I love being a police officer, but we need reform | Melvin Russell | TEDxMidAtlantic
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0:16 - 0:17Good evening!
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0:19 - 0:22I have been a police officer
for a very, very long time. -
0:22 - 0:26And you see these notes in my hand
because I'm also a black preacher. -
0:27 - 0:29(Laughter)
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0:29 - 0:31And if you know anything
about black preachers, -
0:31 - 0:34we'll close, and then we'll keep
going for another 20 minutes. -
0:34 - 0:35(Laughter)
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0:35 - 0:39So I need this to keep
pushing this thing forward. -
0:39 - 0:42I've been a police officer
for a very long time, -
0:42 - 0:44and I mean I predated technology.
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0:44 - 0:46I'm talking about before pagers.
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0:46 - 0:47(Laughter)
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0:47 - 0:49Laugh if you want to,
but I'm telling the truth. -
0:49 - 0:54I predate War on Our Fellow Man -
I mean, War on Drugs. -
0:54 - 0:55I predate all of that.
-
0:56 - 0:57I predate so much
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0:57 - 0:59and I've been through ebbs and flows
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0:59 - 1:02and I've been through good and bad times,
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1:02 - 1:05and still I absolutely love
being a police officer. -
1:06 - 1:10I love being a police officer
because it's always been a calling for me -
1:10 - 1:12and never a job.
-
1:12 - 1:14And even with that,
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1:15 - 1:21my personal truth is that
law enforcement is in a crisis. -
1:22 - 1:24It's an invisible crisis,
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1:24 - 1:26and it has been for many, many years.
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1:28 - 1:30Even though we in law enforcement say,
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1:30 - 1:33"You know what?
We can't arrest our way out of this." -
1:34 - 1:36We say in law enforcement things like,
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1:36 - 1:38"Yeah, it's illegal to profile."
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1:39 - 1:40You know what?
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1:40 - 1:43In law enforcement, we even agree
that we have to adopt this thinking -
1:43 - 1:45and become more oriented
to community policing. -
1:45 - 1:48And yet all the while, still,
-
1:48 - 1:50we continue in the same vein,
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1:50 - 1:54the same vein that contradicts
everything that we just admitted. -
1:56 - 1:58And so that's the reason for me,
several years ago. -
1:59 - 2:02Because I was tired of the racism,
I was tired of discrimination, -
2:02 - 2:05I was tired of the "-isms"
and the schisms. -
2:05 - 2:06I was just so tired.
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2:06 - 2:09I was tired of the vicious cycle,
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2:09 - 2:12and I was tired of it even
in the beloved agency -
2:12 - 2:15in the department that I still love today.
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2:15 - 2:17And so my wife and I, we sat down
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2:17 - 2:20and we decided and we targeted
a date that we would retire. -
2:21 - 2:23We would retire and I would
go off into the sunset, -
2:23 - 2:26maybe do ministry full time,
love my wife a long time. -
2:26 - 2:28Y'all know what I'm talking about.
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2:28 - 2:29(Laughter)
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2:29 - 2:31But we decided that I would retire.
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2:31 - 2:34But then there was a higher power than I.
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2:35 - 2:38There was a love for the city
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2:38 - 2:41that I loved, that I grew up in,
that I was educated in - -
2:41 - 2:45a city that pulled my heart
back into the system. -
2:46 - 2:47So we didn't retire.
-
2:48 - 2:49We didn't retire
-
2:49 - 2:51and so what happened was,
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2:51 - 2:55over the next - I would say,
18 months, 19 months, -
2:56 - 2:59I had this passion to implement
some radical policing. -
3:00 - 3:02And so now, over the next 19 months,
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3:02 - 3:06I shifted, and I transcended
from being a drug sergeant - -
3:07 - 3:09ready to retire as a drug sergeant -
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3:10 - 3:12and went from level to level to level,
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3:12 - 3:14until I find myself
as a district commander, -
3:14 - 3:17commander of the worst district
in Baltimore city. -
3:17 - 3:19We call it the Eastern District,
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3:19 - 3:21the most violent district,
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3:21 - 3:23the most impoverished district -
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3:23 - 3:2646 percent unemployment in that district.
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3:27 - 3:29National rating at that time,
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3:29 - 3:32national rating, the AIDS
and the tuberculosis [rating], -
3:32 - 3:35was always on the top 10 list
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3:35 - 3:38for zip codes for cities
across the nation, -
3:38 - 3:39or just zip codes across the nation.
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3:39 - 3:42The top 10 - I didn't say state,
I didn't say city - -
3:42 - 3:43that little neighborhood.
