- 1 week ago
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00:00Coming to the stage, our next moderator, you have seen him on the NBC show, Chicago PD,
00:17but he's also a big pillar in his community.
00:20Ladies and gentlemen, coming on up, please welcome LaRoyce Hawkins.
00:24Yeah, yeah, how we doing? How we doing? Come on, that's it. Y'all can do better than that.
00:33Act like there's more than 14 people in here.
00:37Yeah, what's up, DJ? Appreciate you, appreciate you.
00:41Now, naturally, I appreciate all that love.
00:43Y'all might watch me every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on NBC, and I do my best to be the cop that the streets can look up to.
00:52However, these two gentlemen I'm about to introduce right now, they face the daily threats and challenges of the actual streets,
01:00and I'm very, very excited to talk to these people.
01:02So let's make some noise right now, let's make some noise already.
01:06For Sergeant Don Career of Orleans Parish, Sheriff's Office, and Chief Jason P. Armstrong.
01:15Y'all, let's cop it up for both of them right now.
01:18Hey, LaRoyce, it's his birthday.
01:22Okay, everybody, we can put Sarge a happy birthday real quick before we get into it.
01:30One, two, three.
01:32Happy birthday to Sarge.
01:36That's all he's going to get right now.
01:37That's all we got time for.
01:38I apologize.
01:39We only got 30 minutes.
01:41This is the pilot panel.
01:42I'm extremely excited to have this conversation with y'all.
01:46Thank y'all for giving us your time.
01:49Now, every day I wake up early in the morning in Chicago, and I'm on this job, right?
01:57I got this gig.
01:58And my job is to act.
02:01However, I do my best to make sure that when I go to work, I'm intentional about doing more than just acting.
02:07I got to add balance, right?
02:10And so as brothers on the force and as pillars of the community, what kind of balance do you do your best to bring every day?
02:22And at what point, and you can answer, actually, let's answer that first question first.
02:26Because we know as brothers, man, in this blue world, to find that balance between the black and the blue can be difficult.
02:34So Sarge, since it's your birthday, if you don't mind going first.
02:38Yeah, I think that between being blue and black is a hard thing to deal with because when you're out in the streets amongst the community with your uniform on, you are a law enforcement officer.
02:50But as soon as you take it off, you're just another black man walking the streets like everybody else.
02:55Because when I have my uniform on anywhere else or walking the streets, I get, hey, how you doing?
03:01Or good morning.
03:02Or can I buy you coffee?
03:03Or this, that, and the other.
03:04But when I'm in my civilian clothes, you just, hey, you're just another guy working the street.
03:10And I think you need to realize that as a black man in law enforcement, that no matter what happens, we go in thinking all police should have our back, in which they do.
03:23So it's just a kind of 50-50 shot on, you know, how do we look at life, I guess.
03:30In the words, I think, you know, the key word that you used was intentional.
03:34And I know for me that's a key word in how I approach my job and the profession.
03:39And the thing, you know, that I tell people is, you know, although I'm a police chief, you know, I haven't been a police chief my whole life, but I've been a black man my whole life.
03:46And so, you know, my title doesn't define who I am or how important I am or any of those things.
03:53It's not Chief Armstrong that makes the man.
03:55It's Jason Armstrong that fuels Chief Armstrong.
03:57And that's what I try to bring to the profession every day to make sure that I'm having the impact that I'm trying to have.
04:02I love that.
04:03And one of the words that you use, obviously, because, you know, as we grow within our jobs, titles.
04:10We get these titles and we want to grow into these titles.
04:15I know right now, Officer Atwater would love to be a detective by the intercedes of Ted, hopefully.
04:19But that title, that title has nothing to do that much with the task, right?
04:24So every day there's a task at hand and we got to do our best to bring balance.
04:28And I think that you brothers are doing a great job.
04:31If I could stay with you, Chief, from what I understand, you know, your history,
04:36you've been a big part of history, right?
04:41As you've had the task in Ferguson around the time of Mike Brown, God bless his soul, and those families.
04:49You know what I'm saying?
04:49You've had the task of having to deal with some tumultuous situations.
