Thread by @anonymous_cop

Since we are friends, family, neighbors, and fellow countrymen, I think it may be best to share a perspective from an angle you may not be all that familiar with.

What happened to George Floyd is inexcusable. (Cont’d)...

That fact cannot be ignored. The folks in law-enforcement that I personally know and the ones that I don't that I have heard speak on it are unanimous on the matter...

Our country has its history in slavery and racism. That fact cannot be denied, ignored, nor can it be changed.

People of color have experienced systemic racism in this country. That is an indisputable fact. But the great progress that has been made cannot be denied either...

Racism exists. It IS a problem. In some places more than others.

I first learned about inherent bias from my training with my agency. It forced me to recognize faults that I had never even considered about myself, faults we all possess, and how to confront them honestly...

Police agencies train their Officers to acknowledge and accept these faults, and to work through them.

I, along with others in law-enforcement are open to CONSTRUCTIVE input on how to improve relationships with communities of people who feel marginalized...

We have made great strides in improving community relationships through outreach, education, training, and continuous updates to policy.

At times it feels we spend more time training than doing the job we do in the field...

The overwhelming majority of people that I work with and have known in this profession over the years are good people. They are people that you would want to be friends with, and to be neighbors with. They are imperfect, as we all are. And some are assholes, but most mean well..

The people I work with, by law, represent the racial diversity of California by percentage. We mirror the community we serve.

My agency’s hiring standards are rigorous. Less than 1% who apply are hired and complete the training. Less make it off probation/field training...

That being said, as far as I can see, we are all being judged based upon the actions of a few.

Police officers face impossible lose/lose situations on a daily basis in this country...

There are over 350 million people in the US. There are only 1 million police officers.

There are between 50 and 60 million police contacts with the public per year...

In 2019, 19 unarmed white people and 9 unarmed black died resulting from contacts with police. Out of 60 million contacts.

It is a fact that many more white people are killed by police annually than other races...

I would prefer zero.

Nobody wants to live through the scrutiny and nightmare that follows, not to mention the stain it leaves on a soul, whether justified or not...

"Unarmed" does not mean not dangerous or not deadly, and it does not mean they did not present themselves as a deadly threat.

There are incidents where Officers make the wrong decision in fractions of seconds. This can be a result of how we are trained...

Perceptual lag will get you killed if you don't react to the signals and precursors as they lead up to the threat (by the time the gun is pointed at you, its already too late)...

Again, I'm not excusing this incident in anyway. I don't have any logical explanation for their actions in MN.

And there are bad shoots. But not necessarily the one's the media repeatedly tells you are the bad ones...

Bad cops get investigated, punished, fired, arrested, and prosecuted regularly.

That is a good thing. I / we celebrate that...

In my 14 years of duty, I have watched the justice system erode and become a joke in California and throughout the nation...

If you don't think that career criminals take advantage of that fact, you're kidding yourself. It is a hard reality to accept. And there are no simple solutions...

The job is more dangerous than ever. I question the risk / reward of it on a near daily basis...

It is more than disheartening to see someone you’ve risked your life to arrest, and who willfully endangers the lives of others, be released from jail in just hours nowadays. Not to mention the massive amount of paper required to generate for a case filing...

Those cases are routinely rejected for just about any reason due to the overwhelming strain it puts places on our court system. (Think of it as trying to save your sinking ship with a thimble)...

I have been punched, kicked, spit on, and shot at.

I have injuries that will never fully heal.

I have fought people for the weapon in their hands (real and replica)...

I have had people try to get me to shoot and kill them.

I have watched people leap to their death mere feet from where I stood...

I have had to tell families that their innocent loved ones are dead due to the actions of criminal who should never have been let out of prison.

I have had my uniform soaked in someone else’s blood...

I have been handed a lifeless child by a mother that was in no condition to care for it in the first place.

I have lost too many friends and coworkers...

I am not sharing this with you for sympathy. I choose this job.

My experience is not unique.
It is not a job most would, or could do. I routinely question my own desire and ability to continue in the profession. I choose to be grateful...

I am now watching my country be divided, destroyed, burned, and looted over the terrible actions, inactions, and perceived prejudices of a few.

That being said, I'd like to offer some perspective...

I have the utmost respect for teachers. Most of my life I wanted to be a history teacher. I also wanted to be a soldier, and a musician. Life took me down a different path...

Consider this:
In 2015, just under 500 teachers were arrested for sexual abuse. That's not reports, that's ARRESTS...

About 3.5 million students reported having had physical sexual contact with a teacher or coach.

When a cop takes a life in the line of duty, we KNOW about it...

Still, I (and the overwhelming majority) would never collectively disparage the profession as a whole, defund educational systems, physically threaten, or incite riots over these facts...

Law enforcement as a whole is being painted with a broad brush. ..

At this moment in America, and around the world, they are being humiliated, taunted, assaulted, beaten, and murdered in the streets while trying to defend people's lives, livelihoods, and what's left of their businesses (after being decimated by Covid-19)...

... over "the systemic racism" of a system that not one of them had a hand in the history of or in it’s design.

In fact, many have dedicated their lives and careers to improving it...

We are an imperfect people, we live in an imperfect country, with an imperfect system, that nonetheless provides the greatest opportunities for people that this world has ever known..

Our police are tired, they are far outnumbered, and right now they feel alone...

At this moment, there is no end to this it in sight.

Today marks my 11th day straight without a day off and my 7th 13 plus hour day. And I have it good compared to many!

This is the current situation for police all over the country. It is unprecedented...

They are not empty uniforms. They are human and they have families that want nothing more than for them to make it home...

Tomorrow, I might be standing on a line protecting property and people who don't give a damn about me whether it be due to the color of my skin, or for my chosen profession. I choose to hold that line. I choose to be grateful. #BlackLivesMatter #ThinBlueLine #StandTogether

#GeorgeFloyd