Racism Exists

With a title like “Racism Exists” you would think I would have some earth shattering statement. I don’t. My thoughts and emotions are a bit raw with the events of this week. I love people but I hate what people are doing to each other. We need to be better humans…..

I am sitting in my big comfortable chair watching what you are all watching on television. Many of us are on a couch, in a place of safety and comfort. We are stirring our tea occasionally, taking sips from the mug. We have worries and things of concern but for the most part, we will get thru it and figure out a way to find ourselves back in our comfy chair watching television again tomorrow.

We don’t have to worry, for the most part, about being stopped by law enforcement for whatever reason, detained and questioned.

We don’t have to worry about getting “the look” when walking into a place of business. You know “the look” the one where you’re probably there to rob the place because of the way you’re dressed and the way you look.

We don’t have to worry about a job interview and getting a litany of questions about your abilities, qualifications and education over and over again, even though its clearly all in your resume’ and supporting documents.

Your neighborhood school had all of the things it should have, new equipment, great teachers and a great support system top down. You don’t have to worry about going to school with over-crowded classrooms, sharing of text books, sub-standard support systems and metal detectors at the entrances.

We don’t have to worry about where our next meal comes from, if the lights are going to be on, if the water is going to be shut off and if there is gas in our vehicle to go to work.

We don’t have to worry about a lot.

Many people have to worry, many of your fellow residents do and even many of your friends do.

There are racists.

There racists of every color in the spectrum of a rainbow.

There are people that look down on others based on their skin color, religion, social status, checkbook, the way they look, where the live, where they work and whom they fell in love with.

These are facts.

I will never pretend to have the answers. I simply only know my response from my perspective. So what I am about to say is from what I see, know and have experience with. That’s it.

But I do listen.

You should too.

Listening to others thoughts, feelings and perspective is an important skill. Hone it, practice it and then use what you’ve learned from others, combined with your own thoughts and apply it to help make the world a better place.

“Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.”

Eugene Ionesco 

In my TEDx Talk - Link here. I talked about love for my fellow man and service above self. Love guides me. Love teaches me humility. Love brings light into darkness. I don’t think I talked about any earth-shattering concepts. I kept it simple. My themes where love and service.

Love and service is still what drives me.

I am not suggesting we are a complete train wreck. We are not. But if one piece of our system of governing is out place, like a random lego on the ground, the system needs a thorough overhaul to find out what happened and get the system working in a way that best serves the people its set to protect.

We cannot fix the justice system, society or any other organization or services without first acknowledging the problems and inequities. We must drill down to the causation across the board.

Quick story – Everyone who reads my stuff and knows me, knows I am big rodeo fan. My family and I have been involved in rodeo for years. We love it.

Rodeo is a great sport as an example of equality. Yes I said that. It’s not a bunch of rednecks drinking beers, running around on horses or riding bulls for the sheer sport of it (ok to be fair there is a little bit of that). Rodeo is about the connection of horse and rider. Rodeo athlete vs animal rodeo athletes. Nobody cares in the least bit, if your gay, what god you pray to, what the color of your skin is, If you have a million bucks or 10 cents, what you drive or where you are from. None of that is a factor, at all. We are all there for the love of our animals and the sport. We take care of our animals like they are family. We take care of each other like they are family. We often speak in terms like “our rodeo family”. We support each other, we care about each other. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

But I digress.

This is going to take work. Some sweat. Some tears. Some big changes in the way we operate our government and the way we see and treat people. We need to open our eyes to the world around us. We need to listen more and act on that. We need to be doers.

We must eliminate racism by replacing it with understanding; acceptance, equality and well…more love for our fellowman.

I was just thinking does this make me a liberal or a conservative? Oh Dave how dare you enter into the political fray! I make this statement because often times we draw political lines when in reality we should reject some those strict definitions and embrace the ideals that best serve our society, mankind and our hearts. I don’t know the answer on my own politics. I would suggest though, it makes me a human who truly loves people. I am completely fine with that.

I am willing to do what I can to help our country and world. Are you?

Where Are The Good Police Officers?

I often talk about my law enforcement career and the things I've experienced over the years. Some folks find it interesting, some do not. It just feels good to talk about it from my perspective. The emotions I felt, the things I saw, the view of the best show on earth (cops call law enforcement careers that) and the things I experienced. I try not to filter too much. I want you to have the raw emotion, the feelings and set the scenes properly from what I remember. 

  

Today I thought, I want to talk about the things we see on the nightly news, in our newspapers and on social media. I've talked in the past about the theory I have I've coined the “social media effect”. It’s a theory I have were a given situation or incident is played over and over from different viewpoints and opinions on social media. This magnifies the occurrence and often skews the facts of what happened. 

But what I decided I am talking about  isn’t any of that. I want to talk about George Floyd.

George Floyd

“George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a police officer’s knee on Monday, in an episode that was recorded on video and that sparked large protests in Minneapolis” - New York Times

To America's Police Officers- I believe it’s important that we talk about George. We understand what happened and we do something to proactively prevent it from ever happening again

So what happened? The problem is in our electronic-have-to-get-information-now social media platforms we often get filtered information. We get skewed information. We get the wrong information. In this case we only have to use our eyes and ears.

I don't know anything about Mr Floyd. I don't know if that is even important right now. I know he had a family who loved him very much. I know he had friends. I know he has a community that is outraged. In my opinion, based on the totality of what I have seen thus far, they have every right be upset. I am upset with them.

We ARE better than this.

How do we prevent this from happening? How do law enforcement agencies combat this? 

How is this fixed? 

Theodore Roosevelt said “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”

The answer is simple but requires work.

It’s about training, standards and accountability.

We must invest, with vigor in our personnel as we have invested in other socially responsible programs. There needs to be a paradigm shift in training that stresses common sense and practical procedures. Procedures that both insure the safety of our personnel and those that they encounter.

We must have high standards and training for those that do not meet standards. Dismissal for those that cannot be remediated.

Is this harsh? Sure it is, but the public deserves the best service possible.

Accountability needs to go both ways. Our personnel need to be held accountable for their actions. Our law enforcement leaders need to be held accountable for their personnel, period. The truly bad guys need to be held accountable for their actions. 

The x-factor is here and one that people do not want to discuss is the public, individuals being held accountable. Our laws in California have become ridiculous to the point that the bad guys are leaving the jails before the police officers get to their cars in the jail parking lot. We need to repeal and replace with something smarter and better AB 109 and Propositions 47 and 57 in California. They are utter failures in my opinion. - But I digress as this is not a rabbit hole I want to fall into and discuss.

Can we afford Training, Standards and Accountability? I do not see how we can NOT afford them. Our government spends tons of money on programs that to some seem fairly pointless. Being a guy who worked in government (I guess I still do part-time) I can assure you that I have seen my fair share.

So how do we move forward? Well I think it takes a leadership at the highest levels to make bold and brave decisions. I think it could start with one voice from the public - just like a single drop of rain, can eventually create a flood.

I call upon our politicians on both sides of the aisle. I call upon law enforcement leaders. I call upon law enforcement officers. I call upon those great and strong law enforcement organizations to lend their collective voices.

I will be the first to say it -

I want our law enforcement officers to have better more consistent training. This needs to be a priority and not an afterthought. I want to see high standards for performance and training for our law enforcement officers. I want to see accountability.

I asked in the title of this blog "Where are the good police officers?" The answer is most all officers are great and good. They serve their communities with honor and are truly caretakers. I am proud of them and I am proud to have served alongside them. They are as upset at this as all of you.

Thank you for reading this and listening to me. Please share this with your government representatives and politicians.

Please be good to each,

Dave