For Tyre Nichols to be beaten to death by police earlier this month, nearly three years after George Floyd, shows me that there is the need for police reform. The color of the officers doesn’t seem to have any bearing on these atrocities.
For starters, I would change the language. As a writer, I know how powerful words are. I can remember one night after working late, televising a meeting, being pulled over for going 5 MPH over the speed limit. The officer began swearing and yelling obscenities at me after I was found to be completely sober and with no outstanding warrants. I had clearly disappointed this officer, who dropped the “F” bomb numerous times as he cussed me out.
I stayed quiet until I was allowed to leave. But what other profession allows someone to unleash obscenities on a member of the public? It was a verbal assault. It’s just another small step from there to a physical assault.
Maintaining composure and an appropriate vocabulary is just the start to treating people humanely.
For starters, I would change the language. As a writer, I know how powerful words are. I can remember one night after working late, televising a meeting, being pulled over for going 5 MPH over the speed limit. The officer began swearing and yelling obscenities at me after I was found to be completely sober and with no outstanding warrants. I had clearly disappointed this officer, who dropped the “F” bomb numerous times as he cussed me out.
I stayed quiet until I was allowed to leave. But what other profession allows someone to unleash obscenities on a member of the public? It was a verbal assault. It’s just another small step from there to a physical assault.
Maintaining composure and an appropriate vocabulary is just the start to treating people humanely.
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