#formysons

[cypresscitycomics]

For those who have never read the @idw run of the Turtles. You are missing out....Right in the feels....😭. Good morning! Q. #tmnt #formysons #ninjaturtles #teenagemutantninjaturtles #orokusaki #hamatoyoshi #thefootclan #theshredder (at Cypress, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGUyy2hhgBo/?igshid=wg9txkqa2hvp

[myhairelsewhere]

Officer Melanie to the rescue.

I used to have to knock on people’s doors, investigate underage drinking/ marijuana use and document it.

My name is Officer Lewis and my ward was called D-Block. (I joke, I was just Melanie…. Of D-Block)

Since you won’t read the whole thing, here’s my point. Police: get to know the communities you serve so respect can be built. Communities: let the police get to know your people so that they can see that you are indeed, people.

 The meat.

I spent my senior year as an RA and I loved it, but the job really got me thinking about what police do every day and their relationship with the communities in which they serve.

If documenting the “irresponsibilities” of college kids dropped the hearts of RA’s when we knocked on doors, I can only imagine what it’s like for police officers. We had a solid 2.5 weeks of non-stop training to become RAs; that training included role playing of what to do if you catch kids drinking, smoking pot, dealing with academic stress, family stress, relationships, death, suicide list can go on foreverrrrrr.

My point is that we were the ones who had to keep everything as controlled as possible without disrupting everyone else.

Folks seem to be under the impression that our only job is to go out and get people in trouble, but it wasn’t. My job was to act as a source for people who needed a confidant and to build community among my residents.

More than anything, I had to get to know them.

Now, I’m not saying I was scared when I had to go do the “un-fun” part of the job, I felt well prepared/ well trained. But it made it a lot easier on both parties when we had already established a relationship, because now we can talk and really figure out what the problem is, instead of you just being another person, doing something that I have to report.

So I’ve been thinking about solutions to the relationships between Blacks and the police since the riots started after Eric Garner. Everyone’s upset, but no one knows what to do. The reality is that at this point, after seeing and hearing everything that’s been going on, blacks don’t feel comfy turning to the police as a support system and police are scared for their lives because… well, you just never know.

They say “if you want them to stop killing your people, you should police your own areas”… yea, that’d work if we all wanted to work in law enforcement. We don’t. We too have dreams beyond our neighborhoods.

Honestly, thinking of how awkward or frightening it can be for some RA’s to just knock on a door because they smell weed coming from the room, I can only imagine how it must feel to stop someone that “looks” like a criminal. You can make so many assumptions about folks when you know nothing about them. When you are enforcing the law, as an RA or an Officer, at D-Block or on Da Block, you have to use a lot of interpretation of the scenario. Is it a big party that can get out of hand or are there just a few friends enjoying a beer to celebrate the end of the longest project ever? Is he carrying that gun because he is dangerous or because he finds others dangerous? Should he be carrying that gun? Should I be carrying one?

You can’t know the answer to these questions ,my fellow law enforcers, if you’re patrolling areas that you don’t know, with people you don’t know. I’m well aware that New York is huge and you probably can’t get the same people to patrol the same areas all of the time, but you can make an effort to gain the respect of the community, as a police force. Go out there and get to know them and let them get to know you so everyone can have that understanding that we are ALL HUMAN BEINGS. So the next time you decide to press a gun in one of their chests, you’ll actually give a slight fuck.

Leaders of the community, it’s your time to let the police in if you really want to quell the tensions and lessen (eliminate) the injustice. The problem really is that there is fear on both ends, but honestly, society can take a lesson or two from Villanova Res Life; because although there is that stigma that RA’s suck, the majority of residents actually have reported that they like their RA’s and thus respect them. RESPECT. So necessary to quell fear, to quell tension, and make everyone feel as if they actually belong in the community.

If no efforts are made, then I feel like it’s fair game to assume that neither or 1 party doesn’t care as much as they claim in order to create peace and provide protection. So let’s see how this goes.

[goldeymusic]

View this post on Instagram

Single • GIVE MY ALL • ft. @christophe_pinheiro on guitar ! Listen : https://lc.cx/4cpt #music #soul #song #songs #melody #pop #love #instagood #newsong #lovethissong #bumpin #repeat #favoritesong #listentothis #goodmusic #instamusic #nordstage #iseenord #friend #givemyall #formysons #goldey #album