I remember being on patrol in New Orleans one evening. I came across a broken down vehicle that had tried to pull over but was still blocking a lane of traffic. It was late, maybe 10 or 11 o’clock pm. The vehicle was occupied by four African Americans in their mid 20s.

I pulled up behind the vehicle and turned on my overhead lights. I got out and asked everyone “how’s it going?” The people immediately got nervous and started to hand me their IDs before I had even asked for them.

I said “I don’t need those. I’m just going to park behind you with my lights on until a tow truck arrives so nobody runs into the back of your car. I’m gonna sit here and do my paperwork so just holler if you need anything.

The driver of the car shook my hand and said “Thank you for stopping. Six other white officers passed us by and didn’t even check to see if we were alright.”

That blew my mind. And then it hit me: these people have probably had tens or even hundreds of interactions with law enforcement over the course of their life, and I may have been the first one to treat them with dignity and respect.

They were so conditioned to negative interaction that they immediately tensed up, looked nervous, etc. All the warning signs we are taught to look for during an investigation. I could have easily reacted differently and escalated the situation to an unsafe level for all of us.

I don’t really have a point here other than to say that law enforcement at the community level is broken. I burned out quickly and went back to grad school so I could have a career change.

Until we fix the systemic problems within the ranks, have better training, and create a zero tolerance policy and move away from the “back the blue” mantra, these issues will continue over, and over, and over again.

Feel free to argue with me today if you think I’m wrong. I’m here for it.