I grew up in a very high crime town, where we probably have one gang murder/shooting a day.

When I was 10, my neighbor was murdered during a cocaine deal.

We had drive bys at my grade school, and there is a bullet lodged in my 2nd grade classroom wall. Still there. 1/x

Ethnically, our local PD reflects our community. This was done in part because our town needed LEOs who could communicate with the population. (Spanish, Hmong, Vietnamese, Cantonese, etc.) 2/x

Because we have a diverse PD, when we have officer involved shootings (of which there are many given the amount of violent crime in my town) the community doesn't rise up against the PD. Our LEOs are FROM the community. 3/x

Just last month, LEOs showed up at my mother's door because there was a gang member on the loose hopping fences with an AK-47. Not kidding. Not exaggerating.

Oh, and we are from the relatively *nice* part of town. 4/x

There was a gang related stabbing in the park down the street, and the victim (also a gang member) took shelter behind my mom's car and bled all over the place. 5/x

When I was ~ 14 yrs old, someone attempted to rob our house. The robber was headed to the back door with my siblings & I sleeping inside. My mom was in the room above the garage, heard the robber, dialed 911 drew her pistol & went on the balcony to face the guy down. He left. 6/x

When I was in 5th grade, my friends & I were trick or treating when we were basically mugged as part of some stupid gang initiation. My stupid friend wanted to fight the guys, and I begged 'em to just handover whatever they wanted. We ran to the nearest house and dialed 911. 7/x

Of the 60 or so kids who were part of my 6th grade graduation class, < 10 of us finished HS.

At least one is on death row for murder in a gang related shooting, a bunch more have been in and out of jail. Kids joined gangs when they were 9-10 yrs old. Child soldiers. 8/x

So, I have a much different perspective on improving law enforcement, violent crime, gangs, and gun control vs gun rights than someone who grew up in a very safe neighborhood.

We all see things through the lens of our life experiences. 9/x

For the most part, the community still rarely calls the police when they have a problem because they don't want be targeted as snitches. People who cooperate with law enforcement tend to have their body's dropped off bridges into the river. 10/x

You can see why most of my siblings joined the military, we basically already grew up in a war zone. How else would you describe a place with child soldiers etc etc etc. 11/x

(We do volunteer work, mentor at-risk youth, and my parents were founding members of our local NAACP chapter.) (BTW, one of the kids I tutored father was in prison for murder in a gang related shooting.)

12/x

This is the most identifiable information I have ever shared on Twitter, and I don't care to go into any more detail because I want to keep this account anonymous. But I just wanted to get all this off of my chest.

13/x