-
3:45 - 3:48And I said, you know what?
We gotta do something different. -
3:48 - 3:50We gotta do something different.
We gotta think radical. -
3:50 - 3:52We gotta think outside the box.
-
3:53 - 3:55And so in order to bring change
that I desperately wanted -
3:55 - 3:57and I desperately felt in my heart,
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3:57 - 3:59I had to start listening
to that inner spirit. -
3:59 - 4:02I had to start listening
to that man on the inside -
4:02 - 4:04that was telling me to do everything -
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4:04 - 4:07that went against everything
that I had been trained to do. -
4:08 - 4:09But we still did it.
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4:09 - 4:12We still did it because we listened
to that inner spirit, -
4:12 - 4:13because I realized this:
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4:13 - 4:18if I was to see real police reform
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4:18 - 4:21in the communities that I had
authority over for public safety, -
4:22 - 4:23that listen,
-
4:24 - 4:26someone once told me,
and we all have heard this - -
4:26 - 4:30to continue to do the same thing
expecting a change is just insanity. -
4:30 - 4:33We had to change our stinkin' thinkin'.
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4:34 - 4:35We had to change it.
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4:36 - 4:38And so what we did
is we started to think holistically -
4:38 - 4:40and not paramilitarily.
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4:40 - 4:42So we thought differently.
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4:42 - 4:44And we started to realize
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4:44 - 4:46that it could never be
and never should have been -
4:46 - 4:47us versus them.
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4:49 - 4:51And so I decided to come
to that intersection -
4:51 - 4:54where I could meet all classes,
all races, all creeds, all colors; -
4:54 - 4:57where I would meet the businesses
and the faith-based, -
4:57 - 4:58and the eds, the meds,
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4:58 - 4:59and I would meet all the people
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4:59 - 5:02that made up the communities
that I had authority over. -
5:03 - 5:05So I met them and I began to listen.
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5:05 - 5:07See, police have a problem.
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5:07 - 5:09Off the top, we want to bring
things into the community -
5:09 - 5:12and come up with these extravagant
strategies and deployments, -
5:12 - 5:14but we never talk
to the community about them. -
5:14 - 5:17And we shove them into the community
and say, "Take that." -
5:18 - 5:20But we said we'd get rid
of that stinkin' thinkin', -
5:20 - 5:22so we talked to our communities.
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5:22 - 5:24We said, "This is your community table.
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5:24 - 5:26We'll pull up a chair.
We want to hear from you. -
5:26 - 5:28What's going to work in your community?"
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5:28 - 5:30And then some great things
started to happen. -
5:31 - 5:33Some great things started to happen.
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5:33 - 5:34See, here's the thing:
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5:34 - 5:40I had to figure out a way to shift
130 cops that were under my tutelage -
5:40 - 5:42from being occupiers of communities
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5:42 - 5:43to being partners.
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5:44 - 5:46I had to figure out how to do that.
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5:46 - 5:48Because here's the crazy thing:
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5:48 - 5:52in law enforcement, we have evolved
into something incredible. -
5:52 - 5:54Listen, we have become great protectors.
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5:54 - 5:55We know how to protect you.
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5:56 - 5:57We are great protectors.
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5:58 - 6:02But we have exercised that arm
so much, so very much. -
6:02 - 6:05If I was a natural police department
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6:05 - 6:07and I represented a police department,
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6:07 - 6:10you would see this incredible,
beautiful, 23-inch arm. -
6:10 - 6:13(Laughter)
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6:13 - 6:15It's pretty, ain't it? It's cut up.
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6:16 - 6:19No fat on it. Mmm it look good.
It just look good! -
6:19 - 6:21(Laughter)
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6:21 - 6:23That's a great arm - protection!
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6:23 - 6:26That's who we are, but we've exercised
it so much sometimes -
6:26 - 6:28that it has led to abuse.
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6:29 - 6:33It's led to coldness and callousness
and dehumanized us. -
6:34 - 6:35And we've forgotten
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6:35 - 6:37the mantra across this nation
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6:37 - 6:39is to protect and serve.
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6:39 - 6:41Y'all don't know that? Protect and serve.
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6:41 - 6:42(Laughter)
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6:42 - 6:43So you look at the other arm,
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6:44 - 6:46and then you look at it
and ... there it is. -
6:46 - 6:47(Laughter)
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6:47 - 6:49You know, it's kinda weak.
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6:50 - 6:51It looks sickly.
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6:52 - 6:54It's withering and it's dying
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6:55 - 6:58because we've invested so much
in our protective arm. -
6:58 - 7:01But we forgot to treat our communities
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7:01 - 7:03like they're our customers;
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7:03 - 7:06like they're our sons and daughters,
our brothers and sisters, -
7:06 - 7:07our mothers and fathers.
