Good Cop, Bad Cop

One job I never wanted for my sons was to be a policeman. I told them so, and I’m thankful they chose other career paths. As a mother, I wouldn’t sleep at night knowing they were placing themselves in danger.

Our police risk their lives every day protecting us and upholding the laws. They deserve our respect and admiration, but, as my friend who is a member of our local police force tells me, morale is low.

Public perception of police is at an all time low in the wake of national media reports and national protests centered on racial profiling and police brutality.

Yes, we do have mostly good cops doing a good job for the citizens, but there are also some bad cops out there. Cops that, for whatever reason, take the powers entrusted them too far.

One should expect to find a small percentage of “bad cops” in the ranks. Every profession has its rogue individuals. You don’t have to look hard to find errant Doctors, Lawyers, Celebrities, and even Clergy. Yet, we need to be mindful that the majority of the people we look up to are doing good work.

If a few bad cops are carrying out racial profiling and police brutality, we shouldn’t put our head in the sand or look the other way. We should stand up for just treatment of all our citizens, regardless of their race. Yet, it is easier to make a case for unjust racial profiling or police brutality if the victim is a law-abiding citizen who has done no wrong.

Doug Glanville, a retired Major League Baseball player and ESPN correspondent, wrote, “I was Racially Profiled in My Own Driveway”. He was confronted by a police officer while shoveling snow in his affluent, mostly white, neighborhood in an instance that was clearly racially motivated. Yet, he was doing no wrong.

His story, that his attorney wife called “Shoveling While Black”, is one everyone should listen to. I share his story this Saturday on “The Joan Jerkovich Show”, and I’m thankful that he had the courage to spread his message.

What was most difficult to hear was how his young children were affected by this incident. How their innocence was shattered when he wrote, “Our eldest and “lightest-skinned” daughter had at times matter-of-factly described her brother and me as “brown” and herself as “white”. But that night, my wife made it painfully simple. “We are black”, she explained. “All of us”.

Listen to Doug Glanville’s story of Racial Profiling. He writes about how he and his wife were able to confront this in a manner that not all “people who have to deal with far more extreme versions of racial profiling”, have the ability or social status to do. Also, listen to how he finds his “biggest challenge as a father will be to help my kids navigate a world where being black is both a source of pride and a reason for caution”.

Also, listen to my caller who is angry over the racial profiling she’s witnessed through the generations in her family. Listen to hear what those in her community have decided to do to confront the racial profiling. And, hear about the “bad cop” experience she had and who came to her rescue. Not all “bad cop” experiences can be categorized as racially motivated, and her revelation was a surprise to hear!

Listen this Saturday December 13 from 6-7:30am CST to “The Joan Jerkovich Show” on 1150 KSAL, or link to the podcast at ksal.com.