04:54Can you talk to us about how that influence, especially as a black man, has affected your career thereafter?
05:00I think the biggest thing for me is it put me in unique opportunities and spaces to where I could have experiences
05:08that a lot of other law enforcement officers, especially police chiefs, you know, have had,
05:13where, you know, we talk about, you know, how do we build bridges, how do we build relationships with the community?
05:20And oftentimes, man, that's a challenging walk.
05:24And what I've found from a lot of police leaders is, you know, man, they are hesitant to get outside their comfort zone.
05:32And that's a barrier to being in the places that we need to be in or meeting people where we need to meet them.
05:37You know, after George Floyd got killed, you know, all hell broke loose in Ferguson.
05:42They tried to burn down the police department while I was still in it.
05:45And so, you know, that was the level of conflict that we were dealing with.
05:48And just a few months later, we had Mike Brown anniversary coming up again that year on August 9th.
05:53And I remember, you know, I made a decision that I wasn't going to go to the memorial service
05:56because of how contentious the relationships were.
05:59But I got a letter from Mike Brown Sr. asking me to be one of the speakers at the memorial service that year.
06:05And the message in the letter that I got was, you know, we like what we see from you
06:09and what you're trying to do in a community.
06:11And this could be something that could be impactful for the nation to see that you could go through such a tumultuous time,
06:16but we can stand united because we're all trying to achieve the same thing, man.
06:19We want better for our communities. We want better for our people.
06:21And so how could I turn that down?
06:23So it was a space that I didn't plan on going to, but now I had to show up and I had to be present.
06:28And it was one of the best experiences that I experienced.
06:31But I wouldn't have gone if I so wouldn't have been called to the carpet to have to go.
06:35And that's what we need to see from our leaders across the country in this profession
06:38is just that level of courage to step into the places where we're uncomfortable stepping into at times.
06:45Sarge, I would love to talk to you a little bit too about that uncomfortability
06:48because there's no question.
06:49Every time a black body is taken or slain by police brutality or anything that involves law enforcement,
06:59that affects us as a culture.
07:02That affects the little kids who grow up and have to live with the fact that the color of their skin
07:11might determine the way a police officer has to deal with them.
07:14What's interesting is my son, he's five years old, right?
07:18He loves playing cops and robbers.
07:22But there's an idea that he has, even when he tells people that his dad is on Chicago PD,
07:27he likes to say, my dad's a cop and he kills people.
07:29And it's almost cute and funny until you think about the conditioning at a young age, right?
07:36And I would love to reimagine that one day he'll say, my dad's a cop and he saves lives.
07:43And so, Sarge, how do you see us?
07:46Do you feel like we're on our way to be able to reimagine policing eventually?
07:51Yeah, I think that we need to first get officer-friendly back in the school systems as young
07:58so they won't be afraid of police officers.
08:01And one of my biggest pet peeves when I'm working is when a mother or father tells their child,
08:07oh, there's the police, he's going to come arrest you if you're bad.
08:09It's like, oh, don't say that.
08:11Look, tell them we're here to help.
08:12That's why I try to go high five or take a picture with me
08:16so they can feel comfortable around police officers, especially in a minority community.
08:21They need to see more blacks, brown people in uniform that look like them
08:26or, you know, like from here, sound like them, talk like them.
08:31And I just think we need to bring that community schooling policing back
08:35so the kids, you know, as they get older, won't be afraid of police officers.
08:41I don't disagree with that.
08:42I think that familiarity, you know, is extremely important.
08:46And I was talking to you a little bit in the back, Chief,
08:49about some of the things that you do, right, to just to not just maintain your blackness
08:54within the culture but for the culture to feel invited,
08:57for the culture to recognize you as one of them even when you're doing your job.
09:01So can you talk to us about the textures that you had, right,
09:05sometimes it's in the shoes, sometimes it's the fits, you know what I mean?
09:08Talk to us about that.
09:10Yeah, you know, I think for me one thing, you know, unique about my situation is,
09:14yes, I'm a police chief and I'm a young police chief.
09:18And so, you know, it normally takes a lot longer to get to this level.
