own white police chief. A conservative trope that I often see is that if African-Americans want to see police do things differently, they should join the force. The spirit in which that statement is usually offered is one of spite and anger and often reduces, as we often do in America, the problem of police brutality to that one simple solution. While I stand in complete opposition to the spirit in which that statement is often offered, I do find some truth in it."

King promotes a revolution from within and it makes a lot of sense. There may not be one simple solution, but getting the right people into the right jobs in this country could make a huge difference. This also goes for other government jobs. King says, "At the very least, police departments and prosecutors officers should look and feel like the cities they are in. Very few do and this is not just about race, but about culture and worldview. Unless these fields have a steady supply of staff and leaders who look and feel and think like a broad swath of America, we are in trouble and we will stay in trouble. Period. Yes, we must overlay on the current departments we have more rigorous policies and guidelines, but it would only be a cosmetic change if we don't also drastically improve the supply of who does the actual work. Cities and states must drastically overhaul their recruitment efforts among communities of color and in institutions which produce diverse ways of looking at the world."

King goes on to point out that most of us don't even know our district attorney's or other important positions in our communities and I will admit this is most certainly true for me and most people I know.

"We must flood those races not only with our votes and interest, but with qualified candidates who care about solving the systemic challenge of police brutality, but it all begins right here — with an awareness that by chronically avoiding certain professions we may be unintentionally aiding in our own oppression. As long as the supply of police and prosecutors are coming from the current homogenous pipeline, we're going to get a lot more of this same old system." You can read this article in full here.

For those of us looking for things to do, ways to help, ideas to change our community - here's some.

Get involved in your community. Be an advocate. Attend community group meetings, volunteer, and get educated about your city. Be an educated voter. Work for just policy and laws.

Educate and encourage students of all ages to pursue jobs like the police force, prosecutors, district attorney, etc. so that the next generation can be the change.

Let's stop generalizing. Stop believing lies. Stop ignoring issues because we are not directly affected.

Rather, let's all join together to fight for justice.

I am white and I was born into freedom. I had a horrible childhood in it's own right and I am often tempted, now that I am grown up and have my own life, to ignore every hard issue at hand - to steer clear of any and all negativity. To be blunt, I do have the option to take my white privilege and run with it. To get a good job, have kids, send them to a good school, and only experience the natural rifts of life until my dying day.

But I cannot. I REFUSE, to live my life while I know there are so many out there who cannot live. Who are oppressed, silenced, murdered, hungry, homeless, etc. etc.

We are not free until all are free.

That's why I have chosen to work in ministry. To be in the streets. To get my hands dirty.

Because I believe 100% that God created us ALL to have life and have life abundantly.

Christ died so that we could live.

The fact that millions of people are robbed of the life Christ died for them to live devastates me to no end

And I will not rest until there is justice.

I am not naive enough to think this will happen in my lifetime,

But I am also too stubborn and too determined to give in and give up.

There is always hope in Christ. With God, nothing is impossible.

Don't loose heart and don't loose hope, friends. Never give up.