I love being a police officer, but we need reform | Melvin Russell

152,865 views ・ 2016-02-03

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:12
I have been a police officer for a very, very long time.
0
12817
2651
00:15
And you see these notes in my hand because I'm also a black preacher.
1
15492
5198
00:21
(Laughter)
2
21305
1683
00:23
And if you know anything about black preachers,
3
23012
2215
00:25
we'll close, and then we'll keep going for another 20 minutes.
4
25251
3212
00:28
(Laughter)
5
28487
1037
00:29
So I need this to keep pushing this thing forward.
6
29548
2393
00:31
I've been a police officer for a very long time,
7
31965
2249
00:34
and I mean I predated technology.
8
34238
1580
00:35
I'm talking about before pagers.
9
35842
1596
00:37
(Laughter)
10
37462
1233
00:38
Laugh if you want to, but I'm telling the truth.
11
38719
2261
00:41
I predate War on Our Fellow Man -- I mean, War on Drugs.
12
41004
4702
00:45
I predate all of that.
13
45730
1483
00:47
I predate so much
14
47855
1154
00:49
and I've been through ebbs and flows
15
49033
1783
00:50
and I've been through good and bad times,
16
50840
2367
00:53
and still I absolutely love being a police officer.
17
53231
4158
00:58
I love being a police officer because it's always been a calling for me
18
58207
3751
01:01
and never a job.
19
61982
1380
01:04
And even with that,
20
64219
1365
01:06
my personal truth is that law enforcement is in a crisis.
21
66538
4276
01:11
It's an invisible crisis,
22
71616
1514
01:13
and it has been for many, many years.
23
73154
2626
01:16
Even though we in law enforcement say,
24
76787
1869
01:18
"You know what? We can't arrest our way out of this."
25
78680
3602
01:23
We say in law enforcement things like,
26
83258
1811
01:25
"Yeah, it's illegal to profile."
27
85093
2516
01:28
You know what?
28
88008
1158
01:29
In law enforcement, we even agree that we have to adopt this thinking
29
89190
3358
01:32
and become more oriented to community policing.
30
92572
2205
01:34
And yet all the while, still,
31
94801
2910
01:37
we continue in the same vein,
32
97735
2197
01:39
the same vein that contradicts everything that we just admitted.
33
99956
3960
01:45
And so that's the reason for me, several years ago.
34
105131
2703
01:48
Because I was tired of the racism, I was tired of discrimination,
35
108313
3095
01:51
I was tired of the "-isms" and the schisms.
36
111432
2593
01:54
I was just so tired.
37
114049
1380
01:55
I was tired of the vicious cycle,
38
115904
2153
01:58
and I was tired of it even in the beloved agency
39
118081
3229
02:01
in the department that I still love today.
40
121334
2913
02:04
And so my wife and I, we sat down
41
124771
2129
02:06
and we decided and we targeted a date that we would retire.
42
126924
2817
02:10
We would retire and I would go off into the sunset,
43
130130
2604
02:12
maybe do ministry full time, love my wife a long time.
44
132758
2833
02:15
Y'all know what I'm talking about.
45
135615
1641
02:17
(Laughter)
46
137280
1405
02:18
But we decided that I would retire.
47
138709
1723
02:20
But then there was a higher power than I.
48
140456
3179
02:24
There was a love for the city
49
144492
2868
02:27
that I loved, that I grew up in, that I was educated in --
50
147384
3201
02:30
a city that pulled my heart back into the system.
51
150609
3700
02:34
So we didn't retire.
52
154959
1262
02:36
We didn't retire
53
156916
1394
02:38
and so what happened was,
54
158334
2464
02:40
over the next -- I would say, 18 months, 19 months,
55
160822
3228
02:45
I had this passion to implement some radical policing.
56
165050
3033
02:49
And so now, over the next 19 months,
57
169393
1731
02:51
I shifted, and I transcended from being a drug sergeant --
58
171148
3843
02:56
ready to retire as a drug sergeant --
59
176277
1836
02:58
and went from level to level to level,
60
178865
1834
03:00
until I find myself as a district commander,
61
180723
2429
03:03
commander of the worst district in Baltimore city.
62
183176
2943
03:06
We call it the Eastern District,
63
186453
1701
03:08
the most violent district,
64
188178
1610
03:09
the most impoverished district --
65
189812
1707
03:11
46 percent unemployment in that district.
66
191543
3602
03:16
National rating at that time,
67
196018
2220
03:18
national rating, the AIDS and the tuberculosis [rating],
68
198262
2972
03:21
was always on the top 10 list
69
201258
2401
03:23
for zip codes for cities across the nation,
70
203683
3023
03:26
or just zip codes across the nation.
