Hello family, hopefully you are all out there fighting the good fight but even better than when I last wrote to you. I hope your journey to wellness is progressing and snowballing into a healthy, self-loved filled adventure. It’s now coming into, month number three of the year and into your newfound journey of “Better Body & Mind”. Those tips and practices that I’ve been sharing with you, are starting to become second nature and a new way of living.
The new hobbies are becoming a routine, stress management tips are helping to take your stress level to an all-time low and life continues. The exercise, the occasional walk, all of the well-deserved changes, nourishing your body and your mental. Before you know it, the results of all that attention to “self” will be slapping you in the face with, “woos” and “ahs” that is, if you haven’t started receiving any compliments already.
Your diet change, to include not only better food for the body but also enjoying entertainment, loosening up in your environment and approaching work with less stress; feeding your soul with elf-care mentally. Yes! We’re starting to accept things we cannot change. We are making changes to the things we can and more importantly, we are learning how to tell the difference between the two. Work is no longer working us, we are learning how to work to live, working in a way that is healthier, better; more wholesome.
I’m proud of you. If you were standing here right now, I would pat you on the back! That’s right, be proud of yourself, you are making it in the “live longer and stronger lane”. God loves the changes you are making, and the results are your reward. Keep fighting that good fight. There will still be tough days ahead but with the right mindset we can conquer all!
I am going to continue sharing tips and you, should continue managing the time you have. Remember family is everything. Work, well work is always going to be there, and it will always be, work.
When we get to the point of not being able to identify or make the separation between who we are as a person and the elements of what we deal with at work, we’re losing. We simply can’t afford to lose ourselves in the job. That can be costly, not just to us but to everyone and sometimes everything the labor stands for and so I feel compelled to briefly touch on this topic.
I would like to make it very clear; this is my opinion and I write these articles based on my knowledge. My opinion does not necessarily reflect that of the Sonny Archer Law Enforcement Foundation, Inc.
Unfortunately, when some of us don’t make the time to find the right balance, it can affect us in many ways. Most times, it also affects the people we come into contact with daily. I must admit, I was truly upset by this and more so, saddened and ashamed when I learned:
On the night of February 1st, 2023, five (5) Memphis police officers, in my opinion, let down our communities of brothers and sisters. The names of the formerly employed officers are known to many, if not all. These names, I will not write in this reading. I do not have all the facts, nor do I know what these officers were thinking. I was not on scene or a part of this incident. I can only speak on what I and millions of others witnessed on television from the CCTV camera during the apprehension of Mr. Tyre Nichols on that night.
We cannot change what has happened but I know we can all learn from it.
For many years, there existed, three types of policing styles. Generally, the policing styles are determined by the characteristics that are exhibited in the jurisdiction (city) of a said department.
1- The Service style policing
2- Legalistic style policing
3- Watchmen style policing
In recent years, Community style policing was also applied. This style of policing was developed to bridge the gap in many Communities within cities nationwide.
Service style policing is the approach where police emphasize helping the public and aiding the community; arrests are not the main goal in this type of department but applied when necessary.
Legalistic style policing focuses on violations of city or state statutes and ordinances, which relies heavily on the ability to carry out arrest. There is a zero tolerance for criminality and the law will be used as a tool to preserve safety and peace amongst all and any violators.
The Watchmen style policing adversely uses, unconventional methods to maintain peace, restoring order by finding creative resolutions to disorder and disagreements rather than effecting arrests when possible. This is a non-proactive style of policing.
Community policing, the newest style of policing is a method that’s selects officers who would engulf themselves with the community they serve to give a more compassionate approach to the job. These officers would become an extension to the community if they are not already a part of it.
Of the four previously mentioned policing styles, I could see no correlation to either style and the actions that I witnessed on the CCTV the day Mr. Tyre Nichols was apprehended.
Departments often put together specialized pro-active units to deter and decrease, high violent crimes in areas in need of their presence. How the officers are selected varies from department to department. I am not a Memphis resident therefore I cannot speak on what the temperature is regarding policing and community relations or why the Scorpion Team was put together.
What I can speak of is, the video surveillance footage which was made public. It was one of the most tasteless, dishonorable, unforgivable display of policing that I have ever witnessed. I could not begin to imagine what was so broken within any of them mentally that would cause these officers to inflict that type of violence, lack of compassion, lack professionalism, or regard for Nichol’s life. We cannot afford to not take care of ourselves physically and or mentally. The correlation between our physical and our mental health must be at the forefront of our own minds, to care for. Otherwise, it can lead to self-destruction and to the pain and destruction of others. It is important that we work on ourselves, inside and out, so we can be good enough to help others, that is, if helping others is the profession we choose.
We can all sit outside the box and speculate; could it have been the long-term effects of being accustomed to the high speed, over exposure, and longevity of pursuing high violent crime targets and areas? Or, was it just abuse of authority? Or was it poor stress management? Or …. We don’t know, we are not experts we are spectators to this tragic, senseless, heart-wrenching sight to the loss of Mr. Nicol’s life. It came along with the pain felt by his family, the community, and the pain felt by the family of the others involved. No matter what the job is, we should be doing it with pride and that was definitely not a proud time, definitely not for me.
As a police officer I feel a sense of pride and there is also a sense of pride when selected to be a part of a specialized unit. In my case, I worked extremely hard to get there and my colleagues and I work even harder to continue being there. We don’t just work to show we are physically capable we work hard on methods to preserve life; the lives of all involved, when needed. Being the best that you can be at any job, entails being the best you can be as person and no such thing was displayed by these officers. Actions such at this, causes a bigger divide amongst Law enforcement and the community and that is something that is not good for any of us. I can tell you, as a man, as a brother, as a father and as a Law Enforcement Officer, seeing what I saw raised my Blood Pressure and caused me mental distress all at once. I found myself leaning toward, extra breathing exercises to calm myself down and praying that it all ends. We all want to make it home and when we do, be able to breathe, smile or laugh with our loved ones and lay our heads down to get some good, peaceful rest for the next shift.
In order to do this job, well there must be a healthy balance between what you do while wearing that uniform and when that uniform is being washed for the next shift. Don’t let the day-to-day interactions with others change your character, to the point that you forget why you rose to the occasion. Do not let the evil in this world change you.
Peace and love.
If you or someone you know needs to talk, call 1-800-950-6264