Opinion | Schenectady's Chief of Police, Eric S. Clifford: Black lives matter. So I knelt and marched with protestors for George Floyd. - NBCNewsTHINK
I met the crowd of about 100 people at the rear entrance of the police station and, using a PA system in a police car, answered questions asked about police response times in some neighborhoods, the lack of diversity among police officers, why we were responding to their protest in riot gear and what my intentions are moving forward to honor George Floyd.
The members of the community who were present wanted honest answers, and I did my best to give them, as well as to respond with empathy and compassion. I was also asked why I should be trusted. I admitted that we, as a profession and even as a department, are not perfect, but I said we are trying to be better and to meet the expectations the community has for us. I let them know that I do not condone what happened to George Floyd, that no officer who works at the Schenectady Police Department does and that I believe that Black Lives Matter. Then, I was asked to take a knee with them, and I agreed to do so. I wanted to take a knee because I felt their pain and understand that, as a profession, the police need to truly empathize with how our communities feel about the police and police brutality. When I agreed to take a knee, I was looking to join them and let them know that I care and that we — the Schenectady Police Department — care. As I took a knee, all of my officers standing behind me wearing riot gear also took a knee. I felt the emotion in the crowd, and they cheered. It was a symbolic laying down of weapons, and I even gained the sense that maybe it was the start of being seen not strictly as a foe but maybe, eventually, as their friend.
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