A Lot of What's Wrong in Society from 5 minutes in Skid Row

So I was in Skid Row walking a foot beat and I was anxious to get out there due to working special events and meetings. I missed being around the people, so I grabbed some fliers with a list of programs for the homeless and headed out.

As I exited the station onto sixth street and before I could make it to the corner, I see an officer in foot pursuit of a suspect. Instinctively I ran flank to the suspect and called to him to stop. He looked at me, he recognized me and immediately stopped and laid on the ground. He was take into custody without incident (community policing works folks).

I gathered my fliers and started to head east towards San Julian. As I walked past a blue tent I heard a woman yelling for help. I threw down my fliers and responded to the tent. I removed the tarp that was blocking the screen and saw a naked woman crouched upright in fetal position inside with a man who covered himself with a blanket. I had the woman come out. I then ordered the man out and detained him without incident. Once he was secured I tried to talk to the woman who was so severely mentally ill, that she could not even tell me what happened. As he babbled incoherently, I tried everything I could, even getting a female officer to try to calm her down so I could help her.

As the female officer was trying to help, an idiot who probably spends too much time on Shaun King’s page and kept taunting me because he felt I was racist for handcuffing a black man because the woman who was in the tent with him was white (she wasn’t and it didn’t matter), he even accused me of setting him up because he was black. I confronted him about his bullshit. He continued to rant that the woman was crazy and is always naked. Based on that he thought it was all her fault and that she could not be a victim.

I have grown so tired of people who believe that because a woman is mentally ill or on drugs, that somehow she is less of a victim. It infuriates me when I hear that, because I know that they make perfect victims. I catch myself and go back to the woman who refused to put her clothes on and was now throwing herself into a roll up door. Sadly, because she was so out other mind, we were not able to determine what happened to her. I had to release the man.

As I walk over to unhand-cuff him he said “why y’all got a Black man like me handcuffed and humiliated? How you just gonna harass me for no reason?” Before he could say another stupid thing I interrupted him. “Bro, ain’t nobody harassing you. Put yourself in my shoes for a sec. You are a cop, you walk past a tent and hear a woman screaming for help. What Ould you do?” He looked at me humbled and said “Umm, I guess I’d have done the same thing.” I had no choice but to release him. My focus now was getting the woman some help. We took her to the station to have her evaluated. It wasn’t her first time. She is known by officers and residents alike to walk around nude in on of the most dangerous places in the nation. But as it was initially explained to me, she did not meet the requirements for help. If it wasn’t for her throwing herself against the door and trying to bang her head, I would have had to release her. I took her to the hospital. There I was told (for the millionth time over 20 years) that she would be given a shot and released back into the street in a few hours.

So much failure in a short amount of time. What the system and ignorant people showed me once again, is the following:

• The system won’t protect the most vulnerable no matter how hard we try.

• Chauvinistic mindsets are evil

• Social Justice rhetoric is poisoning the minds of black people

• The people believe that mentally ill people and drug addicts are not worthy of justice

• Skid Row in its current state is a health and safety issue for women, men and the mentally ill. If I can’t see them getting hurt in a tent, I cannot save them in most cases.

I’m sick of it all. I’m not going to stop caring, I’m not going to stop fighting. I’m not going to stop speaking out. One day someone will hear me.

Cops are not what our critics say we are in Los Angeles

In 2017 Los Angeles police made 1.6 million contacts with our citizens. Out of the 1.6 million contacts, there were 44 shootings involving our officers, which is less than 1% of the contacts made. Out of the 44 shootings in 2017, 57% were Hispanic, 22% Caucasian and 20% Black. There were a total of 17 fatalities, 1 Black, 6 Caucasian and 10 Hispanics.

If we follow social media and the news, we are murdering black people by the thousands every year. Sorry folks, facts matter. As diverse as LA is, Blacks have been shot less than any other group by our department. I just wanted to share this. I know there are those who could care less about these facts. There is no reaching them as they are stuck in their political dogmatic views.

