Detroit Police Officer: “They Want Blood”

by with 2 Comments CultureFeatured

It’s a tough time to be in law enforcement. Police officers rarely weigh in and tell you what they think. And if they do, it’s off the record. Below is a Detroit Police Officer’s thoughts in response to a recent article discussing a young Black male being fatally shot by police after he opened fire on an officer in close range and attempted to flee.

The body cam footage is graphic, and many are calling it a justified shooting.

Officer’s Profile… (Black male / 27 years old / 4 years experience / married with two kids / resides in the city of Detroit):

“Was it or was it not a good shooting as in justified? He tried to kill a cop and wasn’t even the focus of the investigation. You know it’s aggravating that my people call me names, spit at me, and don’t appreciate what we do. But on that same block a week earlier, 8 people shot, 3 of the 8 are dead, and no 1 batted an eye. We shoot someone who shot at us first and we are vilified. I leave my house every day knowing I may not come home at night for people who don’t care about me. My mayor runs the city like a business. I love him dearly but at the same time, I want to feel appreciated for what we do. Day in and day out, the Chief crucifies us. This is the first time he’s stood behind us out the gate. The people of this city don’t want rationality, they want blood and a war for no reason. We don’t want to harm anyone… we want to make money and enjoy our lives. We are threatened on a day to day basis by the community that doesn’t trust us for things officers did in other states. Like honestly man, I wouldn’t mind walking away from this and only protecting my family and letting the criminals have the city. No1 says thank you. No1 says anything other than spit on the work we do.”

Referenced article: Brother of Hakim Littleton speaks out, wants meeting with Detroit city officials

Similar Read: Professional Fear

Professional Fear

by with One Comment CultureFeaturedRace Relations

Quick disclaimer… I’m a former police officer of the Baltimore City police department southwestern and central district. 

“If racism was a butcher, law enforcement is its cleaver.”

That’s not hyperbole, that’s American history. 

From enforcing fugitive slave laws to Jim Crow to today, the continual enforcement of draconian drug and financial laws were created with Black people as the target.

Black people have a rightful fear, not in the sense of being scared of the police officer as a person, but fearful as the police officer as the profession. And that their PROFESSION will give them credence over their life. 

I’ll repeat that. 

Black people have a fear of law enforcement not because they’re tough bad boys, hardly, because their word will have a say over our lives. Not because we’re wrong, but because we’re Black. 

This comes down to a very basic thing. Too many White police officers fear Black people. They see our skin color representing the need to be controlled and thus no regard or respect or life, which is evident by the terror they’ve inflicted on us over centuries. 

It’s that simple. 

Now, what’s to be done about it?

Well, this is not a call to remove law enforcement. No, but to have a proper relationship between citizens and police, we MUST recreate a balance of the people against policing powers. 

What are police powers?

Policing is a state and local issue. The federal government has little to do with it outside passing its own federal laws to be enforced and the occasional federal money and assistance to state and local law enforcement departments with strings attached. Police powers give officers the right to do everything from having their weapon issued to being able to tow your car and lock you up if you don’t sign a traffic ticket. That power also gives them the ability to do a criminal act, under the guise of policing, and go home and watch SportsCenter that evening while another person dies because of their lack of judgement. 

That’s a PROBLEM! And that’s THEE first problem of policing. No consequences! 

Without any true federal laws on the conduct of policing, each and every police department carries out the business of policing very differently. 

You see, there isn’t a federal statute or law or anything to protect citizens from the abuse of policing powers. There is no universal defense as a citizen against a law enforcement officer upon their interaction with you. 

This is not democratic. This is not due process. A police officers’ profession stops at a certain point, and their actions become the actions of a person, not a cop. And they should not be protected with their police powers. This is exactly what happened when Minnesota Cop Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, while Mr. Floyd laid defenseless and handcuffed. 

I guess that’s fear of life. (emoji shrug) 

You see, if I worked at an Applebee’s one of the Trump supporters wanted opened, I cannot beat up a rude guest or slap away someone’s food because they didn’t like it. All in the name of Applebee’s…. none of us have that luxury. 

No organization has the luxury of hiding the criminal acts of its members like the police. The job of police officers, to protect and serve, is essential to society… we get that. But what we will not do is allow them to use that as an excuse to reign terror on citizens. 

A federal law needs to be put in place to protect citizens in regard to their interactions with officers… essentially what an officer can and cannot do and say to you. The other is the swiftness of action against an officer when a criminal act has taken place. 

