Community Policing Is A Right To Life…

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Community policing is supposed to be an alternative to the ” Lock up every Negro in sight! ” pathology afflicting American law enforcement. In a modern era where even a sitting ” post racial ” US president can ( correctly ) call arresting a wealthy, liberal, Ivy League-employed Black man in his home ” acting stupidly “, it’s clear the Black community/law enforcement divide needs bridging. I’m in favor of Nadra Enzi inner citizens and Black folks generally finally being treated as fellow stakeholders in public safety. Balkanized relations allow criminals in and out of uniform safe harbors to hide in plain sight while wreaking havoc among populations with little or no percieved political clout. I do community policing because I’m pro-life, in this context meaning Black citizens in the inner city have as much right to live safely as the First Family. By the way I’m also traditionally pro-life too.

A recent trip through a TSA ( Terrible Security Administration ) checkpoint underscored the need for upgrade in this arena. A screener more suited to slinging fast food than frontline duty in the War On Terror began opening my carry-on bag. I asked her, ” Why? ” Clearly this question isn’t often asked to members within this relic of Bush II homeland security pantomime. Her response was, ” Why? You don’t want me to search your luggage ” as if having my belongings rifled by a high school drop out was a dream come true. I looked down at her and said, “ I’m with the NAACP. We ask questions like this. ” to underscore a concern this seemed an episode of selective enforcement. One Black male passenger subjected to extra scrutiny out of dozens of lighter skinned faces added not one iota more safety for all involved. Such is what passes for protective policy in this country.

Security is what I do, both as a concerned citizen and practitioner. Community policing is often a tough sell to folks who’ve given up any semblance of belief that the system values their lives and property. My job is convincing them that valuing their lives and property enough to protect the same is step number one. Step two is holding government employees accountable who are paid by Black folks taxes just like anyone else! The process becomes particularly fun when the aforementioned government employees are also Black but discount inner city residents at the behest of prejudiced higher ups in the department and local community. I do know that absent steps one and two thugs on the public payroll and off it continue using the ‘Hood as a playground. Denzel Washington’s movie ” Training Day ” fabulously illustrates this point.

Honest Black citizens find ourselves referees between often hostile police and often hostile inhabitants. There’s a logic to giving up and letting things remain the same. It’s seductive and less hassle than wringing respect from a law enforcement establishment still resembling upgraded episodes

of either Sydney Pointers’ classic movie ” In The Heat of The Night ” or Carrol O’Connor’s TV series by the same title. Silence only ensures more of the same. Prejudiced police and street thugs respond to made up minds. We assist them by not documenting and publicizing misconduct. We lend aid and comfort to people who see the inner city as a plantation ripe for the picking.

The ultimate goal of community policing by active Black residents is serving notice to would-be urban hostages; corrupt officers and neighborhood assailants that the free ride is over. I’ve seen enough minor victories to keep trying.

Otherwise someone else dictates how much or how little safety we experience. Policing our community expresses our right to live free from intimidation whatever the source.

They hope we’ll just stay quiet and keep taking their abuse.

Written By Nadra Enzi

Official Websites;

http://www.captblack.info
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nadraenzi

Papacool says:

February 11, 2014 at 3:29 pm

First of all, let me defend the TSA screener that got a low rated response in how he/she did their job. TSA has no idea on how to provide customer service while protecting people from themselves. The reason I know is because I worked in the agency and found out firsthand that anyone with a brain is of no use to the propaganda being put over on people in the name of preventing terrorism. People being currently hired are filling up the need for numbers without any idea of why their are doing what they are hired to do. Blame the economy or blame it on the boogie, the bottom line is that you are going to get what you pay for no matter where you go. Anyone that wants to change the system will find themselves blacklisted to the highest degree for upsetting the status quo. Change is not something that is welcomed by everyone being affected. Same logic applies in trying to keep peace in your own community. Policing is seen in the same context as snitching and is viewed as treason, especially by those doing the crime(s), as they can actually use good moral judgment after getting caught. They then become the victim and you, in the course of trying to do what is right, become the tyrant and betrayer of a man getting his livlihood on. Go figure. Just earlier today while visiting my Mother there was a knock on the door. She answered and two white males are in the neighborhood stating that they are educating the people in the area on cancer awareness.

A call to the Police station found that no such solicitation drive is on the books as no permits for such were issued. The scam is to come into the house and while one is engaging the person of interest in conversation, the other asks to use the restroom. While taking the restroom tour, time is taken to go through one’s possessions such as jewelry, purses, and other valuables that are in reach. So in calling the police, I get fussed at by my Mother as she does not want her address given to the po-pos or take the chance that her home will be burnt down in retaliation of turning the people in. Out of respect for Mother, who is about to celebrate 77 years of living, I just got up and left.

The point that I am making out of this is that due to the mindset of people, the wrong conclusions can result. What a person needs to do is ask if the action I am taking to protect someone is going to cause more problems than just letting them get taken advantage of? I hate to have to second-guess my actions, but I think that I did the right thing no matter the fussing. The main reason crimes take place is due to the opportunity given. I explained to Mother, that anyone asking for something without showing any organizational identification should not receive anything other than a no thank you and have a nice day.

How should I feel if in arriving to the house, I find her body stabbed, God forbid, all due to being ignorant of the scam process. Knowledge is power when used correctly and I have no regret of doing something that will alleviate the crime possibility from happening to the other people within the neighborhood. But people have to buy in to the process, which is sadly not happening. Since I did not do anything to achieve personal gratification, I have no problem in keeping the crime rate down. Peace out, Papacool.