An Officer's Perspective

The following is a response to my "Ferguson" post in December.  It is from Jack Burright, an old friend who spent many years as a police officer and a trainer of police officers in different areas of the country.  When you read my post you would think that any response from a law officer would be the polar opposite of my post.  Jack's thoughtful response made me think more about where the common ground is.  For instance, I've never thought about a white person worrying about teaching their child on how to conduct themselves when being pulled over by an officer.  My original post pointed out the higher likelihood for a person of color being pulled over but that does not mean it does not happen to others.  While my stance of views have not changed I feel like Jack gave some perspective from the other side of the fence but that perspective is not on the other side of the fence.  Maybe we are just standing in different parts of the same yard.

I only cut and pasted Jack's response so it is posted in its' original form.

Jack, thanks again for the response.  I respect you for it!  Here goes:

My long-time friend Duane, one hell of an athlete—man i used to love to watch you run.  I wanted to answer your blog personally; if you wish, you can post it.  I can give you at least my perspective as well.  A couple of things before i get started.  One is I want to thank you for taking the time and writing an awesome, well-thought-out response.  So many put their one spin with conjecture, rumor, or conspiracy and do not think it through.  The media is so out of control whether it's Fox news or CNN, some are so quick to drink the Kool Aid and take it as fact. 

It sickens me to even see any president chastised in such a way.  He can not do right, whatever he does or does not do he will be hammered and things blown out of proportion.  It has been this way for many years in the White House and the media makes its money by its ratings.  Conspiracy's  feed people and that makes ratings.  I am at times appalled how this has become the norm.  Society is partly to blame, and so many like to stir the proverbial pot and insert hate, blame and in some cases cause violence.  I myself am not a huge fan of our current president, still I respect him as he is the president.  I am also first to admit that I have no idea what he has done right or wrong because the media spins it in whatever direction they want.  It makes it hard if not impossible to form an educated opinion, and people at times are like sheep and just follow what they want to hear instead of what may be the truth.

In 1996 I was selected to train officers at the Olympics in Atlanta. It was a highlight of my life as only a few were selected.  I also have attended and even taught some classes around the country.  Duane, I had hardly left the state of Oregon, and a little naive is an understatement in 1996.  imagine an albino kid from Corvallis wearing a long sleeve shirt and cowboy boots in downtown Atlanta saying Howdy to the locals:) It was a great experience and I learned much in my short time there.  I will first state the west coast does have an edge on training.  In Oregon we have 3 to 5 officer involved shootings for the entire state.  I know for a fact there could be plenty more, but generally the police use good tactics and make good decisions.  Does not make them perfect and there may be a tad more respect for each other at least I would hope.

I served in law enforcement for 18 years then as a licensed investigator for 6.  Being a sheriff deputy is an interesting brotherhood.  I entered it very young with the goal to help people.  I still think I did that as best I could.  I also met many who entered the field for different reasons.  One is power.  Name another job in the US that yields so much authority.  We also had bullies, some who enjoyed thumping others way too much.  We had the righteous. Some believed they were a god or chosen and some even believed God put them in that position to rid evil.  Some just liked the paycheck and did as little as possible. Many joked about shooting someone as the ultimate act of being a warrior.  Some were lazy and terrible at training, unions protected them and they were unfit for duty.  Some liked the glory the uniform provided; they considered themselves heroes and fed their own ego and certainly there were some who hat hatred towards others.  Then there were some who were there for the right reasons.  The sad truth is if all you see is crime and deal with criminals you can become calloused as you are never around the normal.  You see horrific abuse, accidents, loss of life in all ages; you change how you view the world.  It can quickly become an “us against them” mentality.   For me, it was my calling, something I cared about and loved doing, a peacemaker if you will, although in later years I fell a little more into the righteous, something I see as clear as day now on the outside.

I will add that on many crime scenes I was involved in, the media and at times the public would draw a much different conclusion than the facts.  I am not sure what it is about conspiracy theories these days,  but they seem to feed into people’s fears.  Enough about my blundering.