09:20And so with that and with the title comes, you know,
09:24expectation that I'm supposed to look a certain way all the time.
09:27So I'm supposed to dress a certain way and all these other things.
09:29And that's just not me.
09:31You know, if the notice I got up here today wasn't business casual, man,
09:36my wife will tell you, man, I had some J's packed and that's what I was going to wear out here
09:39because that's what I'm most comfortable in.
09:41And so it's being intentional about showing people and setting the example
09:44that, you know, the stereotypes that you see and that are pushed on us oftentimes,
09:49you know, there are outliers to that.
09:51And yes, I'm a black male.
09:53You know, if you see me in my regular clothes, I might have some J's on.
09:55I probably have a hoodie on.
09:56I wear earrings.
09:57But I'm still a police chief.
09:59I still have a mask.
10:00I still have all of these things that come along with me.
10:03And I'm really good at my job.
10:06And showing that to young people that you can be who you are.
10:09You can dress how you want to dress.
10:10You can look how you want to look.
10:11And on the flip side, with me being inside the profession is kind of modeling that, you
10:17know, for the officers that I work with and showing them different things that, you know,
10:20you can have people that look like this and we don't have to be so quick to tag or label
10:24them because I'm a prime example of, you know, man, you don't have to dress a certain way
10:29or look a certain way to be treated a certain way.
10:31And I tell people all the time, man, you know, it doesn't matter if we're talking to a part
10:35of our unhoused community or if I'm talking to the richest person in town, you know, when
10:39I see my officers interacting with those individuals, you better talk to them the same way with the
10:42same level of respect because each one of them have value.
10:45And that's what we have to get, you know, more momentum behind is really highlighting the
10:50value that all people bring and not the stereotypes that we put on them.
10:53I love that.
10:55Sarge, you got anything that you want to say to it?
10:57Because he's talking about these mics that he got.
10:59You know what I'm saying?
11:00I mean, I've noticed you out here with the no-shows.
11:04How would you pull up, Sarge?
11:07Probably dress like this.
11:09I just, well, I probably have one pair of Jordans, I think.
11:13I think my wife probably bought them for me.
11:16So I'm more, yeah, I'm more of a style like this, I guess, with the dress shoes, the Kohans.
11:22Nah, nah, I get it.
11:24Listen, we got to connect to all of them.
11:26I'm a big Kohan fan myself.
11:28I don't know if anybody saw episode 19, Fools Go to Chicago PD.
11:34But notice I cleared that powerful mantle with the cool grades on, Chief.
11:38You would have been proud.
11:40You would have been proud.
11:40But I was off duty in the Gold Coast, I didn't know.
11:44You know what I'm saying?
11:44If I could have changed my shoes into the Air Maxes, I would have.
11:48Naturally, we got to be comfortable.
11:50How's everybody doing out there?
11:51We good?
11:52Because I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but, you know, this is a conversation for us all.
11:56And if y'all got questions for anything, or, you know, we can break down that fourth wall if that's okay with y'all.
12:02Because, Art, it looks like you might have something that you, you got anything, Art?
12:05Yeah.
12:07You mentioned working with kids in school.
12:11How do we get young African-American males and musicians to become more and more comfortable with, you know,
12:17the folks who say, hey, come on, please, I'm a couple.
12:20I don't see these things, so I can heal with a blue light.
12:23How can we, you know, that everyday interaction where our young men aren't afraid?
12:27Yeah, that's a good question, by the way.
12:32But I think we need to make it fun for kids, whatever that may look like.
12:36Everything is on the phone.
12:38Everything's, I guess, a video game now.
12:40That's what kids want to do is play video games.
12:42You know, when the fire department pulls up, what kids want to do?
12:47Jump on the fire truck.
12:49When the police pull up, I just saw something on Facebook.
12:52These little kids were in a little Tyco truck.
12:54You saw that?
12:54And they pulled up, and two little kids, man, might have been five or six, hop out and start running.
12:58I was like, jeez.
13:00So maybe one thing we could do is have police officers go in communities and not ride-alongs,
13:07but show the kids the lights and the sirens and the different functions of the police vehicle the same way they do it with the fire trucks.
