Riding Along & Working Together

Here's the most positive post I have done in awhile. I thank God for clarity, guidance, and for providing me with hope. If He delivered us before, He'll do it again!

In recent events, I have had the opportunity of talking to police officers, Captain, Lieutenant, Secretary, and even the Chief of Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD were panelists at the NAACP Forum. There, I realized that most of the time citizens do not know their rights, their local and county laws, as well as understand the full duty and responsibility of police officers. I even began to question theologies and ideas I was taught growing up. With the Philando Castille case, I was appalled, confused, and even compelled to know what I could do as a citizen and educate others on what to do in those situations where you are pulled over by the police and given instructions. I wanted to know what could I do to ensure that myself as well as countless other Americans could do to avoid their deaths and run-ins with the police. A few weeks ago, I learned it's very simple... know your rights, the laws, and avoid trouble. I was invited on a ride-along with a CMPD officers to see first hand what the normal day or shift looks like for police in their area.

Shockingly, I enjoyed accompanying the officer and saw firsthand encounters with the citizens and police. Please understand that before this ride along, I was able to understand both sides of the beliefs that police do and do not serve and protect their citizens. I was and still am able to empathize with both sides and know that there are three sides to every story and unfortunately, not everyone gets to know the absolute truth. In the 3 hours of riding along, I was able to see at least 3 situations or call-ins firsthand. From my experience and I was lucky enough to have experienced all that I did with a seemingly good cop (female at that), I want to encourage others to take an interest in riding along.

My Ride-Along Day went like this...

I met up with Captain Chuck Henson at the Hickory Grove Police Station. We had lunch together and I got to ask him questions that I've longed to ask a police officer or in his case, Captain. I asked his perspective on everything going on in the media, what type of training the officers go through, the demographics of his community he serves in, how he disciplines his officers, what a normal day looks like for him, etc. I believe Captain Henson was honest about his experiences, family, previous jobs, and his own ideologies on what being a police officer/wearing a uniform means. He served in a very diverse community and had the largest pool of female officers working under him. He told me I had a choice in what type of officer I wanted to ride-along with and of course, the feminist in me chose to ride with a woman officer. I was very interested in her perspective and how her job/day may look a little different than her male counterparts.

 After talking at lunch, I got to sit in roll call and experienced my very first ride-along with the officer. I rode with her for 3 hours and got to see firsthand how citizens interact with them. I got to also ask her as many questions as I wanted. While out, we bought children basketballs to shoot hoops with, answered a "false" domestic violence call with uncooperative teens, and answered a suicide attempt/call with a Spanish-speaking victim. There were no African-American officers present to these calls nor Spanish-speaking officers to communicate to the victim. I found these things very problematic. Overall, I appreciated her answering all of my questions, looking out for my safety as well as making sure I got to see and experience real calls that they take. Although we had opposing views on the events going on in the media, she was still able to empathize and even show emotion for the victims and for the people, like me, who are affected by these killings.

Now that I have experienced a ride-along, I still believe that there is a lot of work to be done within that field of service and there are a lot of solutions that need to be made between police officers, their jobs, and the community. However, although I don't think a ride-along is the absolute solution, I encourage everyone to participate and ask questions. Seeing firsthand their jobs make it a lot easier to understand what they experience/go through on the job on a daily basis and gave me the opportunity to ask many questions. I learned a lot that day. I appreciate and respect police officers a little more but like I said before, work still needs to be done. My motto is there's no use in complaining if you are not going to do anything about it.

We must work together with the police to reach mutual understanding and bring safety/protection for all of the citizens and not just to the majority.