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It's bigger than black, white and blue

Recently I attended a birthday celebration for one of my younger sisters. It was a small backyard gathering of family and friends on a nice fall evening. It felt good to see people I hadn't seen in a while. Everyone had been in isolation as we quarantined during the Pandemic. We greeted each other with side hugs, elbow bumps, head nods, air hugs and kisses. This is how we keep each other safe and show love in the era of COVID-19. It's a little awkward but still nice to have some sense of normalcy.

About an hour into the evening, my father grabbed the microphone and started to make remarks about how proud he was of my sister on her new journey. I was a little confused but it was her birthday and maybe he was feeling sentimental. Once he finished he handed my sister the microphone. She thanked everyone for coming then announced that the celebration was twofold. Not only was it her birthday but she was officially a cop and had been working in the field for several months. We all applauded. I felt like my response may have been a little delayed. I was caught off guard, shocked by the announcement but proud of her accomplishment at the same time. I knew there was a point in time that she was interested in becoming a police officer a few years prior but I didn't know she was still interested. She continued to say that the process had been hard but it was the best decision she could have made for her life. I had a flood of emotions, proud, surprised and petrified. I was trying to process the fact that my baby sister, who has been grown for some time now, had become a cop in the height of a Pandemic and civil unrest. She went on to say that she kept it a secret because she didn't want any negativity and that she had only confided in 5 people that she was going through the Academy. Clearly I wasn't one of the 5 people but that's beside the point. I understood her train of thought, after all I joined the Navy right after high school with no one's council. I made a decision that I felt was right for me and that was that. To date that was one of the best decisions I could've made for my life.

My sister is the first police officer in our family so I had no point of reference. I mean, I know police officers by association but when the police officer is your younger sister, in the middle of a global Pandemic amongst all the current civil unrest, that hit different. She said that she was relieved to finally share her good news with everyone. I have no doubt in my sister's ability to perform her job well and have a successful career on the force. I think this line of work is a great fit for her. She has a way about her and a connection to the community that's been nurtured for years from working with my father and step mother in the family landscaping business. I feel like we need more people like her that respond to the call to protect and serve from a place of love and duty.

I congratulated my sister and I was genuinely happy for her but when I thought about her potentially being on the front line of an incident specifically related to all the tension we're witnessing across the country between law enforcement and the community, my nerves went someplace. What if while she's working she's placed in a compromising situation? What if the institution doesn't protect her? What if someone doesn't see her as my sister and instead sees her as "the enemy", a target for their frustration over injustice? I had so many thoughts running through my mind. I respect the fact that being a police officer is a difficult job however, up to this point my concern for social justice and police reform were primarily from the perspective that it would give communities of color a fighting chance to thrive. Black and brown communities experience the bulk of over policing, trauma and injustice. The blue code of silence protects bad cops at the expense of the good ones. This unchecked behavior breeds tension and distrust. Not to mention the disparities aren't isolated strictly to policing but that's another blog post. I hadn't given much thought to the impact reform could have on the police officers serving these communities. I believe reform can help police and citizens.

If reform is instituted properly with strategy centered around resources such as; non bias training, diverse recruitment initiatives, policy and procedure ratification and or development to build better community relations for 21st century policing, hopefully we can repair the tethered trust between police and the communities they serve. It's bigger than black, white and blue. Reform is a human issue and a cornerstone to a safer quality of life.

This will definitely take time since the divide didn't happen overnight. I think that when citizens see that there is equal justice and protection under the law, in word and deed as the norm and not the exception, streets can be safer for everyone. It's hard not to worry about loved ones that work in law enforcement and equally it's hard for black and brown people to be constantly reminded of the discrimination and terror the system enforces on our community. They'll always be skeptics, they'll always be crime, they'll always be a need for police but if we can reimagine what policing looks like it can benefit us all. The fact is we all have something to lose if things remain the same with the scales of power and justice unbalanced. If there's no Justice, they'll be no peace. We all want our loved ones to make it home safe. It's more personal for me now as I think of my sister working in law enforcement. I'm happy to know my sister is being part of the change and demonstrating to other black and brown girls that you can be proud of your decision to go into law enforcement and empower your community as well.




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