13:14So one thing that I think is important in this, and we all know the history, you know, that the minority community has with law enforcement.
13:22And so with that history comes a lot of stories, and it comes a lot of baggage, and it comes a lot of trauma.
13:29And what my experiences have been is as adults, you know, we share those trauma stories with our children and with our young ones.
13:37And so, man, my negative experiences are now, man, pushed down on them.
13:41And if they don't get an opportunity to see anything differently, then they're stuck with those.
13:46You know, I would teach a curriculum called Law in Your Community,
13:48and I particularly would go into minority communities to teach this curriculum.
13:53And so I would always start off, I would ask a question, raise your hand if you hate the police.
13:57And without, every time I did it, 80, 90% of the hands in the room would go up.
14:01My follow-up question would be, keep your hands raised if you hate the police because of a direct contact that you had with them.
14:09And about half the hands would always go down.
14:11And so a lot of the people that have such a negative outlook on us, you know, haven't had a direct experience,
14:18but it's lived trauma through somebody else or what they saw on social media or, you know,
14:22some of the young black males that we've seen killed by the police.
14:24And so we have to start changing that narrative.
14:26And that responsibility is on all of us.
14:29And what I always encourage people to do, you know, black fathers, get your black sons up,
14:34get your black daughters up, take them to the police department,
14:37take them to the police station so they can meet some of these officers and get to know them.
14:40Because it's a much different response from an officer when you walk up to a car
14:45and the kid or the young person behind that steering wheel is just scared to death
14:49because they've been pulled over and they've been stopped.
14:51But, man, what does that interaction look like when that kid looks up and says,
14:55Hey, man, you're such and such, you know, I met you here or I saw you here, saw you there.
14:59Everybody's tensions come down.
15:01And that's what we have to do.
15:02The more interactions that we can create that's not enforcement related
15:06but where we can get, you know, to relate to one another,
15:09when we're in those enforcement moments, man, we can see the tensions start to come down.
15:13And then that's how we see better results at the end of those encounters.
15:16And that's what we have to get to.
15:18That's strong.
15:19That's strong stuff.
15:20And I appreciate that question, all right?
15:21Because I think, because as I'm listening to y'all, I'm thinking about my own experience
15:27and I'm thinking about the culture's experience.
15:29I'm from Harvey, Illinois, and I come from a place where we don't respect the police officer first.
15:37You know what I'm saying?
15:37They're probably big homies on the block or the athlete or, you know what I'm saying,
15:41so many people that you would defer your respect to even before a police officer.
15:47And I have my personal reasons.
15:49Now, the culture also has its personal reasons as to why we think historically
15:54why the occupation of policing was invented.
15:59Do we believe that at a certain point we're going to have to thoroughly
16:06and transparently unpack that history?
16:10Imagine if we unpack that history in the police academies as we were training officers
16:15or even if we were transparent about that history in high school, grammar schools,
16:20you know what I'm saying, as we know that, that's a part of our history that we have to unlearn.
16:25Do we believe that to be true or no?
16:28Absolutely.
16:28And there are a lot of us around the country that are working on those efforts.
16:32And so, you know, with me going to Ferguson, you know, Ferguson was under a consent decree.
16:38And for those who don't know what that is, it's an agreement with the Department of Justice
16:42that your police department has to go through all of these reform efforts.
16:46And so that very much is my walk in the profession.
16:49You know, I'm known as one of the younger generation, more different, newer generation of law enforcement leaders
16:55that's more reform-minded and trying to change things.
16:57And so just recently, you know, I'm reviewing our community policing program at my department,
17:03and that was one of the things when I reviewed it, I'm like,
17:05okay, man, we need to put in the history of slave patrols in our curriculum.
17:08So officers are getting that information and learning that stuff
17:12so they have a better understanding of where people are coming from.
17:16You know, historically in our profession, when you talk about the origin of law enforcement,
17:20you know, most police scholars talk about Sir Robert Peel
17:22and the principles of policing that he installed.
17:26And the police is the community, the community is the police.
17:28And so a lot of the classes that I went to coming up early in my career 20 years ago,
17:32that's all we talked about.
