Dear Officer, Young Citizens Are Being Abused For The Dumbest Reasons. I Can’t Help But Get Angry.
A Bay Area teen and a long-time cop have a frank conversation about police brutality.
Hello Carl,
Huh? The police commission really thinks officers would misuse tasers? But they’re already misusing guns all over the country! Whatever weapon police officers carry will most likely get misused, so wouldn’t it be safer to give them tasers instead of guns? I would much rather get tased by accident then get shot.
Thanks for helping me understand what happened when the police showed up on my birthday. My friend ended up calling the station afterwards to find out the names of the officers and file a complaint, but we weren’t able to track them down, unfortunately.
I wanted to ask you about the most recent instance of police brutality that’s circulated on social media. A 16-year-old black girl was using her phone during class, and when she refused to get off the phone, a police officer came in and flipped over her desk. Then the officer dragged her across the room like a rag doll.
I can’t imagine what was going through her head in that moment, but I can sympathize with her. I’ve been there before. I used my phone during class in high school, and I’m not proud of it, but I did it. I would text my brother or my friends who were in different classes or I would just be on Instagram because class was boring. Of course, I never needed to be on my phone during class, but we don’t know if the same was true for this young woman! We have no idea what was going on in her personal life. Maybe she had a good reason for being on her phone. Maybe she needed to text her mom? Her actions could’ve been warranted, but we really don’t know.
No student, no matter how they are acting, deserves to be picked up and thrown on the ground like this young woman. There are so many other ways this situation could’ve been handled. I don’t get why it had to come to this. When other teens, like my friends and I, see this kind of thing on social media, it freaks us out. All it does is reinforce our associations with the police as the bad guys.
I personally think that nowadays young black and brown citizens are being abused and losing their lives for the dumbest reasons. I can’t help but get angry.
Carl, how would you have handled this situation? Do you think he was in the right or in the wrong? What could he have done differently in that situation? And in general, how do you think we can mend the relationship between teens and the police? How can we build trust that goes both ways?
Tell me more about why you decided to retire. Did you simply have enough of the system? If you were still working as an officer and had the chance to change the system, how would you do it?
From,
Jessica
Keep scrolling to read Carl’s letter in the “Responses” section below.
Do you have a question for Carl or Jessica? Join the conversation by writing a response — and don’t forget to @ mention them! The pair will continue to exchange letters over the next two weeks and will try their best to incorporate your queries into their dialogue.