Politics exist, and even relationships with Law Enforcement and the district attorneys office do happen, but with that said, so does public opinion, what is popular, what is right and just because you can do it, does not mean you should do it.  One I hope to see improve.  I am not black, if anything the opposite, so I can not really tell you how it must feel to be truly discriminated.  For people like me it is sad and like anyone we would hope those days are far behind us, but they are not.  As for the men and women who serve and protect, that needs to include all, that needs to be fair and unbiased, and as you pointed out we have a long ways to go on all sides. 

Grand Jury:  There is an old adage that you can indict a ham sandwich in a grand jury.  I do believe that to be true as they only hear half the story, so it really depends on the DA and how they want to proceed with the case.  With that said, public outcry, police agendas, wealth, and even the famous can affect the outcome.  I agree that the district attorney’s office does like to keep track of their wins and at times will aggressively pursue the slam dunk cases and let the other ones fall by the wayside.  Interesting fact:  in the hierarchy of attorneys, DAs are not always what you would call top of the food chain.  I have met some who are and as well met some defense attorneys who are brilliant at their craft.  I can agree that the poor at times have far less of a chance.  Education, upbringing, lifestyle can put them in a bad light regardless.  Jurors at times can be grossly incompetent, yet responsible for making decisions that can change people’s lives forever.  I can also agree an outside investigator makes good sense.  With that said I would also hope the findings whatever they may be are respected by all.  Otherwise its moot point.  

Some cops deserve prison time and are a disgrace to the badge, others deserve the public's respect that they have a hard job to do and have to make quick decisions and while others will have months to arm chair quarterback that decision and state what he/she did wrong or should have done.  The cop does not have such luxury.   

Working as an investigator I met and interviewed many who were criminally charged.  My conclusion was with most that they were not necessarily bad people, but they did make bad decisions.  Some grew up with the lifestyle as many were second, third generation with their parents in the system, substance addiction being some of the hardest.  Some really were against all odds from the beginning.  Regardless of my profession, one thing was interesting and somewhat upsetting when I first became an investigator.  I was rumored to be on the dark side, working against the brotherhood.  Funnily, I am very pro cop, had 11 family members as such, and am the same person I have always been.  I interviewed people the same way, tried to be fair and consistent and conduct fact finding.  I would sometimes hear if the case went to trial and the defense won, it was because smoke and mirrors and really they were guilty.  So in essence, if the prosecution wins the case the defendant is guilty. If they lose, they are guilty. I do believe the system is not perfect, but way better than other countries. I do believe sometimes innocent people are convicted and know that guilty people sometimes get away with it.  Some seem to walk on water and some get hammered with no breaks—like life, not always fair. 

As a trainer I have taught and teach police officer safety with the goal to make sure they go home at night. Split second decisions can affect us all.  We have yet made a tool that can be used as a lethal alternative.  Do some cops overreact and use deadly force? Absolutely. And some hesitate and die or get others killed because of inaction.  I still look at the good. I hope the ones who do work in the tough areas have a heart and recognize things for what they are.  I myself try not to form such strong opinions to things I was not present at or don’t have all the facts and take a deep breath when I see all the media and their spins. I try to look at the whole picture. Does not make me perfect.  While I read many blogs, I wanted to say I thought you did an awesome job of looking at the big picture versus one side.  You made a point about teaching your son to turn on his dome light and show his hands.  I have a daughter who is in the honors program at PSU, sweet innocent and besides being raised a cops daughter she has no understanding of the real world, so I teach her the same thing as any furtive movement can be dangerous.  

Profiling car stops does exist I did it for many years, the difference is I was looking for abnormalities, locations, driving manners, time of day, etc.  On many occasions I had no idea who was in the car until I made contact.  Unlit roads at night you would be amazed who you pulled over.  My favorite was this 75 year old lady who liked to gamble at a tribal casino about 40 miles away.  She never drank a bit, but had terrible driving habits.  So from an officers safety standpoint with my own daughter.  dome light on, window down hands on the wheel.  I myself have been shot at and had a gun pointed at me, scary stuff.  A big city like Chicago I am sure is a little different then Corvallis Or.  Some cities have citizen review boards, citizen academies, a great way to include the public on the job they do or can do better. 