17:33Like, all right, man, when you go talk to people in the black community,
17:35they're not talking about Sir Robert Peel, they don't know who the hell he is, okay?
17:39They're talking about these slave patrols and how these were installed
17:42and people were given power and authority to go get the runaway slaves.
17:45And so for a lot of black people, man, that is the origins of policing for them.
17:49All right, man, we got to talk about that.
17:50And just like I said, man, we got to unpack that thing.
17:52And the more opportunities we're able to talk about that and add context to it
17:56and bring different people into the fold to address it, you know,
18:00you start pulling away those layers of understanding.
18:02And that's what we have to get to.
18:04And that's what a lot of us are trying to work on right now.
18:08Powerful.
18:10Sarge, did you want to piggyback?
18:12Because he did a good job at that, right?
18:14He did.
18:14He did a great job.
18:15I'm sitting here like, okay, what I want to say.
18:17No, but I think it is education.
18:20It's education in the schools.
18:23It's education in law enforcement.
18:25It's education in the political side of things.
18:28I think it's across the board.
18:30If they know, then it might be different.
18:33It might be different if they know, if they were taught, if they learn it.
18:37So I just think education is the key to go across the board as far as policing.
18:41Across the board.
18:41I think it's definitely important for us to make informed decisions more than anything.
18:46I know I made the informed decision to take on this role, right, as Officer Atwater because
18:52I understood how important that look would be for my community.
18:56Somebody from Harvey being able to have the opportunity to tell narratives that bridge
19:00gaps, right, of misunderstanding.
19:03Like you said, those layers of understanding have to be pulled back eventually.
19:07I feel like I saw your hand go up in my peripherals.
19:10Let's clap it up for the young lady she's about to answer.
19:12What's your name?
19:14Ty.
19:14Ty Brown.
19:15Ty Brown, did you have a question for us?
19:17So my question revolves around political corruption and leadership levels that infringe
19:23someone who doesn't believe in your job.
19:24Where you are the floor face of the people speak, your hands wind up being tied when that
19:29corruption moves to such a high level and you wind up subscribing to blue code over black
19:33code.
19:33How are you able to properly protect people when the leadership is so corrupt and then you
19:43want to subscribe to that and you're now in the middle when the people need something more
19:47than what they're allowed to receive because of corruption?
19:50You was watching season eight episode two, didn't you?
19:53Yeah, great question.
19:54Hi, but we come from Maryland, so I'm sure you're familiar with me on the city.
19:59And seeing what we've been going through in certain jurisdictions when it reaches up so high.
20:06I'll just say this real quick.
20:08I'm going to let him answer that since he's the chief.
20:13And you bring up a great point.
20:15And at the end of the day, it comes down to who you are as a person and what morals you
20:22bring to the position that you hold.
20:24OK, when I took the job in Ferguson and I went there as the police chief, I was very
20:30intentional about the mentality that I went there with where, you know, that was looked
20:35at as one of the toughest police chief jobs in the country because everything that the
20:39community had gone through.
20:40But we talked about it earlier, you know, about, man, Chief Armstrong is not a real person.
20:46Jason Armstrong is the real person.
20:48And at the end of the day, one thing that is heavy on me and important to me, that no
20:53matter decisions that I have to make throughout the day, I have to be able to walk through
20:56the door of my home and face my wife and face my kids and be proud of the person that they're
21:01looking at because they look at me to be the leader of our family.
21:04And so my first police chief job, I was an interim police chief.
21:09And that's when I got my first taste of exactly what you're talking about.
21:12I had elected officials calling me, I want to see this, I want to see that.
21:15And I'm like, I'm not doing none of that stuff, like, I can't do that.
21:18And I told my wife, I said, babe, I need you to start thinking about how you're going to
21:21support me on this because this isn't going to end well for me.
21:23And she's sitting right there and she can attest to it, it didn't end well for me.
21:28But I could come home and if the reason that I don't get a job or the reason I don't
21:31keep a job is because I'm doing the right things, I can stand on that and I know God is going
21:35to protect me on that because I did what I was supposed to do.
21:39And so that's not everybody's walk.
