The recent events occurring in Minneapolis, MN has set back law enforcement for many years to come. As a former law enforcement professional with local, state, and federal experience I watched in disgust at the murder of George Floyd. It is my humble opinion this type of criminal behavior fits the charge of first-degree murder. The law enforcement community does not and will never support this type of criminal behavior from one of their own.

The current environment alongside rioting and looting has tried to destroy the fabric of American society. However, I believe that misguided and false information states that racism is a systematic problem in the law enforcement community. All law enforcement have been painted with the same brush, which is unfair to the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers who have given their lives for the country. That includes the many minority law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

The rioting has already taken the lives of several law enforcement officers. Officers like Patrick Underwood, Federal Service Protection officer who died in Oakland, CA and Retired St. Louis Police Captain, David Dorn, have been killed while trying to stop looting. 

Since the 1960’s, law enforcement has changed in many ways. In the 1970’s the police became educated in many universities offering Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D. ‘s in law enforcement. The law enforcement agencies created incentives to hire college graduates in the criminal justice field. In turn, law enforcement agencies began hiring a substantial number of minorities from the affirmative action rulings. These rulings made law enforcement fit the communities they serve.

Today, law enforcement agencies consist of many minorities in key executive positions including many Police Chiefs, Sheriffs, State Police, and federal law enforcement. The community has made many changes for the better of our society. We must continue to strive for better policing – which means better training.

The current trend by some activists is to defund law enforcement. I believe that this is a mistake. In the end, the most impoverished communities in the US will suffer at the hands of criminal elements. For someone who has experienced firsthand the lawlessness, the right people in the poor communities want to live just like the rich: they want their children to have a safe environment free from criminal oppression. The only problem is that they do not have gated communities and the private security protecting them.

We all hope and pray that our country unifies that law and order must exist for the survival of our great country to flourish and survive.