Are Police Racist?

When I started my LEO career, I learned fast that there was a dogma about cops that was being pushed—RACIST! Propagated by some, pushed by the media and swallowed by many, my fellow brothers and sisters in blue still took to the streets. We were Male, Female, White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Gay and Straight. We were Republican, Democrat, Christian, Catholic, Mormon, Buddhist, Atheist–We didn’t care about any of that propaganda sh*t. The only thing that mattered was “can I trust this person with my life?”

The LEOs I served with were the highest caliber human beings I’ve ever known. There are 1 million state/local LEOs in our nation. We are more scrutinized than any other profession. Written & oral exams, extensive background checks all the way back to your childhood; physical, polygraph, psychological (written & oral interview), medical, and a few more interviews before you’re even hired.

Once hired, they strap on a body cam, put you in a GPS’d cruiser—every time you turn on the light bar, the dash cam records. You’re on probation for at least 6 months—screw up and you’re gone. Get a citizens complaint? There’s a whole division for that. Internal affairs contacts you with what feels like an anal probe. Have to use force on a bad guy? No worries, Internal affairs, citizen personnel boards, etc. are in the waiting room ready to bring out the white board for the Monday morning quarterback evaluation.

But since we are in the age where everything must be qualified, allow me to rebut the false narrative LEOs endure.

Give me 1 million of any group of people and you’ll find whatever it is you’re looking for. LEOs come out of the general population. Imperfect, flawed, merciful, wonderful, scarred, abused, & loved human beings make up the 1 million of us.

When fellow officers see the proverbial bad apple, we are on him or her like flies on doo doo. Do a few—yes I said few—get through and make us look bad? To be sure. There are 1 million of us! Are “we” (the ones that took an oath to protect you and lay down our lives for you if needed) racist? I will answer with my fist‼️

Jeff Stine
President/CEO
Cover Now