There are two sides to every story. And when a story is highly publicized, the public is apt to choose a side and stick with it before hearing all the facts. This is especially true about the issues that have risen regarding police brutality over the last few years.
The ongoing debate over police brutality has been streaming across social media and the news, and the debate has been brought to the forefront of America's conscience thanks to protesters and activists. Videos of alleged police injustice have appeared across Facebook walls, and anti-police slogans have become a cry often heard across the country.
But I am here to say: blue lives matter.
In October 2015, a dedicated, third-generation NYPD officer by the name of Randolph Holder was fatally shot in the head in East Harlem. He was the fourth NYPD officer to be killed in the line of duty since December 2014. Unfortunately, the numbers around the country continue to rise. According to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, a job as a police officer ranks in the top ten most dangerous jobs in America, with a staggering average of about 151 deaths per year in the line of duty. The average number of assaults against police officers is 57,364, and 15,375 of those assaults require hospitalization due to injury. The top three states for police deaths are California, Texas and New York (despite the strictest gun laws being in those states, for your information). Around 117 officers were killed in 2014, and those numbers aren't even close to the highest number of officer deaths the country has seen. In the past 10 years alone, the US has seen 1,466 officers killed in the line of duty; 539 of the 1,466 deaths were caused by firearms.
And yet, we continue to see relentless slandering of the men and women who wake up every day with the intent to protect and serve; the men and women who leave their homes with the knowledge that, any day, there is a possibility of becoming a number in those disturbing statistics.
With all of the dangers officers face every day, I am surprised to see the amount of hate targeted towards the police department in the past few years. Civil rights activists have raised their heads and started protests throughout most of the country. One of the biggest movements has been Black Lives Matter, an activist movement that President Obama himself said he supported. It is heartbreaking to see that a movement meant to create equality and understanding has caused a backlash of hate towards the men and women in blue. In December 2014, two NYPD officers were killed execution-style in their car after an alleged activist became angered over a police-related death. The "understanding" part of the movement appeared to fall completely flat, as people rioted in the streets calling for "cop blood" and "death to officers."
Prejudice, misunderstanding and blame are only a few of the reasons for the police slander in our country. I am not saying that there were not a few instances of uncalled uses of force against civilians, such as Sandra Bland (I hope she is resting peacefully). I am saying that, while there are always bad people throughout any organization, almost all police officers are leaving their homes with only one intention in mind: to go to work. Not to murder, not to oppress, not to dominate the populace. They want to provide for themselves, to make the streets a safer place for their children to live, and to help people in their everyday lives. A job where your day is filled with rapes, murders, robberies, shootings, and assaults can take an emotional toll on anyone, and making sure you get home to the loved ones you live to protect would be the only thing on anyone's mind.
In January 2015, a video showing the hardship of high-tension police interactions has surfaced on the Internet in the past few months. Jarrett Maupin, a political activist who had been very vocal about his anti-police views and his thoughts on police brutality, underwent police force training with local authorities in Phoenix, AZ. When given multiple scenarios where he had to act against a perpetrator, Maupin chose to fatally "shoot" the police officer conducting the training with him every time. At the end of the video he explains he panicked and decided to "shoot," even in an orchestrated scenario where he knew he was in no actual danger.
Even though that was just scenarios for Jarrett Maupin, the danger is real for police officers out on the street every day. A decision to not act can result in the loss of their life, and this is a thought that our heroes in blue carry in their mind every day of their lives. This is a thought that their loved ones and friends are reminded of every time they leave to go to work. As a future police officer wife, I can tell you that I will be constantly worried if my husband will actually come home after a day on the job.
Figo saying a final goodbye to his partner, Jason Ellis, who was murdered in May 2013
We, as a country, need to stop dividing ourselves into groups of hate. We need to stop placing the blame on others. We need to stop using violence as a way to make ourselves be heard. No one can win in this war that has overtaken and separated our country. Only with acceptance, open-mindedness, and understanding (that so many seem to lack) can we move forward and stop the hate and murder that is happening all too often among us. It is not just one group who faces oppression; despite all the mantras, all lives matter.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., "We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools."
Black lives matter. White lives matter. Asian lives matter. Hispanic lives matter. Gay lives matter. Straight lives matter. Blue lives matter.