The truth is, we must stop the false narrative that is being shared by many. It only serves to make it difficult to keep communities safe when hysteria and subjective thinking is the standard, by which we judge any group or profession and ties their hands. I am not saying that we are all perfect. I am saying that we are not what people say we are. Facts matter.

IS IT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM THAT’S THE PROBLEM, OR JUST US AS HUMANS?

Watching the 30 for 30 episode where the Duke lacrosse team was falsely accused of rape because a DA wanted to get re-elected, and used race baiting and withheld evidence to do it at the expense of nearly ruining the lives of four innocent White men...

Remembering OJ Simpson getting off for murder, because race and politics took center stage over the facts and a mountain of evidence...

Hearing stories of black males who spent decades in prison for something they didn't do because no one cared about them getting a fair trial, who are being found innocent decades later, but can never get the years they lost back...

Remembering the story of a budding athlete from my city that missed an opportunity to play in the NFL after high school because he spent ten years in prison for a rape he never committed...

Recalling a case as I, a young police officer met a victim of an assault who cried real tears to me about being violated in the worst way, her shirt was ripped, and she had bruises. Then later finding out the accused recorded the encounter, in which it was clear she darn near violated him during the consensual encounter. I remember wanting to believe her just because she was a woman...

Remembering the Rampart Scandal where two officers planted evidence on innocent people and ended up making my job to protect people and maintain order extremely difficult long after they were arrested and booked...

These incidents and more, drive me to do everything in my power to conduct myself as a part of the justice system with honor and integrity. I am driven not to manufacture justice, but to bring criminals to justice with honor and have faith in the system even as imperfect as it may be.

Sure there are many individuals whose actions when I arrested them were horrific, and despicable, but it is not, and never will be my job to "help" justice through dishonest actions.

I would rather lose a case involving a mass murder being honest and truthful, then win a the case knowing I tampered with or withheld facts or evidence that could prevent someone from getting a fair trial.

The cases I lost, I was crushed because I knew what the suspect did, but I when I got home, I could sleep at night knowing I lost those few cases without tarnishing my profession or my name.

In the cases I just mentioned, it is my strong opinion that we have the greatest justice system in the world. The issues clearly seem to be the human beings who are charged with running it.

As Judges, Jurors, DAs, DCAs, Detectives and officers; we must constantly remind ourselves when someone is brought to justice no matter how horrible the crime they have been alleged to have committed, that if it was our son or daughter, wife or brother being brought to justice, how would we want them treated.

Would we want them prejudged as guilty, because they are black, a cop, a woman, a man, or because we somehow identify with the accuser?

We must always resist the temptation to take justice into our own hands because we don't have faith in the system.  Because when we do, that is how the people of all walks of life lose faith in us all.

To the media and pundits, please be responsible and stop trying these cases in the court of public opinion. You have a huge obligation to report the facts as they come, and not to fan the flames to beat your competitor for ratings or stumping for an ideal you are pushing when you are supposed to be objective.

To the general public and advocates please stop tying your political ideologies to these incidents to push your cause or get 15 minutes of fame before you know the facts. I know it's not an easy thing to do.  Our causes such as social justice, women's rights, and other noble causes are so valuable to us all. 

It's as human as breathing, but right now in a grave somewhere, there is a woman dead in the ground, and a young man who was an innocent bystander who were killed in Brentwood in 1995 and they never received justice. I cannot judge you, I have been guilty of this myself, but I am trying to grow from this every time I was wrong. Someone's freedom or chance at justice should not be seen as a basketball game where we are rooting for one team to win over the other.

Somewhere there is an innocent Black male man in a prison cell, because racial hysteria and hatred, or a rush to get justice won out over the facts.

Somewhere there is a white cop worrying if he will go to prison because public perception, and media sensationalism wants to see "justice" before the gavel drops, when he had no choice but to protect himself.

Somewhere, there is your son, your daughter, your mother, your brother

Think people.

That's how we make the American justice system a bit more just.  We have to do it together. We cannot force it on any level, from the bench to the pew. We must respect this process.