21:42And because I have the backing that I have and experiences that I have in this profession
21:47and I've seen some things that a lot of people have never seen and I've had to walk in situations
21:52that they haven't had to walk in.
21:53So that gives me kind of a hedge of protection because I can tell people that I'm not going
21:58to do this because I recognize I'm the talent in the room.
22:01I'm the subject matter expert in this profession.
22:03And no elected official can tell me more about my job than I know about my job.
22:07And so I stand on that.
22:09But that is a significant challenge for a lot of places.
22:11You talk about we own the city.
22:13So the commissioner up there, Michael Harrison, is who the commissioner in Baltimore is right
22:17now.
22:18And me and Harrison, we know each other because we're both under consent decrees.
22:21And before that show came out, he put out a video message talking about all the reforms
22:26and all the changes that Baltimore is undergoing, you know, just trying to get the message and
22:30the information out to the people that what you're going to see in this show is not the
22:34Baltimore PDA of today.
22:36And that's, you know, that's really where we have to go in.
22:39And we have to have courageous leaders, you know, that are willing to do that.
22:44But we also have to have people in the community that are willing to stand up to the elected
22:48officials that go down that path, especially when the information is pretty evident for
22:52everybody to see.
22:54You know, it's not just one person standing up to that.
22:56But when a community stands up against it, that's when you see real change.
22:59And that's how you have to address that.
23:01The chief that you're talking about, Harrison, is actually used to be our police chief.
23:05He came from New Orleans.
23:06He came from New Orleans and went up there.
23:07So.
23:09Now, that was a beautiful question.
23:10And I appreciate you putting us in that pocket because that's great.
23:14I'm listening to you and I'm reminded of some lines that I know Atwater had to say once.
23:19No, honestly, where he's like, it's harder to do the job when you want to do it the right way.
23:26And I think that statement can reflect almost any job and occupation.
23:33As a, you know, being a cop, you know, you're faced with so many more tough decisions at a split
23:39second, you have to make decisions that affect lives, your life.
23:43It could be life or death.
23:45But if you walk with an integrity and with a character already, so that no matter what
23:51situation happens, you know what I'm saying, your energy is always going to be the boss.
23:55If you're conditioned to do the right thing, I think the right thing can come out.
23:59And sometimes we get fried for those, for those moments.
24:02But, you know, we'll be back.
24:05Absolutely.
24:06And one thing that's important and, you know, advice that I give to younger officers just
24:11getting into profession because a lot of them come into the profession with an idea that
24:15I want to do this, I want to be impactful here, here, here, and there.
24:19But, man, that's a process and that's a journey.
24:21And a big part of it is frustration sets in because when you come in, you know, you want
24:25to be able to just jump into doing these things right here and what your passion is.
24:29But that may not be the mission at the time of that police department, that organization.
24:33And so, I mean, you have to find your lane and where you can get into those spaces and
24:36do some of those things.
24:38And sometimes, and this is the part that people don't want to hear, sometimes, man, you got
24:41to go do it on your own.
24:42And you know what?
24:43Sometimes you got to do it when you're not on the clock.
24:45You know, how much stuff do I do on a Saturday morning when I'm going up to, I see, you know,
24:49barbershop, I'm going to barbershop rap sessions.
24:51I'm not getting paid to do that.
24:52I'm not getting paid to show up.
24:53But I understand the importance of my voice being in that room and being in that space.
24:56And, you know, that's, if you are committed to being a part of the change that we want
25:02to see, those are some of the things that you got to take on until, you know, those
25:05opportunities present themselves for you to now be in a position to really, really, you
25:09know, put your thumbprint on the change that you're trying to see.
25:13And it's just, you know, we have to get people to understand the process and the patience that
25:18goes into getting to where you want to get to if you're truly in it for that reason.
25:22And, you know, we talk about all the time, like, man, what is your end game and what
25:26is the end goal?
25:26Like, that's what I want.
25:27What is your end game?
25:28You tell me what your end game is and I can tell you how to navigate to get to it.
25:31And that's, you know, that's the realization that people have to have coming into the profession
25:36that want to see the change.
25:38That's powerful.
25:39That's powerful.