What Derek Chauvin did was murder. Chauvin went home that night. What Amber Guyger did, the woman who shot and killed Botham Jean in his own apartment in Dallas, that was murder. Guyger went home that night. 

Amber got off because of her profession, getting a ten-year sentence for killing a man in his own apartment is getting off. Chauvin will too. If the flames are to ever begin to settle, and tensions calmed, swift and immediate action is needed by our so-called leaders. Reformation of law enforcement is not an issue, but a crisis. A crisis our current leadership is woefully inept to handle. 

Similar Read: Conversation With a Black Man

Amy’s Gotta Problem

by with One Comment CultureFeaturedRace Relations

There is an ire of intentionality behind white violence against black people. But white violence against black men has been at the forefront lately. As I write this post, America has just been introduced to another death of a black man at the hands of a white police officer. There’s something about the history of black oppression in this country that today’s news just lays on the thickest layer of grief a black person in America can feel. Although George Floyd’s life needs to be shared, this story, unfortunately, isn’t about him. 

It’s about Amy Copper and her attempt to threaten and likely kill a black innocent man. It’s deep. While Christian Cooper (not related) was in Central Park’s Ramble bird watching he noticed an unleashed dog. That is illegal in the Ramble and they have clear instructions on their website. He asked the dog’s owner, Amy Cooper, if she could please leash her dog. Among other things, unleashed dogs can harm other animals and humans. Instead of simply complying with a stated law, Amy decides to challenge Christian who then begins to record their interaction with his cell phone. 

It’s important to note that this was his single greatest weapon during this interaction. What ensued thereafter is beyond reproach. Amy begins to approach him and he asks her to back up and she points at him and threatens to call the police. What gave Amy the right to threaten police on an unarmed and non-threatening man? She clearly didn’t like that he asked her to leash her dog and used his race as a weapon to call the police. It was truly disgusting to witness via Christian’s video footage, but it was real. 

The threat of white violence utilizing police is disgusting. Amy emphasized that Christian was African-American in her call to the police. She said he was threatening her and her dog, whom by this time she was visibly chocking because she refused to leash it. Christian continued to record and posed no threat to her. Amy continued to Amy until finally leashing her dog and Christian thanked her and walked away. The ending shows that the police did arrive, but did not find Amy or Christian there because there was no real threat. There was only a disgruntled dog walker and a frustrated bird watcher who had an ugly interaction. 

But we can’t leave this topic without thinking of the many times a 911 call has been used as key proof in a case against someone. Amy, without hesitation, called and told the police an African-American man was threatening her life. As we think about how easily a false accusation could have caused this Black man to lose his liberty or his life it is truly infuriating. What’s infuriating was Amy’s disregard for his life. In a follow-up interview, she told CNN “I’m not racist. I do not mean to harm that man in any way.”

Amy calling the police was intended harm. Highlighting his race on the call was intended harm. Faking an emergency to call the police was intended harm. Having your dog unleashed in an area that is illegal was intended harm. 

Christian was simply asking Amy to comply with a stated law. Amy attempted harm and now expects her apology to suffice. This is trauma. This is black trauma. This is black male trauma. The Amy’s of the world must be stopped. And the Christian’s of the world must continue to record and share.

Similar Read: Are We Surprised?

The Constitution?

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

[New Contributor]

The Constitution is a term that’s used regularly in the political world and in right-wing circles. But it’s constantly misused like the term love, which is used every single day. There are many levels of love. It can go anywhere from love for your favorite sports team, love for a family member, and of course, the love of your life (at the time lol). But again, the term love is used all day, every day.  And similar to the adjective “the,” there’s often not much meaning behind it.

Similar to “love” and “the,” the term Constitution is used improperly or rather without true meaning. We live in a time where many want to bring up their Constitutional right, whether they are left, right, or somewhere in the political middle. We often hear “It is my Constitutional right…,” “I am protecting my Constitutional right,” or, “They want to take away our Constitutional right…” and so forth.

The issue is many who are yelling protection of their Constitutional right do not even know what the Constitution says. They are clueless about how many Amendments are in the Constitution and what they actually state.

There are 27 Amendments in the Constitution. Some remember popular Amendments, such as #1 Free Speech, #2 Right to Bear Arms, or #5 Remain Silent. But as mentioned there are 27 Amendments, and I can guarantee you judges, police officers, and government officials constantly use many of them as justification for their actions despite not actually following the law.