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7:08 - 7:10And so somehow, along the way,
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7:10 - 7:11we've gotten out of balance.
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7:12 - 7:14And because we are a proud profession,
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7:15 - 7:18it is very hard for us to look
in the mirror and see our mistakes. -
7:18 - 7:20It's even harder to make a change.
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7:20 - 7:21I need to say this:
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7:21 - 7:24it's not just in law enforcement, though.
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7:24 - 7:26Because every one of us
makes up a community. -
7:27 - 7:28Everybody makes up a community.
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7:29 - 7:31And as communities - can I say this? -
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7:31 - 7:34we have put too much responsibility
on law enforcement. -
7:35 - 7:36Too much.
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7:36 - 7:41(Applause)
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7:42 - 7:44And then we have the audacity
and the nerve to get upset -
7:44 - 7:46with law enforcement
when we take action. -
7:47 - 7:49There is no way in the world
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7:50 - 7:53that we, as a community,
should be calling the police -
7:53 - 7:55for kids playing ball in the street.
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7:57 - 8:00No way in the world that we
should be calling the police -
8:00 - 8:02because my neighbor's
music is up too loud, -
8:02 - 8:05because his dog came over
to my yard and did a number two and one; -
8:05 - 8:08there's no way we should
be calling the police. -
8:08 - 8:10But we have surrendered
so much of our responsibility. -
8:12 - 8:14Listen, when I was a little boy
coming up in Baltimore - -
8:14 - 8:17and listen, we played
rough in the street - -
8:17 - 8:19I ain't never see the police
come and break us up. -
8:19 - 8:21You know who came? It was the elders.
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8:21 - 8:23It was the parental figures
in the community. -
8:23 - 8:26It was those guardians,
it was that village mentality. -
8:26 - 8:29They came and said, "Stop that!"
and "Do this." and "Stop that." -
8:29 - 8:33We had mentors throughout
all of the community. -
8:33 - 8:36So it takes all of us, all of us.
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8:37 - 8:38And when I say community,
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8:38 - 8:41I'm talking about everything
that makes up a community, even - -
8:41 - 8:44listen, because I'm a preacher,
I'm very hard on the churches, -
8:44 - 8:47because I believe the churches
too often have become MIA, -
8:47 - 8:48missing in action.
-
8:48 - 8:51I believe they have shifted
over the last 10, 20 years -
8:51 - 8:52from being community churches,
-
8:52 - 8:56where you walk outside your door,
round the corner and you're in church. -
8:56 - 8:59They shifted from that and became
commuter churches. -
8:59 - 9:03So you now have churches who have
become disconnected by default -
9:03 - 9:06from the very community
where they're planted. -
9:06 - 9:08And they don't take care
of that community. -
9:09 - 9:12Community and policing:
-
9:13 - 9:17we've all lost that precious gift,
and I call it relational equity. -
9:18 - 9:20We've lost it with one another.
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9:20 - 9:22It's not somebody else's fault -
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9:22 - 9:23it's all of our fault.
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9:24 - 9:26We all take responsibility in this.
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9:26 - 9:28But I say this:
it's not too late for all of us -
9:28 - 9:31to build the back of our cities,
and build this city -
9:32 - 9:33and nation to make it great again.
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9:33 - 9:34It is never too late.
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9:34 - 9:36It is never too late.
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9:36 - 9:38You see, after three years
-
9:38 - 9:41of my four-and-a-half-year
commandship in that district, -
9:41 - 9:42three years in,
-
9:42 - 9:45after putting pastors
in the car with my police -
9:45 - 9:47because I knew this -
it's a little secret - -
9:47 - 9:48I knew this:
-
9:48 - 9:51it was hard to stay a nasty police officer
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9:51 - 9:53while you're riding around
with a clergy. -
9:53 - 9:57(Laughter)
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9:57 - 10:03(Applause)
-
10:04 - 10:07You'd be getting in and out of the car,
looking to your right, talking about: -
10:07 - 10:11"Father, forgive me, for I have sinned,"
all day long - you can't do it! -
10:11 - 10:13So we came up with some
incredible initiatives, -
10:13 - 10:17engagements for our community
and police to build that trust back. -
10:17 - 10:18We began to deal with our youth
-
10:18 - 10:22and with those who we consider
are on the wrong side of the fence. -
10:22 - 10:23We knew we had an economic problem,
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10:23 - 10:25so we began to create jobs.
