Last year I watched two childhood friends have a series of online debates over police brutality. One of my friends is a black police officer. The other, also black, has been very outspoken on the subject. For instance, that friend accused our police officer friend of having been “brainwashed,” and of doing “the white man’s work,” as he put it.
Foley: As a kid my friends and I met a black juvenile officer that came and talked to us one day while we were playing basketball. We had a ton of questions for him about becoming a cop. It was my first interaction with a black police officer and it left a positive impression. I wanted to be like him when I grew up.
Tubbs: He [officer Jason Van Dyke] is fucked and he’s a piece of shit. That was not a bad shoot—[Van Dyke] executed him.
Is Black Lives Matter a hinderance to policing?
Shelton: Yes, I have seen some. Plus, we as black people have to really ask ourselves, “Is it racist or is it the horrible unspoken truth?”
Tubbs: Loyalties are more often drawn on what department, unit, or specialty you belong to. A black officer assigned to narcotics is more likely to trust a white officer from narcotics than he is a black officer assigned to a traffic unit.
