In these troubled times it is often difficult to discern truth from falsehood.  It is made even more difficult by the all too obvious bias of those who bring us the news.  However, if we assiduously and honestly search for truth we can find it.  

The following are truth statements.   

First are truth statements based on personal experiences filtered through a screen of common sense.

• Most police officers are good and decent people. They have a difficult and dangerous job.  We need their protection, and we should give them our support and respect.

• As with any body of individuals, the police are not perfect. Some officers are bad persons, and there are those who harbor racist attitudes.  A few may be sociopaths, and even one such individual can do immense damage to an entire police department and to a community.

• Other police officers with good intentions may be ill-trained, weak, or incompetent and react improperly when confronted by a crisis situation.

• Law enforcement is burdened by a past history of police involvement in many acts of civil rights suppression. Despite recent reforms, it is difficult for police to overcome their bad reputation among members of the black community.

• Blacks are much more likely to be stopped and interrogated by police than are whites, but part of the problem is the higher incidence of criminal activity among blacks and the concentration of police assets in crime-ridden areas.

• Within the last 50 years the police have made significant strides in integrating their departments and training their officers to treat all persons equally, regardless of ethnicity.  There remain backwaters where less progress has been made; but the situation is gradually improving, and the rate of improvement is accelerating.

The following truth statements may be verified by an examination of official government records.

• Blacks account for only 13% of the United States’ population but more than half of murders each year.

•  Approximately 6,000 blacks are murdered every year.  The vast majority of these victims are killed by other blacks.

• In a recent year 258 blacks were killed in confrontations with police.  In all but a few of these incidents the black victim was armed and threatening bodily harm to an officer or to others.  That same year, 493 whites were killed by police in similar circumstances.

• The killing of an unarmed black by the police is a rare occurrence,  When it happens, it may be deliberate or accidental, but either way it tends to  generate considerable publicity.  Police involved in the fatal act may be white or black.  In a typical year there are less than a score of such incidents across the country.

• Statistics prove that police are now in more danger from blacks than blacks from police.

Conclusions.

• It is essential that criminal justice reform remain an  urgent priority throughout the United States.
• Better training and more racial integration should be the goal of every police department.
• We must continue efforts to identify and remove bad officers from police departments; but we should recognize that we will never attain perfection.  All undesirable police officers will not be identified and removed, and  unfortunate racial incidents will occasionally happen.

• When an unarmed black dies at the hands of police, the media and leaders of the black community should do all in their power to discover and advertise the truth and treat the situation with a sense of perspective.  Inflamed rhetoric and riots do not advance the cause of justice.

• In crime infested areas of our large cities the police are often confronted with hostility.  This situation causes officers to fear for their safety, and it requires training and discipline for them to refrain from responding to threats with deadly force.  Considering the frequency of confrontations between the police and black citizens, it is perhaps surprising that there are not more black fatalities at the hands of police.

• It would be most desirable to develop and deploy efficient non-lethal weapons as a substitute for police firearms whenever and wherever this might be possible.

• As a result of  inner-city chaos and the lack of support from municipal officials, police departments are backing off from pro-active law enforcement.  This has resulted in a further rise in crime in our urban centers.  Poor black citizens are the ones who suffer most.

• Calls to abolish or defund police departments are absolute nonsense and would lead to a disastrous increase in crime rates.

• Ordinary citizens must become much more involved in defending the safety and well-being of their neighborhoods, and the police should welcome and facilitate their involvement.  Police officers must get to know the people in areas that they are supposed to protect.

• We need to  recognize that radical groups are using the anti-police movement as cover to attack our system of representative government.  Leaders of Black Lives Matter, Antifa, the KKK, and the American Nazi Party would like to destroy and remake our nation.  Don’t help them.  

Stand up for the TRUTH!