On a side note, I have met many people in my day that make a difference.  One lady is a martial artist named Karen Eden.  Great speaker.  She has spent a lot of time in the lower income areas of Chicago making a difference.  She does not seek gratification for it; she does it for the right reasons.  Way cool.  Imagine if the police could operate as such with the support of the majority of the citizens in the community.                               

Thank you,

Jack Burright

President

Counterstrikes International

961 Scenic Dr NW

Albany, Or 97321

541 990-4010

www.counterstrikes.org

"in a world of compromise, some don't"

Brian Williams? Really?

So this past week the NBC news anchor Brian Williams came out and admitted that he "conflated" his story about being in a military helicopter that took RPG and small arms fire in 2003.  His admission was that he was not in the helicopter that took fire at all.  He came in a later helicopter.  Some reports say that he was in a helicopter immediately behind the one that took fire and others say he was in a helicopter that was as much as an hour behind the one that took fire.

Hummm, where do I start with this one?  It is first important to note that the only reason that he came out with this is that a military magazine was about to report this story.  Otherwise, it is safe to assume that he would have continued with the LIE that he has been telling and the career that he has built upon it.

Conflated?  WTH does that mean?  Conflated is the blending of two subjects or issues into one event or story.  I'm not sure about you but conflated sounds like a 'politician speak' for a straight out LIE!  This man is one of the most trusted people in America.  He is actually rated as the 23rd most trusted person in the country by the celebrity index of The Marketing Arm, a research firm.  I trust him, or should I say trusted him.

I know that these days there are many (maybe even mostly) unworthy, inaccurate, non-fact checking news sources in the world today but the anchor and managing editor of the NBC Nightly News should never be one of them.  News anchors can have drug scandals, sex scandals or any other kind of scandal as long as the accuracy of the stories is never put in question.  Viewers develop opinions based on the stories that anchors like Brian Williams reports to us.  Now that this 'last' resource is questionable who do we turn to for accurate information.  I have always told people to "search for your own truth on issues that matter to you" but now we are getting to a point where we don't know which resources to trust.

I trashed President George W. Bush in this very blog on his handling of post Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans partially based on Brian Williams reporting from the city.  Jay-Z used what sounds like Brian Williams voice, reporting from New Orleans after the storm, in one of his songs.  All of his work is now in question.  NBC has rightfully launched an investigation into all of his big stories.  He said he witnessed someone commit suicide in the New Orleans Superdome due to the conditions there after the hurricane.  All of that is questionable now.

The fact that all of his work is now called into question begs the question......Is it worth it to do such a thing?  While my answer is still an absolute 'no' I can see the hunger to move up, the drive to win at any cost personal/professional insecurity causing a blurring of the lines.  When we add the money on top of that it can be an intoxicating mix.

Brian Williams contract was renewed in December for $10 Million a year.  So maybe to reach $10 million per year it is worth it.  It seems now that many are willing to lie, cheat and steal their way to the top because the money is so great that once you get caught you have gathered enough wealth and power that you can ride off into the sunset because you have your money from a career that you have built upon LIES.  Not conflation, or out of context, or misremembered........LIES.

At this point Mr. Williams has removed himself from his Nightly News chair and NBC is investigating.  They have invested heavily in his brand and that is likely to be one reason they have not fired him.  Another major reason is that there is not anyone who has been groomed or who has a strong enough brand to take over.  At this point I am not sure what his brand is worth.

I am sure the spin doctors will find a way to turn this and manipulate us into feeling sorry for him.  So his brand will take a hit and then bounce back stronger than ever.  America loves a comeback right?

They can spin it however they like but at the end of the day Brian Williams showed blatant disregard for the lives of all soldiers that have risked and given their lives for our great country.  Families of soldiers have suffered and continued to suffer while Williams built a career on their stories.  Shameful!

Mr. Williams may be back at the desk one day but I will not!

That's All I Got!
I'm Out!
44Black