The Maybach Music of Policing

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“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

[2017 In Review] Reactionary Policy Kills Dreams (DACA)

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Congress, which has an approval rating less than 20%, now controls the fate of nearly 800,000 immigrants. Time is running out. Considering this White House and everything that’s going on in the world, it’s easy to forget about this critical issue. A few months ago, one of our contributors wrote a compelling piece regarding illegal immigration and why this President is wrong.

Here’s the original article…

“Just as the DEA’s (Drug Enforcement Agency) work in the “war on drugs” is primarily reactionary, meaning most of their enforcement is done to those who do business after narcotics have entered the United States, illegal immigration enforcement efforts are primarily against the illegal immigrant and not against the structures supporting their illegal immigration.”

To further to my above statement (technically a run-on sentence), drug enforcement stops roughly just 1% of the illegal drugs that enter the United States. Since 1972, the United States via local, state, and federal law enforcement has spent over a trillion dollars ensuring little Johnny doesn’t smoke weed. What do we have to show for it? We have more than 2.6 million people in prison and over half of them are there for drug related “crimes.” That’s more than any other nation, a million more than China. Yes, that China, the one with 1.2 billion people. The one where basic freedoms aren’t allowed and anything and everything will land you in prison; yet, somehow their prison population is one million less. I digress.

Back to illegal immigration.

Remember the classic Denzel Washington movie “Training Day”? It’s classic because it came out 16 years ago – newborn babies who just arrived when it hit the theaters are now driving, yikes! Anyway, there’s a scene in which Denzel is sitting in a restaurant with three judges. One of the judges tells Denzel’s character, Alonzo, about a case in which a man avoided prison because he claimed insanity. His proof was spreading peanut butter between his buttocks, and when hearing about this, Alonzo says, “Well, he earned his freedom.”

So, what does “Training Day” and the war on drugs have to do with President Trump ending DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)? First, let me explain exactly what DACA is. DACA is an Obama-era program that shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The purpose of DACA is to protect eligible immigrant youth from deportation who came to the United States when they were children.

Now, let’s start comparing. First, let me use the “Training Day” reference, and quite frankly, you can find a “Training Day” comparison for anything. When Alonzo said, “he earned his freedom” in reference to getting out of jail, I compare this to children who arrived in the United States via their parents. The children at 9 obviously couldn’t tell their parents, “Naw I ain’t going,” when forced to leave their country for the United States. For that, how can one realistically penalize them? Furthermore, for those children born in the United States, there’s a thing called the Citizen Clause in the 14th Amendment, in which it states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Even Trump should be able to decipher that one. Constitutionally speaking and common sense wise, the children have earned their right to be United States citizens. No need to join the military, recite the pledge of allegiance backwards, or take a test in which most Americans would fail, to solidify their citizenship.

That takes care of the children, now the parents.

By definition, an illegal immigrant is a foreigner who enters the U.S. without an entry or immigrant visa, especially a person who crosses the border by avoiding inspection or who overstays the period of time allowed as a visitor, tourist, or businessperson. And though many of us as Americans like to think we’re the greatest and most happening; we do have a lot going on for sure, but people aren’t risking it all to come here to just go to Chick-fil-a or watch a ballgame. No. People come here for a very specific reason. Primarily to land work and a chance to better their current situation. It’s as simple as that. They don’t come here to rape and pillage the American landscape.

Just like the DEA’s work in the war on drugs is mostly against dealers and those involved in the drug trade within US borders, enforcement of illegal immigration is mostly against individuals and not the structure or system which enables their efforts prior to illegally entering our country. Efforts against the businesses and entities supporting the lifestyle of one who is illegal aren’t enforced with the same punishment and veracity. Meanwhile, back at your typical Trump rally, the call to round up the owner of Jed’s construction, who employs and pays illegal immigrants, isn’t as loud as it is to remove the workers he employs who made efforts to come to the United States.

In other words, just like the DEA fails to stop the drugs from entering the United States, immigration enforcement fails to truly address the support structures that keep illegal immigration alive and well.

Lastly, I’m one who supports reasonable legal immigration efforts. I understand the need to address illegal immigration; but, unlike President Trump I also understand there needs to be more serious efforts and disdain directed towards the elements behind illegal immigration and not the person simply trying to make a buck… even if it’s only to buy a chicken sandwich.

This article was originally published on 8 September 2017.

More on DACA?

Trump Ends DACA, America’s Top Universities Respond