Pardon me if I can’t applaud the efforts to educate blacks on how to respond to police right now or distract my attention to just the lives of the offices who get shot. But I can’t. To suggest that at the heart of the police gun violence issue is the behavior of blacks is completely off point. Don’t tell me to remain calm, keep my hands in clear view, put down my weapon and speak clearly as the remedy to saving my own life at the hands of police!
My behavior is not the issue and so for this moment I will not consider your recommendations.
If a police officer can claim that pulling a gun out and shooting is justified because he feared for his life, then he does so because “his life matters”. In that moment when fear grips you, we all determine what matters most.
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Fear, however, blinds you to what matters most. It only allows you to assess danger to your life – not the value of others. As a result, it does not assure you that you will act level-headed or even fairly or justly. Acting out of fear assures you put yourself above anything else – because in that moment you safe guard what matters to you.
So from now on… since its coming down to a matter of police fear, then let’s not spend any more effort telling blacks what to do but -maybe, just maybe – we should be helping out sworn to protect and serve citizens on what to do.
Therapy for Police: When you sense fear do the following – 1) remain calm; 2) keep your hands in clear view; 3) communicate clearly what you are doing; and 4) put down your weapon.
We’ve been doling therapy advice to blacks when it should have always been for police.
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