71
206730
1739
03:28
The top 10 -- I didn't say state, I didn't say city --
72
208493
2618
03:31
that little neighborhood.
73
211135
1340
03:33
And I said, you know what? We gotta do something different.
74
213911
2803
03:36
We gotta do something different. We gotta think radical.
75
216738
2660
03:39
We gotta think outside the box.
76
219422
1737
03:41
And so in order to bring change that I desperately wanted
77
221730
2682
03:44
and I desperately felt in my heart,
78
224436
1707
03:46
I had to start listening to that inner spirit.
79
226167
2289
03:48
I had to start listening to that man on the inside
80
228480
2433
03:50
that went against everything that I had been trained to do.
81
230937
3103
03:54
But we still did it.
82
234772
1394
03:56
We still did it because we listened to that inner spirit,
83
236190
2697
03:58
because I realized this:
84
238911
1261
04:00
if I was to see real police reform
85
240196
4049
04:04
in the communities that I had authority over for public safety,
86
244269
3629
04:08
we had to change our stinkin' thinkin'.
87
248690
2283
04:12
We had to change it.
88
252728
1153
04:13
And so what we did is we started to think holistically
89
253905
2723
04:16
and not paramilitarily.
90
256652
1316
04:18
So we thought differently.
91
258538
1384
04:20
And we started to realize
92
260819
1199
04:22
that it could never be and never should have been
93
262042
2310
04:24
us versus them.
94
264376
1509
04:26
And so I decided to come to that intersection
95
266910
2208
04:29
where I could meet all classes, all races, all creeds, all colors;
96
269142
3221
04:32
where I would meet the businesses and the faith-based,
97
272387
2541
04:34
and the eds, the meds,
98
274952
1286
04:36
and I would meet all the people
99
276262
1508
04:37
that made up the communities that I had authority over.
100
277794
2829
04:41
So I met them and I began to listen.
101
281205
1960
04:43
See, police have a problem.
102
283189
1452
04:44
Off the top, we want to bring things into the community
103
284665
2595
04:47
and come up with these extravagant strategies and deployments,
104
287284
2968
04:50
but we never talk to the community about them.
105
290276
2175
04:52
And we shove them into the community and say, "Take that."
106
292475
2828
04:55
But we said we'd get rid of that stinkin' thinkin',
107
295806
2397
04:58
so we talked to our communities.
108
298227
1548
04:59
We said, "This is your community table.
109
299799
1868
05:01
We'll pull up a chair. We want to hear from you.
110
301691
2263
05:03
What's going to work in your community?"
111
303978
1940
05:05
And then some great things started to happen.
112
305942
2129
05:08
See, here's the thing:
113
308095
1151
05:09
I had to figure out a way to shift 130 cops that were under my tutelage
114
309270
5720
05:15
from being occupiers of communities
115
315014
2112
05:17
to being partners.
116
317150
1189
05:19
I had to figure out how to do that.
117
319355
1692
05:21
Because here's the crazy thing:
118
321071
1979
05:23
in law enforcement, we have evolved into something incredible.
119
323074
3645
05:26
Listen, we have become great protectors.
120
326743
1937
05:28
We know how to protect you.
121
328704
1428
05:30
But we have exercised that arm so much, so very much.
122
330909
4039
05:34
If I was a natural police department
123
334972
3166
05:38
and I represented a police department,
124
338162
1881
05:40
you would see this incredible, beautiful, 23-inch arm.
125
340067
2889
05:42
(Laughter)
126
342980
2603
05:45
It's pretty, ain't it? It's cut up.
127
345607
2079
05:48
No fat on it. Mmm it look good. It just look good!
128
348641
2927
05:51
(Laughter)
129
351592
2134
05:53
That's a great arm -- protection!
130
353750
1901
05:55
That's who we are, but we've exercised it so much sometimes
131
355675
3103
05:59
that it has led to abuse.
132
359255
1555
06:02
It's led to coldness and callousness and dehumanized us.
133
362008
3996
06:06
And we've forgotten
134
366941
1152
06:08
the mantra across this nation
135
368117
1413
06:09
is to protect and serve.
136
369554
2070
06:12
Y'all don't know that? Protect and serve.
137
372068
1976
06:14
(Laughter)
138
374068
1001
06:15
So you look at the other arm,
139
375093
1405
06:16
and then you look at it and ... there it is.
140
376522
2135
06:18
(Laughter)
141
378681
1173
06:20
You know, it's kinda weak.
142
380267
1889
06:22
It looks sickly.
143
382926
1237
06:24
It's withering and it's dying
144
384972
1786
06:27
because we've invested so much in our protective arm.
145
387861
2643
06:31
But we forgot to treat our communities
146
391302
2857
06:34
like they're our customers;
147
394183
1383
06:36
like they're our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters,
148
396026
2965
06:39
our mothers and fathers.