25:40Yes, sir.
25:42Hi.
25:43Good afternoon.
25:43What role do you think the media plays in sort of how we shape narrative around law enforcement?
25:52I think that it's safe to say the results of Ferguson and George Floyd have made your
25:58job increasingly harder by the simple fact that every time you show up, there's tons of
26:02people with camera phones in your face, right?
26:04So how has that changed the law enforcement landscape?
26:08It's been a game changer and there's pros and cons to it.
26:17You know, I don't have an adversarial relationship with the media.
26:21You know, I do tons of media and there is a partnership.
26:26Like, I understand what their role is in this.
26:29And so their role is to get viewers and to get clicks.
26:32And so I understand how they're going to present information at times.
26:35And if I have a problem with it, then all right, man, I know who I can follow up with
26:38to talk to.
26:40And, you know, let's hash this out and let's have those conversations.
26:43But there's a mutual respect that comes with it.
26:46And I know some great media people, some that I've met just doing interviews have become,
26:51you know, personal friends of mine.
26:53Some I never talk to again because they're full of crap.
26:56And it's just understanding, you know, the balance and understanding, you know, what their
27:01goal and objective is.
27:02And if we can talk about that and we can have that conversation like, all right, man, what
27:05are you trying to get out of this story, okay?
27:07I can tell you what I'm trying to get out of it, man.
27:09I'm trying not to have the city burned down or protests or rioting and any of that other
27:14stuff.
27:15Let's work together so we can both benefit from this.
27:17And if you have that mutual respect, a lot of times they're willing to work with you.
27:21But, you know, we live in an endless 24-7 news cycle, social media and everything else.
27:26And it's, you know, we can't keep up with it.
27:30And that's going to continue to be the, you know, the narrative.
27:33That's why, you know, I always challenge people to, you know, get involved and have those
27:37communications so we can keep the dialogue going.
27:39Yeah, I think for the media side of it and for individuals who have their camera phones,
27:45you know, I'll say that, you know, there's been situations where I've been on a scene
27:51or something has happened and, you know, people get that 10-second, 15-second of me maybe losing
27:59it just a little bit but pulling it right back.
28:02But you don't see everything else that happened before that.
28:05You don't see the person in your face sometimes calling you words you don't want to hear or
28:11hit you in the back or whatever it is.
28:14So I think sometimes we've got to be careful of how we view things on TV, on Facebook,
28:19on social media pages.
28:21So, and also, just so you all know, that was my brother who answered that question.
28:25So.
28:26Oh, DJ has a question.
28:28Copy that.
28:28Copy that.
28:29That was a good question.
28:30That was a good question.
28:32I could beat that question.
28:34Any parents here this afternoon?
28:38Okay.
28:39This question may not or may have already been asked in a different way, but how, because
28:44I've seen a video recently and maybe as within 24 hours, what would you say to people that
28:50playfully or unknowingly can possibly incriminate themselves from posting things that seem normal
28:57but down the road, what we see with entertainers and with cases out of Atlanta to where some
29:05things are real, some things are not, but it's all about perception.
29:07To parents of little kids that play with, because the video I saw yesterday was a water
29:12gun, but it was rap lyrics.
29:15It was the song teated and it's got, little boy couldn't have been more than four or five.
29:18But as they grow older and they get into these teenage years and high school years, what
29:23are the downfalls or what should they worry about as parents to be mindful of the borderline
29:29between playful and do this enough?
29:33And they'll see a pattern to where you can be affiliated or associated with this activity,
29:38whether it's showing a gun, showing money, showing playful criminal activity.
29:43What do you tell the parents?
29:44Because if we're 80's babies or anybody in the 80's or 90's, we didn't experience that
29:49showing the proof of if we had anything negative going on in our lives.
29:54What do you tell the parents to make sure to look out for with their kids who are on the
29:59borderline of putting themselves in trouble and they have no idea that they're doing so?
30:02You have to stay in your kids' business and no matter how unfair they think that is or
30:10you're infringing on those rights, as long as they're mine and they're in your household,
30:13they ain't got no damn rights.
30:14And so do with them as you see fit because what he's saying is 100% right.
