As civilians, we can make speculations about the recent events involving police all we want, but we will never truly understand what is going on. To better understand how police officers feel about our country right now, I asked an officer from St. Paul for her perspective.
Unfortunately, just as we all expect, she also believes that more of these situations will occur. However, she does not feel that it is due to racism. She believes that it is due to people committing crimes, not wanting to take responsibility and not accepting the facts and truth. She says that as long as that continues, nothing will change.
She said that in order to avoid more major events, we need to come together as a country. It is true, our country is becoming more divided. Now more than ever, we need to come together as one. “We the people” doesn’t just mean a select few, it means everyone in the country as a whole.
The media also plays a key role in preventing more speculations. The police officer also said that media should refrain from reporting until they have facts. Many times stories will be released as soon as an event occurs, even though there isn’t much information on the whole situation.
The president and other politicians are quick to make comments about events, only to help their political game. This police officer said that politicians and other leaders need to be supportive of their own system. If the people running the country don’t back the system, how can they expect other that are under them to?
Sometimes politicians even claim that a crime was committed in an act of racism, even though there is not yet proof. She said this is a huge issue. Even after it is proven that race did not play a factor, politicians never comment on their false accusations.
The biggest problem of all is that even after the cops are cleared, people do not accept the facts. Even when there is enough evidence to show that the officer used reasonable force, groups such as Black Lives Matter are still wary in believing that the officer was not racist.
It is now more than ever that we must come together. Protesting and rioting against the people that protect us will do nothing. We must accept what the court rules and believe that it was fair. Everyone, regardless of race, must take responsibility for their actions. Until we can all be peacefully and come together, we will accomplish nothing.
After all, united we stand, divided we fall.