149
399015
1190
06:40
And so somehow, along the way,
150
400600
2249
06:42
we've gotten out of balance.
151
402873
1431
06:44
And because we are a proud profession,
152
404958
2108
06:47
it is very hard for us to look in the mirror and see our mistakes.
153
407952
3141
06:51
It's even harder to make a change.
154
411117
1721
06:53
And so, as I try to hurry and get through this,
155
413775
2873
06:57
I need to say this:
156
417204
1161
06:58
it's not just law enforcement, though.
157
418389
1942
07:00
Because every one of us makes up a community.
158
420818
2331
07:03
Everybody makes up a community.
159
423674
1685
07:05
And as communities -- can I say this? --
160
425678
1928
07:07
we have put too much responsibility on law enforcement.
161
427630
3372
07:12
Too much.
162
432261
1158
07:13
(Applause)
163
433443
4243
07:18
And then we have the audacity and the nerve to get upset
164
438706
2647
07:21
with law enforcement when we take action.
165
441377
2103
07:24
There is no way in the world
166
444265
1414
07:26
that we, as a community, should be calling the police
167
446615
3543
07:30
for kids playing ball in the street.
168
450182
1889
07:34
No way in the world that we should be calling the police
169
454071
2736
07:36
because my neighbor's music is up too loud,
170
456831
2086
07:38
because his dog came over to my yard and did a number two;
171
458941
2754
07:41
there's no way we should be calling the police.
172
461719
2521
07:44
But we have surrendered so much of our responsibility.
173
464264
2642
07:46
Listen, when I was a little boy coming up in Baltimore --
174
466930
3134
07:50
and listen, we played rough in the street --
175
470088
2137
07:52
I ain't never see the police come and break us up.
176
472249
2411
07:55
You know who came? It was the elders.
177
475026
1925
07:56
It was the parental figures in the community.
178
476975
2135
07:59
It was those guardians, it was that village mentality.
179
479440
2587
08:02
They came and said, "Stop that!" and "Do this." and "Stop that."
180
482051
3055
08:05
We had mentors throughout all of the community.
181
485689
3722
08:09
So it takes all of us, all of us.
182
489769
2240
08:12
And when I say community,
183
492620
1200
08:13
I'm talking about everything that makes up a community, even --
184
493844
3027
08:16
listen, because I'm a preacher, I'm very hard on the churches,
185
496895
2931
08:19
because I believe the churches too often have become MIA,
186
499850
2747
08:22
missing in action.
187
502621
1157
08:23
I believe they have shifted over the last 10, 20 years
188
503802
2568
08:26
from being community churches,
189
506394
1476
08:27
where you walk outside your door, round the corner and you're in church.
190
507894
3468
08:31
They shifted from that and became commuter churches.
191
511386
2860
08:34
So you now have churches who have become disconnected by default
192
514270
4460
08:38
from the very community where they're planted.
193
518754
2455
08:42
And they don't take care of that community.
194
522060
2379
08:45
I could go on and on, but I really need to wrap this up.
195
525153
2668
08:47
Community and policing:
196
527845
2651
08:50
we've all lost that precious gift, and I call it relational equity.
197
530520
4301
08:55
We've lost it with one another.
198
535498
1923
08:57
It's not somebody else's fault --
199
537445
2015
08:59
it's all of our fault.
200
539484
1324
09:01
We all take responsibility in this.
201
541371
1966
09:03
But I say this: it's not too late for all of us to build our cities
202
543361
3201
09:06
and nation to make it great again.
203
546586
1638
09:08
It is never too late.
204
548248
1159
09:09
It is never too late.
205
549431
1316
09:11
You see, after three years
206
551428
1401
09:12
of my four-and-a-half-year commandship in that district,
207
552853
3238
09:16
three years in,
208
556115
1154
09:17
after putting pastors in the car with my police
209
557293
2679
09:19
because I knew this -- it's a little secret --
210
559996
2175
09:22
I knew this:
211
562195
1159
09:23
it was hard to stay a nasty police officer
212
563378
2665
09:26
while you're riding around with a clergy.
213
566067
2101
09:28
(Laughter)
214
568192
2182
09:30
(Applause)
215
570398
5797
09:38
You'd be getting in and out of the car, looking to your right, talking about:
216
578476
3529
09:42
"Father, forgive me, for I have sinned," all day long -- you can't do it!
217
582029
3536
09:45
So we came up with some incredible initiatives,
218
585589
2253
09:47
engagements for our community and police to build that trust back.
219
587866
3495
09:51
We began to deal with our youth
220
591385
1559
09:52
and with those who we consider are on the wrong side of the fence.
221
592968
3178
09:56
We knew we had an economic problem,
222
596170
1733
09:57
so we began to create jobs.
