Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here? A look at what we can all do to address our racial conflicts and effect positive change.

I don’t think any of us need reminding, or will ever forget that on May 25th, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest for suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. He died at the hands of a white racist cop. He’d allegedly used the bill to pay for the cigarettes, and once he’d left the store the police were summoned to investigate. Officers arrived on scene and Mr. Floyd was arrested following a short, preliminary investigation. Derek Chauvin, the white police officer who directly caused Mr. Floyd’s death, had knelt on Mr. Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes following the arrest when clearly evidenced by the video taken by bystanders, there was no need or just cause for excessive force whatsoever, and the knee-on-the-neck restraint Chauvin used is not an approved method of detention – it’s downright lethal as we all know so well by now.

To further paint the events of that incident, Mr. Floyd was handcuffed, face down, repeatedly pleading for relief and breath by clearly and continuously announcing "I can't breathe." Chauvin’s police backups, Officers J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Kiernan Lane helped restrain Mr. Floyd, while officer Tou Thao prevented bystanders from intervening.

During the final three minutes of video, Mr. Floyd lay motionless, and it is believed he had no pulse. Chauvin ignored onlookers' pleas to remove his knee, which he didn’t do until medics directed him to. That’s a horrific image that will go down in history. A sad history, to say the least. One that has sparked a long-overdue outcry for equal and fair treatment of all black people when dealing with the police.

So, where do we go from here? Mr. Floyd's death triggered demonstrations and protests in over 2,000 U.S. cities and across the globe; protests and demonstrations against police brutality, police racism, and lack of police accountability.

Those demonstrations are still going on today and calls to defund and even eliminate police services altogether are constant and unrelenting. What happened to Mr. Floyd and so many other black men and women at the hands of white police officers demands critical examination and operative change, and it is that intent, I believe, that these demonstrations are hoping to achieve. But change will not come without a resolution to this conflict. It’s time to talk about change. It’s time for another kind of action: cooperation and equality talks, shall we say.

I was a cop for 32 years and I know that change must take place now lest we all suffer even more from this unresolved conflict, and I welcome it, as does so many of my fellow officers out there – many good ones who are now at war on the frontlines. We can’t go on this way.

As part of my police duties over the 32 years I served as a hostage negotiator and a peacekeeper, among other duties, and I see a solution to this conflict only taking place once we negotiate for peace, change, respect and voice. Here’s what I see as what needs to take place, sooner than later. We must encourage leaders and representatives from both the black and police communities to sit across from one another and talk change and long-lasting solutions. Change won’t happen simply because we want it to, and this time in history cannot be allowed to fade into the background without honest dialogue and a willingness to work together at resolving this defect in our justice system to take place – and change made.

In the word of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” Well, I for one believe we can, but I also believe it will take work on each side to make Rodney Kings’ and George Floyds’ deaths and others matter in this fight for what’s right, fair, and long overdue. What many of us seem to have forgotten is that we’re all in this thing called life together and that there is only one race: the human race.

So, what I’m going to be endeavoring to do is to bring leaders from both sides – the black community and the police - as well as members from police associations all to the table to address this critical issue in an honest, respectful, and open manner. One designed to effect the change that cries to take place, and one that must take place. I want to start small at first and then encourage the possibility of yearly National and perhaps International conferences involving both sides to check-in and evaluate what’s working and what’s not. By holding both sides accountable and involved on a yearly basis, we can make it happen. Big undertaking, right? As a former hostage negotiator and peacekeeper during the Iraq war, I’m ready to jump in and be involved. I remember mediating between the Sunni’s and Shiites at the academy I was an advocate and counselor at, so I’m up to the task with help.

I can’t do this alone, obviously. What I need are members of the black community and the police community who are interested in becoming involved and making this happen to inbox me so we can develop a plan of action. I’m calling out to my police chief and community leader contacts to reach out, and others I’ve not connected with who can help. I’m thinking that the first of these meetings between each of our communities should be televised or recorded at the very least, so members of the media who have ideas on what we might do are also welcomed and encouraged to inbox me as well.

I’ve worked with the police, the black community, and the press in the past, and I know we can start something important here. This social media post is not to draw comments or even likes; it’s to draw attention to what I know needs to take place and to ask each of you to think of who might be right to join in and make this happen. In the meantime, I encourage each of you to hang in there and do your part: be kind to one another. Some social media posts are downright nasty and that’s not what we need now in these unprecedented times.