Last week, I spent some time at the Atlanta Police Department Mounted Patrol Unit, where officers and a group of teens gathered together.
These weren’t teens in trouble or officers under fire for having shot an unarmed citizen. They had come to forge new relationships and just to get to know one another—before they were forced to.
This assembly was like much-needed medicine for me because after a week of turmoil and finger pointing resulting from two men and five police officers killed, it did my heart good. Even better, it gave me hope.
But then Sunday came. There was more bad news. Six police officers had been gunned down in Baton Rouge. Three of them were dead, and I'm left with nothing but questions—unanswered questions.
Why? When will all of the craziness end? And are things as bad as they seem?
At church earlier, I’d listened intently as my pastor reminded the congregation at Antioch Baptist Church that even as our faith waivers, God is our refuge, a very present help.
Now, watching the news with my husband, I couldn't help wondering where was God? When will he finally make it all stop? What is it he wants us to learn?
I was saddened by how far we seem to have fallen.
Authorities said that one suspect had been killed, and the sheriff’s office said that at first they believed two other suspects may be at large. Then later they said one suspect is dead, and he was believed to be the only gunman.
But it all added up to the same feeling: Baton Rouge was on edge.
Police said that the shooting began at approximately 9 a.m. and involved Baton Rouge police officers and East Baton Rouge sheriff’s deputies.
Who wakes up to the promise of a new day so angry that they would grab a rifle and then shoot and kill people? No words spoken. No wanton stares exchanged. Just an angry murderous heart walking down the highway, looking for someone to destroy.
Point. Aim. Kill.
That’s crazy.
I can’t imagine what it’s like being a cop, but I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately, trying to understand how these shootings happen.
I understand nothing. “Law and Order,” the only cop show I watch on television, can offer a few clues.
High risk, low pay. Routine. Bursts of evil. And arrests.
If only it were as simple as an hour-long television show, but of course it isn’t.
If it were, there’d be no debate about police shootings and long-standing police brutality in minority communities, no arming of local police as military commandos.
Or the intentional slaughter of police officers like we’ve seen in just this past week.
We can’t say for sure that’s what happened in Baton Rouge yesterday. That investigation is still underway.
What I will say is police officers do too much good for any blanket condemnation; that the vast majority of them are our protectors, not sources of danger. They no more deserve to be gunned down than the black men who’ve lost their lives.
Yes, it’s disheartening to think those trained to enforce laws fairly can themselves run afoul of the law, but none of us has the right to take the law into our own hands.
I don’t know where we go from here, but what I do know is we can’t exist as a democratic and free society unless we’re all – both citizens and police - willing to abide by our laws and said laws are fairly and wisely enforced.
Late last week at the mounted patrol unit in southwest Atlanta I saw what was possible. Come back Saturday and I will tell you about the latest effort by the police foundation and the Atlanta Police Department to positively engage our youth.
It's a collaborative effort between police the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, CHRIS Kids and the Centers of Hope at Thomasville Boys & Girls Club.
They call it AT-PROMISE. Just one more way cops are trying to make a difference in our lives and do what they signed up to do. Keep us all safe.
They have our backs. We need to have theirs.
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