-
10:25 - 10:27We knew there was sickness
in our community -
10:27 - 10:29and they didn't have access
to proper medical care, -
10:29 - 10:31so we'd partner up.
-
10:31 - 10:33We got to that intersection
and partnered up -
10:33 - 10:35with anybody that wanted
to partner with us -
10:35 - 10:37and talked about
what we needed holistically, -
10:37 - 10:39never thinking about the crime.
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10:39 - 10:40Because at the end of the day,
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10:41 - 10:44if we took care
of the needs of the people, -
10:44 - 10:45if we got to the root cause,
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10:46 - 10:48the crime would take care of itself.
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10:49 - 10:51It would take care of itself.
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10:51 - 10:55(Applause)
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10:56 - 11:01And so, after three years
of a four-and-a-half-year stint, -
11:01 - 11:03we looked back and we looked over
-
11:03 - 11:06and found out that we were
at a 40-year historical low: -
11:06 - 11:09our crime numbers, our homicides -
-
11:09 - 11:12everything had dropped
down, back to the 1970s. -
11:12 - 11:13And it might go back further,
-
11:13 - 11:16but the problem is, we only
started keeping data since 1970. -
11:16 - 11:19Forty-year crime low, so much so,
I had other commanders call me, -
11:19 - 11:21"Hey Mel, whatcha doin', man?
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11:21 - 11:23Whatcha doin'? We gotta get some of that!"
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11:23 - 11:24(Laughter)
-
11:24 - 11:26And so we gave them some of that.
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11:28 - 11:29And in a short period of time,
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11:29 - 11:31the city went to a 30-year crime low.
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11:32 - 11:34For the first time in 30 years,
we fell, Baltimore city, -
11:34 - 11:37to under 200 homicides - 197 to be exact.
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11:37 - 11:38And we celebrated,
-
11:38 - 11:42because we had learned
to become great servers, -
11:42 - 11:43become great servers first.
-
11:43 - 11:45Become great servers, first.
-
11:46 - 11:49But I gotta tell you this:
these last few years, -
11:50 - 11:52as much as we had learned
-
11:52 - 11:55to become great proactive police officers
-
11:55 - 11:59and great relational police officers
rather than reactive, -
11:59 - 12:01these last years have disappointed me.
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12:02 - 12:03They have broken my heart.
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12:04 - 12:06The uprising still hurts.
-
12:07 - 12:09It still hurts my heart,
-
12:09 - 12:12because truly I believe
that it should've never happened. -
12:12 - 12:14I believe it should've never happened
-
12:14 - 12:17if we were allowed to continue
along the vein that we were in, -
12:17 - 12:19servicing our community,
-
12:19 - 12:22treating them like human beings,
treating them with respect, -
12:22 - 12:23loving on them first.
-
12:24 - 12:26If we continued in that vein,
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12:26 - 12:28it would've never happened.
-
12:28 - 12:31But somehow, we went back
to business as usual. -
12:31 - 12:33But I'm excited again!
-
12:34 - 12:37I'm excited again, because now
we have a police commissioner -
12:37 - 12:40who not only talks
about community policing, -
12:41 - 12:44but he absolutely understands it,
-
12:44 - 12:46and more importantly, he embraces it.
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12:46 - 12:47So I'm very excited now.
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12:47 - 12:50Listen, I'm excited about Baltimore today,
-
12:50 - 12:55because we, as many cities,
I believe shall rise from the ashes. -
12:55 - 12:58I believe - I truly believe -
-
12:58 - 12:59(Applause)
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12:59 - 13:01that we will be great again.
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13:01 - 13:03This nation will become great again.
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13:03 - 13:06Because we have the same goal:
we all want peace. -
13:06 - 13:07We all want respect for one another.
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13:07 - 13:09We all want love.
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13:09 - 13:11And I believe we are back on that road,
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13:11 - 13:12and I'm so excited about it.
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13:12 - 13:13God bless you all.
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13:13 - 13:14(Applause)
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13:14 - 13:16God bless you.
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13:16 - 13:17(Applause)
- Title:
- I love being a police officer, but we need reform | Melvin Russell | TEDxMidAtlantic
- Description:
-
We've invested so much in police departments as protectors that we have forgotten what it means to serve our communities, says Baltimore Police officer Lt. Colonel Melvin Russell. It's led to coldness and callousness, and it's dehumanized the police force. After taking over as district commander in one of Baltimore's toughest neighborhoods, Russell instituted a series of reforms aimed at winning back the trust of the community and lowering the violent crime rate. "Law enforcement is in a crisis," he says. "But it's not too late for all of us to build our cities and nation to make it great again."
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 13:19