Maybe instead of cops being upset that state legislatures are taking action to repeal LEOBR and reform QI, we should instead be introspective and consider how our general inaction to call out our own has painted the profession into the corner it’s in.

Collectively, we’ve failed root out the bad apples we all talk about. Collectively, we’ve circled our wagons around nearly every objectively bad shooting saying ‘I wasn’t there. I don’t know all the facts.’ Collectively, we’ve ‘what-abouted’ things, making false equivalencies...

...to other professions: ‘Look at doctors. They kill more people than cops.’ I’ve heard this argument so many times, and they don’t equate. We’re just as quick to point the finger at the public we serve, yet fail to see the beams sticking from our own professional eyes.

And the tough part is that these 2 things can be true at the same time: an overwhelming majority of cops are out to do the right thing, and none of that matters because the overwhelming majority largely stands by as the minority smears the profession in the most egregious of ways

It’s not enough to be a good cop who ethically and morally gets the job done and then goes home. They’re only doing half the work. We need to a)acknowledge the institutional racism inherent in our CJ system, b) admit the field is in dire need of overhaul, c) aggressively root...

...out those who don’t belong. And addressing C means unions are going to have to get over themselves a little bit. And to be honest, I’m not perfect in all these areas. Some of these require the ability to have courageous conversations, and I need to get better at that.