I used to be a JoCo cop. I support the police, and I understand Black Lives Matter

I used to be a police officer in the Kansas City metropolitan area. I am white. I am male. I am not a police officer anymore for many reasons. But a large part of my decision to leave law enforcement is because of the unjustified bias that has been exposed in recent years in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

I truly believe that black lives matter. I also understand firsthand that it is not easy to be a police officer, and I deeply respect the position and the sacrifice those who hold it make. I am white, but I acknowledge and understand white privilege.

No police department would intentionally hire an outright racist. No department would condone blatant racism or discrimination. However, there is a problem deeply rooted in how officers are trained and how that training plays on the stereotypes and fears that are already instilled in them.

As a police officer, you are trained to think that every person you encounter has the potential to kill you, and may try to. I was never taught that even though the potential exists, most people are actually not going to try to kill you. There was no balance — only the idea that everyone can kill you and everyone will try to kill you.

When going on patrol for the first time, officers get to decide for themselves who wants to kill them and who does not. In my experience, most white officers — racist or not — have a bias inside of them that makes them more afraid of a black people. They have never been trained to understand or had the opportunity to ask what makes a black person’s encounter with law enforcement so different from a white person’s.

It is not only unjustified bias and fear that drive this issue. I was trained never to racially profile. Rather, I was trained to “criminally profile.” When I asked what that meant, I could never get a straight answer. It always boiled down to the concept that criminals drive cars that have fancy rims and stereos or tinted windows. In other words, the type of cars that our bias has taught us black people are likely to drive.

I was told to be more suspicious of a license plate if it was from Wyandotte County. Why — because the driver is more likely to be black?

I met an officer one night who said he was concerned about three guys who went inside a gas station. I saw the three black men he was talking about and asked my fellow officer what they had done to raise his suspicion. He said they had not done anything — yet. I asked why he was concerned if they had done nothing. He told me, “They just look like thugs.” He meant that they are black, and black people scare him.

I have seen firsthand what it is like to be in a locker room and hear police officers talk about how they hope to get into a fight that night. I have seen officers provoke people so they can get a chance to use force, when they otherwise could have handled something peacefully. I have seen groups of officers in unison, without talking, make sure they turn cameras and microphones off in order to not record what they don’t want recorded.

The system is broken and the culture is toxic. This is not a Kansas City problem. It is a societal problem.

A complete reconstruction of how we approach policing and training is the only way to fix law enforcement. Mandatory training courses on race, empathy or how to communicate better will not work. It is going to take a full-scale deconstruction of the current system.

We need to demand systemic changes in police training to acknowledge and address our deepest biases and fears to keep every member of our community safe. It is OK to say that black lives matter while also supporting police officers.

Casey Miller is a former officer with the Lenexa Police Department.

This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.