Last year, when Arkansas State Trooper Mitch Grant (Troop E) started volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club of America in McGehee Arkansas , He developed a friendship with a little boy named Isaac. He was always respectful to me, and wanted to play. So they played football, shot pool, and their favorite… built spaceships with LEGO Blocks! He watched Isaac play league basketball, and anywhere he seen him around our little town, we “high five,” or hug. Just before the virus hit, at the club one day, he took my hat off my head, put it on his, and told me to take a photo. I told Isaac if he liked my “Smokey Bear” hat, I have a blue one that I will get to him, and today I delivered.
In a time where the relationship between Law Enforcement and the African American Community is strained, I wanted Isaac to know, that no matter what he hears or sees on T.V., that I am his friend, and that I would fight to the death to protect him, and any other person that my job will lead me to, who needs my help. That is what I swore to do. Trooper Grant tries to build relationships with members of my community, and try very hard to build bridges with the African American Community, only to feel that those relationships are harmed, when a bad actor wearing a badge somewhere, does something to strain those relationships. Trooper Grant tries to do it right, everyday, just as 99% of the Police Officers that I know, try to do, every single day. There are biases that the Law Enforcement Community need to improve on… there are steps we can take to be better as an institution, but there are also steps the African American Community can take, to better that relationship as well. To my Law Enforcement Brothers and Sisters, who go out there every day and deliver a quality product, hold your heads high, and continue to honor your oath, and treat people like you want to be treated. Brother David Brown said in his message at Church this morning, that we have to love one another. That is sometimes hard in my job… but I get it. I told Isaac today, that I hope our friendship will be an example to others.