30:20Whenever we have an incident happen or a case and we got to investigate something, social
30:25media is the best place for us to go and look at everything that is going on with that individual.
30:31And so all the pictures with guns, all the pictures with the money, that's all the stuff
30:35that we're going to use against them in that situation.
30:40And the unfortunate part is just the momentum that it gets and it becomes the end thing.
30:45One of the worst things that I've seen in my career, 14-year-old who got his hands on
30:50a gun and he would get on Instagram Live and just play with the gun in front of his friends.
30:55So they thought it was the coolest thing in the world and one day he's playing with that
30:59gun and all his friends are watching on Instagram Live and the gun goes off and he shoots and
31:03kills himself in front of all of his friends.
31:05And so now all of those kids have to live with that trauma for the rest of their lives of seeing
31:08him, you know, kill himself like that.
31:11And so it was up until that moment, it was all fun and games.
31:15It was all cool.
31:16It was the hip thing to do.
31:17And then now, you know, man, a tragedy on the other end of it.
31:20And it's unfortunate that we have examples like that, but we have to use those examples
31:24to kind of get our point across, to get the messaging across of how impactful it can be
31:29and just, you know, the negatives that come from it.
31:32And, you know, trying to be cool and being in, I get it, but as parents, you know, we have
31:37to protect our kids and our children from the things that they don't know.
31:40And that's one of the things that we definitely need to harp on them and stay on them about.
31:45That's powerful.
31:45Can we clap it up for these officers real quick?
31:48I know we got hands raised, and I know we, as we do our best to bring this powerful panel
31:55to a close, I think there are some questions that we might be able to answer, you know,
32:00as we fellowship with the people on our way down.
32:03But there was one thing that I did want to share with us.
32:07I wanted to share with us as I'm listening to our conversation.
32:10I think I discovered some very, very good things.
32:12And I imagine if Atwater was on a similar panel, and somebody asked Atwater certain questions
32:20about how he felt, you know, I think Atwater would say something like this.
32:25Watch this.
32:28Yes, ma'am.
32:29When I bought the building.
32:32She said, she said, why did Atwater feel like he had to lie to the teacher about what he did
32:47for a living?
32:49Watch this.
32:50I'm going to answer it with this brief piece.
32:54And that's a beautiful question, Ms. Career.
32:55Atwater would say this, to the honeys and the money, either way we save them.
33:06Undercover care of mode, 50-21 David.
33:09Copy that.
33:11Shots fired in the basement.
33:14Burgers running out the back.
33:16White women making statements.
33:18But black mothers make arrangements.
33:20The blue lights make them all famous.
33:25I pray that we can trade places.
33:27Every night I close my eyes, I see the same faces, and I can't erase them.
33:31But if he did it, I'll die for you.
33:34Tell me the truth, and I'll lie for you.
33:37Cross my heart, and I'll cry for you.
33:39But let the record show that I tried for you.
33:42Cross my heart, and I'll cry.
33:43But let the record show that I tried.
33:46DJ Rob, you got to take us out on that.
33:47You got to take us out on that, DJ Rob.
33:49That was awesome.
33:50Thank y'all.
33:51Thank y'all.
33:52Well, it's a group thing, a group thing.
33:56We're moving on, keeping strong.
33:59Don't you let them steer you wrong.
34:01It's a way.
34:05Give it up for our panelists.
34:06We're gonna give you what you want.
34:08It's too long as you're coming.
34:10Check them out.
34:11Chicago PD.
34:12I'm going to take you.
34:14The Royce Hawkins.
34:15We're moving on, keeping strong.
34:17Don't you let them steer you wrong.
34:20It's a group.
34:21Coming up next, we got a very special panel.
34:24We're gonna give you.
34:25We're gonna bring our panelists to the club.
34:27So long as you're around.
34:29Make sure to meet us over there.
34:32Come take some pictures, y'all.
34:34Let's go.
34:38Let your mind.
34:41Let your mind rest, my friend, and do it.
34:45Remember, it ain't over.
34:47It's really over.
34:50I do bang, bang.
34:52Relax your mind.
34:55Listen to the rhythm.
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