Let’s deal with the Second Amendment for today. Many gun activists believe that the Second Amendment is their only God-given right and the most important. They also believe that this Amendment justifies having 18-20 guns to protect themselves including military-like weapons. This may be true, but this is not the law of the Amendment nor is it the purpose of its creation.

Because these activists have chosen not to use the Amendment properly, they have subsequently created a Stand-Your-Ground Law. Stand Your Ground Law states that you have the right to use your gun to stand your ground when you feel your life is threatened. But these activists are using their guns any way they want because they believe the Second Amendment and Stand Your Ground Laws give them that right and justify their actions. Once again something that is not accurate. And what we’ve discovered is “Stand-Your-Ground” really means Whites can stand their ground and Blacks & minorities have no ground to stand on. Blacks can’t say, “I am standing my ground because I fear for my life.” Blacks cannot walk up and down the street waving a gun or have a large gun strapped across their chest and walk in a Burger King, gas station or Walmart without police or authorities being called. That phone call on that Black individual most likely will end in an arrest or murder by the police or civilians. 

If we’re being honest, Stand-Your-Ground Law is another made-up law that allows White Americans to make civil arrests or take the lives of innocent people, mainly African-Americans. If it was really about protecting everyone then the law would also give African-American their fair protection and rights to STAND THEIR GROUND as well.

But the reality is it’s not for Blacks. They still believe how dare a Black man own a gun because that is NOT American so they must be up to some type of crime.  How dare a Black man go golfing, take a jog, sit in first-class on a plane, or be in the park with friends. 

But people used The Constitution as their American Bible to hide behind their hatred and evil speeches. Believing that The Constitution is their legal right to do whatever they want as long as they say my Constitutional rights.  It’s the same ones that say, “Get over slavery it was a long time ago.”

But Blacks and minorities have Constitutional rights. It is their right to speak up, defend, and protect themselves and their families. It is their right to not be killed, shot at, or threatened. It is their right to vote, worship, love whom they deem fit, and it is their right to stand their ground and demand justice in our judicial system. The sad truth… justice is not blind, it can see real good. She sees color, skin tone, race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and income status. Justice is not blind and justice is not fair. So when will we make The Constitution something that protects and serves all Americans? Because it’s just not for White people.

Antwon Rose

by with 2 Comments CultureFeaturedGen Z

Black bodies, young and old, are being cut down by blue hands. This has become the American Normal, an epidemic that many have been fighting to find a cure for. Black Lives Matter is the largest movement of today, potentially since the Panthers. Their aim is to establish equality in the Land of the Free, to show that freedom belongs to Black people also.

Since the abolition of slavery, our chains aren’t visible, but that doesn’t make them any less present. Our movements are restricted through racial profiling, generalizations, and a fear of police. The police force was formed to protect people from people by people. This force is comprised of people who go above and beyond to make our neighborhoods and cities safer to reside in. Lately, I have begun to question, safe from whom? 

What determines someone is dangerous? Reaching for an ID which is being asked for? For having on a hoodie with the hood up? For demanding to know why they’re being detained? For resisting arrest? For being Black? While the reasons behind these deaths aren’t certain, in the last few years, the number of fallen Black bodies has been on the rise. Unarmed Black bodies. Unarmed Black bodies of young men and women, of fathers and mothers, of brothers and sisters.

People make mistakes of all proportions. We are all imperfectly human. What makes a person worth their salt is their ability and willingness to take responsibility for their mistakes.

We have to hold everyone to the same extent of the law, which includes law enforcement. Simply because they enforce the law does not mean that they are above it. When an officer is killed, the person or persons responsible for it are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. When a civilian is killed, sometimes the officer is fired, maybe they face jail time, but more often than not it feels as if everyone is getting off scot-free, with a slap on the wrist called an acquittal.

Antwon Rose II was seventeen when he and his friend Zaijuan Hester were pulled over for driving a car that fit the description of one that just did a drive by a mile and a half away. Why did they run after being pulled over? What Black boy in this America would sit still when they see the boys in blue in their rearview mirror? And that officer is White, which is, unfortunately, the common scenario for these wrongful deaths? Get away or die trying.

There was footage taken from an apartment window of the shooting. As discussed in court and what can be plainly seen, Rose and Hester were running. All of a sudden ex-Officer Michael Rosfeld was shooting. There was no pursuit, just three rounds echoing in the silence in East Pittsburgh. I watched this video at least twenty times, trying to see anything other than another unarmed Black body hitting the ground with injuries that proved fatal. Each time I jumped as the shots pierced through the air.

