#policecommunityrelations

[msantiagophotos]

Born in Kinloch, MO, a city that borders Ferguson where Mike Brown JR was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer, Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler credits his upbringing and his experiences growing up in St. Louis for shaping his career as a police officer." I believe that effective change has to start from within,” he said. “ Whether it’s within a person or whether it’s within an institution, in order to have effective change, it has to start from within because it’s only from within that you have influence." #photojournalism #portraits #makeportraits #police #spd #syracuse #policecommunityrelations #theywearblue

[msantiagophotos]

“Well n**ers don’t walk downtown after dark when I’m working.” Delrish Moss remembers vividly being told this by a police officer in the 70's. It's one of the encounters with police officers that he credits with inspiring him to become one and make a change from the inside. In 2016, after retiring from Miami PD after 32 years, he was selected to become the new Chief of Police in Ferguson, MO after the former Chief, Tom Jackson resigned due to a Justice Department report that cited racial bias in Ferguson's criminal justice system. #photojournalism #portraits #makeportraits #police #policecommunityrelations #ferguson #theywearblue

[msantiagophotos]

We spent a year working with police officers and community members in Syracuse, trying to look at both sides of police and community relations. Link in Bio . #photojournalism #reportage #police #policecommunityrelations #syracuse #community #theywearblue

[msantiagophotos]

Nate Lindsay joined Manchester police department in 2001 and worked midnights and worked in the higher crime rate areas. In 2006, his partner was murdered after responding to a call. 6 months later, he transferred to the community policing division, a division comprised of 16 officers. He is now the Crime Prevention officer for the city of Manchester. He spends his time visiting schools, local businesses, regional facilities and gives active shooter training, personal violence training and workplace violence training to try to prevent crime. “ I’ve been shot at, my partner was killed, I'm on the swat team, we’ve responded to a call where an 8 year old was murdered and then the dad killed himself… we've gone through a bunch of these scenarios where we didn't have the proper steps in line to help the officers who respond to these calls. Everyone expects officers to just be OK all the time and they’re supposed to be the strong ones and their supposed to be the helpers. You know if you keep getting punched all the time eventually you’re gonna fall.” #photojournalism #portraits #makeportraits #theywearblue #police #policecommunityrelations

[msantiagophotos]

Tony McKnight is coming up on his 10 year anniversary as a police officer in New Hampshire. He was in culture shock when he arrived in New Hampshire, a place he says was rare to have an African American police officer. When he first applied, a chief once said that he would never have a person of color on his force while he was chief. “ I try not to bring my work home I try to go home with an open mind cuz I have my 4 children and they are my balance zone so i try not to bring them into this or be upset or have any kind of social disorder with them so that I can be engaged with them.” The goal of the Blue Courage workshop is to encourage officers to move past the cynicism, detachment, and the stresses that occurs as a result of their experiences while on the job and develop a healthier personality with high character and empathy towards the communities that they work with. #photojournalism #portraits #makeportraits #theywearblue #police #policecommunityrelations #bluecourage

[msantiagophotos]

1999. He began in a small relatively slow town and moved to a busier location and fhe received a rough education there than where he first started, since he felt didn't see much guidance where he started out. “One of the hardest thing I ever had to do was to resuscitate an infant. She died, and I’ll never get that taste out of my mouth. There will be days when I’m eating dinner or something and I'll push the dinner aside because for whatever reason like I’m back there for a split second I’m back there…all those things wear you down.” #photojournalism #portraits #makeportraits #theywearblue #police #bluecourage #policecommunityrelations