223
597927
1492
09:59
We knew there was sickness in our community
224
599443
2048
10:01
and they didn't have access to proper medical care,
225
601515
2494
10:04
so we'd partner up.
226
604033
1159
10:05
We got to that intersection and partnered up
227
605216
2073
10:07
with anybody that wanted to partner with us
228
607313
2087
10:09
and talked about what we needed holistically,
229
609424
2167
10:11
never thinking about the crime.
230
611615
1513
10:13
Because at the end of the day,
231
613152
1695
10:14
if we took care of the needs of the people,
232
614871
2063
10:16
if we got to the root cause,
233
616958
1563
10:19
the crime would take care of itself.
234
619251
2187
10:22
It would take care of itself.
235
622599
1466
10:24
(Applause)
236
624089
4655
10:29
And so, after three years of a four-and-a-half-year stint,
237
629897
4082
10:34
we looked back and we looked over
238
634665
1676
10:36
and found out that we were at a 40-year historical low:
239
636365
3365
10:39
our crime numbers, our homicides --
240
639754
2881
10:42
everything had dropped down, back to the 1970s.
241
642659
2457
10:45
And it might go back further,
242
645140
1416
10:46
but the problem is, we only started keeping data since 1970.
243
646580
2917
10:49
Forty-year crime low, so much so, I had other commanders call me,
244
649521
3096
10:52
"Hey Mel, whatcha doin', man?
245
652641
1417
10:54
Whatcha doin'? We gotta get some of that!"
246
654082
2104
10:56
(Laughter)
247
656210
1415
10:57
And so we gave them some of that.
248
657649
1659
11:00
And in a short period of time,
249
660968
1452
11:02
the city went to a 30-year crime low.
250
662444
2277
11:05
For the first time in 30 years, we fell, Baltimore city,
251
665181
2649
11:07
to under 200 homicides -- 197 to be exact.
252
667854
2364
11:10
And we celebrated,
253
670242
1159
11:11
because we had learned to become great servers,
254
671425
3683
11:15
become great servers first.
255
675132
1737
11:16
But I gotta tell you this: these last few years,
256
676893
2322
11:20
as much as we had learned
257
680607
1620
11:22
to become great proactive police officers
258
682856
2947
11:25
and great relational police officers rather than reactive,
259
685827
3761
11:29
these last years have disappointed me.
260
689612
2065
11:32
They have broken my heart.
261
692710
1342
11:34
The uprising still hurts.
262
694644
1837
11:37
It still hurts my heart,
263
697584
1686
11:39
because truly I believe that it should've never happened.
264
699294
2982
11:43
I believe it should've never happened
265
703014
1793
11:44
if we were allowed to continue along the vein that we were in,
266
704831
2944
11:47
servicing our community,
267
707799
1680
11:49
treating them like human beings, treating them with respect,
268
709503
2936
11:52
loving on them first.
269
712463
1564
11:54
If we continued in that vein,
270
714670
2160
11:56
it would've never happened.
271
716854
1849
11:58
But somehow, we went back to business as usual.
272
718727
2576
12:01
But I'm excited again!
273
721956
1494
12:04
I'm excited again, because now we have a police commissioner
274
724164
3345
12:07
who not only talks about community policing,
275
727533
3441
12:11
but he absolutely understands it,
276
731800
2318
12:14
and more importantly, he embraces it.
277
734142
2072
12:16
So I'm very excited now.
278
736238
1719
12:17
Listen, I'm excited about Baltimore today,
279
737981
2949
12:20
because we, as many cities, I believe shall rise from the ashes.
280
740954
4249
12:25
I believe -- I truly believe --
281
745973
2889
12:28
(Applause)
282
748886
1022
12:29
that we will be great again.
283
749932
1778
12:32
I believe,
284
752639
1171
12:34
as we continue to wrap arms and continue to say,
285
754470
3071
12:37
"We're in this together,"
286
757565
1198
12:38
because it's not just an intersection:
287
758787
1843
12:40
once we meet, we now gotta get on the same path for the same goals,
288
760654
3634
12:44
and this city will become great again.
289
764312
2048
12:46
This nation will become great again.
290
766384
1961
12:48
Because we have the same goal: we all want peace.
291
768369
2419
12:50
We all want respect for one another.
292
770812
1734
12:52
We all want love.
293
772570
1150
12:53
And I believe we are back on that road,
294
773744
1892
12:55
and I'm so excited about it.
295
775660
1370
12:57
So listen, I thank you for giving me a few minutes of your time.
296
777054
3348
13:00
God bless you all.
297
780426
1230
13:01
(Applause)
298
781680
1001
13:02
God bless you.
299
782705
1151
13:03
(Applause)
300
783880
2421
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7