There were three people in the car that was seen in surveillance footage that fled from a drive-by shooting. When Rosfeld and his partner pulled the car over, it would make sense to wait for backup since there was no telling how the situation would unfold. It was a choice to engage the teenagers without waiting. It was a choice to not pursue Rose and Hester as they fled. It was a choice to shoot at them, and those three shots landing into Rose’s back. Rosfeld was charged with criminal homicide, which includes murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter under Pennsylvania law, according to CNN.

As of March 22nd, 2019, Rosfeld was fully acquitted of all charges that could have been upheld. The nation, and especially Rose’s loved ones, are in uproar over the fact the jury’s deliberations lasted less than four hours. Rosfeld was given the proverbial slap on the wrist for murdering a teenage boy, like many others before him.

Race relations in America gets bleaker by the day. America shouldn’t be a battleground. Lives shouldn’t be lost due to itchy trigger fingers and bad snap judgments. We are losing our young people who will make a better tomorrow. While these lives cannot be revived, we can at least in their own effect positive change so that no more bodies join theirs in the statistic of Black lives lost as a result of police violence. 

Similar Read: Dancing With the Devil… A Brooklyn Perspective on Gun Violence 

Should We Feel Sorry For a Racist?

by with 9 Comments CultureFeatured

After getting punched in the face several times by a New Jersey Wildwood City Police Officer on Memorial Day Weekend, 20-year old Emily Weinman screamed, “I’m not one of these motherfu#&in ni$$a’s out here!”

55 seconds of disbelief as she’s mishandled by the police followed by her racist remark immediately makes you question how sorry you initially felt for her.

Link: Video of Emily Weinman being arrested 

Police brutality and explicit racism of those being brutalized is not something we hear about often. But the incident this past weekend was caught on video and it’s hard to ignore what Emily yells in anger right before the video ends.

Why would she think it’s appropriate to yell such a thing? If pushed, I’m sure she’ll release an apology suggesting she’s not a racist and that it was said in the heat of the moment. And like all similar apologies, it’ll blow over. It won’t be held against her for jobs or future opportunities because “she’s young and she really didn’t mean it.” Same script different person.

But if a 20-year non-Black woman in this country is conditioned to believe that only people of color are treated unjustly or brutalized by the police, and that the color of her skin grants her a pass unlike her fellow American’s who are of a different race, culture, or creed, then one things for sure – this country isn’t progressing, if anything it’s regressing.

Underage drinking was her supposed crime. According to Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano, Jr., “She refused to comply… Unfortunately, this is what happened.” They’ve launched an internal affairs investigation; but if after reviewing the video the city’s mayor can make such a statement, that should tell us all we need to know about who they believe is at fault. When you have back up, there’s gotta be a better / easier way to arrest someone… on the beach… who poses no physical threat.

Police brutality is real, and similar to mass incarceration, every now and then it snatches an unintended target. This time it was Emily Weinman.

If it’s possible to focus solely on the arrest and ignore her racist comment, which should be a lot to ask of any decent person, the police officer definitely took it too far and hopefully, justice will be served. She definitely didn’t deserve to be treated like this. And maybe, just maybe, her experience will help her realize that even people of color, or as she referred to them, these motherfu#&in ni$$a’s, don’t deserve to be treated like this either.

Let us know what you think. The intersectionality of police brutality and race is quite unusual in this incident.

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The Murder of Stephon Clark, Gun Control, and Law Enforcement

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedGen Z

The murder of Stephon Clark, an unarmed young man of only 22, in the privacy of his grandparents’s backyard is yet another example of how black people are and continue to be criminalized and unfairly profiled by police. The Sacramento police department were quick to suspend these officers but not without pay. Clark’s family sent for a private autopsy that concluded Clark was shot multiple times in his back and passed within 3-10 minutes after being wounded. The ambulance arrived after he was lying there for 6 minutes. The police had apparently mistaken his cellphone for a weapon. Clark is one of many young lives lost to gun violence this year alone.

