CHEW ON THE POLICE THREAD:

Here's the thing #BlueLivesMatter & many police & other law enforcement doesn't understand: Yes, citizens should comply with lawful police orders. What police forget or obtusely choose not to acknowledge is that THEY set the tone when engaging with...

2)...Police are taught to be authoritative. To be the Alpha Dog or the Alpha Female. They shove that badge down your throat when they talk to you. They seem not to know or understand the timeless truth of "Never make an enemy when you could make a friend with the same effort."...

3)...So when they approach a civilian, especially a Black person or other POC, many times, the police are already adrenaline high, testosterone off the charts w/gun drawn.

There is literally no human being on earth who won't respond in kind to that level of aggression. THAT'S..

4)..when traffic stops & routine encounters turn deadly. I've talked about the time United States Park Police officers pointed loaded guns At. My. Head. when they pulled me over for speeding. I was driving my mother's car. When my license didn't match my mom's registration,...

5)...the US Park Police officer thought I stole it & pulled his gun out, pointed it At. My. Head. & called for backup. Who arrived with HIS gun drawn & pointed it At. My. Head from the open window on the passenger side.

With their guns pointed At. My. Head. fingers on the...

6)...triggers, the officers screamed at me to show them my mom's registration which was in the glovebox. They'd ran the tags which had showed it was her car. I was frozen. I stared down the barrel of the gun pointed At. My. Head and I didn't move. They yelled at me to get the...

7)...registration out of the glovebox but how could I? There were two loaded guns pointed At. My. Head.

The #BlueLivesMatter crowd will steadfastly say "Just do what the police tell you to do & there won't be a problem."

Yet, who among them could really comply when there's...

8)...loaded guns pointed At. Your. Head. by aggressive, testosterone laden men hopped up on adrenaline who see you as a threat? I stayed wear I was, frozen, my hands gripping the steering wheel so hard they hurt. The more they screamed at me, the more I had to work to remain...

9)...calm. I told them I'd get the registration if THEY lowered their guns. That made them madder.

ESPECIALLY when the civilian is a person of color, police escalate any encounter. Their whole mindset is the Blacks & Latinx in the communities they're supposed to serve &...

10)...protect are the "enemies." SERVE & PROTECT is really a moniker meant for White communities. In Black neighborhoods, police are there to "kick ass", "lock up the animals", "take down the drug dealers", "put away the gangbangers."

That mindset NEVER allows them to serve &...

11)...protect Black communities. Police set the tone when they engage civilians. And the tone they always seem to set with Black citizens is one of aggression, rabid authoritativeness & bellicose scorn & derision.

No human being reacts well to that, even when it's dressed up...

12)...in a uniform, accessorized with a badge & a gun.

The US Park Police eventually let me go. They didn't even cite me for speeding. A supervisor eventually came & told me to just drive away.

I was lucky to live to tell the tale. Consider this CHEW'S TRUTH POSSE: I'm a...

13)...college educated professional Comms & PR Pro & former news producer & reporter. And I'VE had a negative police encounter where I could have been killed. For speeding in my mother's car doing a 45 in a 25.

And you know what I was thinking as I stared down the barrel of...

14)...that gun? Was I going to feel it when my head exploded AND it was going to leave a mess in my mother's car. Who would clean it?

Police set the tone in any encounter. It shouldn't be on civilians to keep THEIR heads even as police lose theirs./EJC