As the father of two African American males, the recent rash of violent murders at the hands of law enforcement agents is somewhat troubling. To make matters worse, someone has taken it upon themselves to be judge, jury, and executioner and five officers are dead in Dallas.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
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The other night, I was sharing my thoughts on how to deal with your enemy. In the midst of my message, someone commented that they could not forgive or pray for anyone who is “slaughtering” us. My comment to them became the inspiration for this post— “Be a Committee of One.”
The question always is, “What can one person do?” We definitely can contribute to the rising amount of hate and discontent by continuing to be aggressive and disrespectful to those who are deputized to serve and protect us. At the end of the day, their job is very stressful and demanding. We sometimes forget how much of a huge responsibility being a civil servant really is.
Well, Dr. Sims, what can we do to help this situation?
I put out a Tweet a short time ago that said this, “President Barack Obama, Sir, you need to call a day of nonviolence and have every state have city-wide prayer meetings. We pray & problem solve.” I also did an #Instagram video as well. Regardless of your spiritual ideology, it can not be argued about the value of coming together as a nation and a community and collectively “pray” for peace. The Muslims just completed their holiday of Ramadan where they came together, fasted, and prayed for peace. Surely, if the President asked the country to have a national day of non-violence and prayer, I am positive we would not object. This would be step one.
The next step would be to have law enforcement agencies and local community leaders sit down at the table of brotherhood to map out some strategies to combat the recent rash of murders that have transpired.
Here are my thoughts:
Strategy 1.
Hands up, guns down. This may sound really simple but I believe it would reduce the risk of prematurely firing a weapon unnecessarily. If a potential perpetrator has his hands up, a risk of threat to the law enforcement agent has been removed.
Strategy 2.
When an officer arrives on the scene, if the potential perpetrator is visible, audibly ask the potential perpetrator to lay down on the ground with his legs and arms spread apart. Again, the risk to the officer has been removed.
Strategy 3.
Reduce the reasons a driver is pulled over. For example, if an officer notices a busted tail light or expired tag, take a picture of the tag, determine who the car is registered to, and send them a ticket for said impropriety.
Strategy 4.
When a call is pulled over, have the police officer, announce himself from their squad car, ask the driver to step out of the vehicle, officer begins his recording, exit his vehicle, and then ask for driver’s license. Side note: A driver’s license should have all required information (if the vehicle is registered, the driver has insurance, etc.) In this technological age, there is no reason for all necessary information not to be centralized.
The final step would be for us the community. Let’s be more understanding and respectful of those who are in authority. Are they getting it right 100% of the time? Of course not. But we can take some responsibility to be as helpful and supportive as a community. Let us place ourselves in the shoes of those who are called to serve and protect us. If we treat them as we would want to be treated, this may help us be more understanding and compassionate towards them. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I ask you to add to your prayers, our law enforcement agents.
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Photo: GettyImages