In the wake of protests about gun control the issues of police brutality and racism are often diminished or even dismissed. We tend to view police as noble protectors but Tanisha Anderson, Alberta Spruill, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Rekia Boyd and so many other black lives have been taken at the hands of police. Many of these officers never face a trial. Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University reports, “Between 2005 and April 2017, 80 officers had been arrested on murder or manslaughter charges for on-duty shootings. During that 12-year span, 35% were convicted, while the rest were pending or not convicted”. These statistics make it obvious that the police are treated differently than the average citizen in regard to the law.

I think that it is about time we take a closer look at law enforcement, how they are trained and the way they are treated under the law. They deserve to be put to trial like any other person who has been charged with homicide. Not only that but it is pertinent that these officers are being trained to protect people, not murder them. There are inherent stigmas and prejudices that make marginalized groups far more likely to be killed by law enforcement. The police should be aware of this knowledge long before they are handed a lethal weapon and taught to kill if faced with a perceived threat. With gun control becoming an increasingly salient topic in our society, I think we are far past the need for gun control within law enforcement institutions. There are other ways to handle a situation that do not involve firing 20 rounds at one person.

The police are fiercely protected in our society, but at the end of the day their job is to serve and protect us.  How many more people will die before law enforcement takes responsibility for this neglect and carnage? The murder of Stephon Clark cannot be forgotten. Now is the time for radical reform, not excuses.

The Maybach Music of Policing

by with 2 Comments Uncategorized

“A bad police department is much like a bad sports team. The first victory is won in the front office. The first sign of a good police department is in city hall.” – Trae Lewis, a former Baltimore City Police Officer

In previous articles for The LCR, I promised to never use another Training Day reference. I wished I hadn’t, for this article centers around police misconduct and corruption; and what better movie to highlight police misconduct and corruption than Training Day. However, I was actually a cop for possibly the most profiled police department in recent memory for all the wrong reasons, the Baltimore City Police Department. Yes, I was a real cop for Baltimore City. To quote Rick Ross, “I knew Noriega, the real the Noriega,” for Rick Ross his emphasis was on the validity of his drug connects. I know – bad example to highlight police corruption especially when a lot of their recent corruption centers around drugs being planted on people. Well, Rick Ross is currently under critical medical care, and I’m wishing him well. Plus it’s just a cool line.



Anyway, as opposed to those who speak on police misconduct, corruption, and brutality via the voice of an observer or an unfortunate victim, I can speak on the subject from the experience of being a cop for more than five years.

 To quote another Rick Ross line, “It’s deeper than rap.” 

Historically speaking, the face of police corruption is a white male cop wrongfully beating, arresting, or doing anything you can think of to mistreat a person. This is very true. The business end of police corruption has been black people, largely young black males. The doer of the business has been white males; however, many principles came into play before that outcome. 

Get ready for a very complicated explanation. Just like how Rick Ross somehow was a major drug pusher, yet his previous job before becoming a successful rapper was one of a correctional officer. ? 

People question the abuse of police against citizens, especially young black males. The answer begins with the entity that empowers the police, for they themselves mistreat citizens, especially young black males. From lack of funding for proper education, carelessness for environmental standards (cough Flint, Michigan), gross gentrification, and countless other traits of a badly ran town, city, state, and federal government including the administration. Furthermore, find me a municipality with government corruption, mismanagement of resources, etc., and I’ll bet dollars to donuts that their police department is responsible for many of the notable negative incidents in its past.

This, of course, does not excuse the acts of blatant wrongdoing of some police officers. However, it’s hard to expect an efficient and properly managed police force when their city hall is messed up from the floor up. 

A department like Baltimore City police is tasked with “cleaning up the city” with none of the underbelly social structures needed to help neighborhoods. A major lack of planning from city hall. So the result, as we saw in the early 2000s with Baltimore, was a war of attrition. The city thought it could literally arrest itself out of its problems. In the mid-2000s, Baltimore police arrested over a 100,000 people yearly and the city only had a little over 600,000 citizens to begin with. The theory of arresting as many people as possible to stop the wrongdoing obviously had no merit, most arrests were bogus. The arrests stretched the boundaries of what’s considered lawful – like the arrest of Freddie Grey, and the result is… well, everything from planted guns and drugs on people to officers on the take.

As Rick Ross said, “God forgives and I don’t,” and though I don’t forgive the acts of wrongdoing by police officers, I do think of the Magnificent (a Rick Ross song) job countless cops do a daily basis. And more importantly, I know in order to get a workplace truly right you don’t just go after the workers, you go after the boss (of course, in my Rick Ross voice).  

Want to learn more about Trae? Check out… traelewis.com