Every civil society needs a trusted police force to help us feel safe.  When we hear a noise in our home in the middle of the night, we know we can call 911 to summon public servants with guns who will come to our defense.  They will look in all the dark corners of our basement and risk their own safety to ensure ours.

People who choose this profession receive a lot of training and guidelines to reduce their personal risk. Even with that training, some do experience injuries and sometimes a tragic death.  Some assignments, like traffic stops on busy highways, put them at more risk than most of our jobs in society.

One of the consequences of our segregation is that we don't see how police are viewed in Black neighborhoods.  We don't know how families might not call for help, believing that they wouldn't come--or, if they did, someone innocent might be hurt or arrested.

We also don't know what it feels like to be conducting our normal business and to be stopped or pulled over while doing nothing wrong. Black people report this treatment both in their segregated neighborhoods and also in mostly white areas.

How did your parents introduce you to the existence of the police? Were they your protectors? Or were they the ultimate disciplinarian? Did you fear them or praise them?  When you are stopped for traffic violations, are you mad or afraid? Do you blame the cop or fate for getting caught this time?

Your practice today is to explore your earliest interactions with police.  How did you form your opinions?  Did you have a relative on the force? Maybe you had a favorite TV cop that shaped your vision of who cops are and what they do.  Think about how these formative views impact your reaction when you hear the reports of abuse and brutality from the Black community?