I can’t speak on behalf of the policemen of the entire nation. I can however speak from a liberal student’s perspective.

For one, I’m not black nor am I white. Secondly, before the Detroit Police Department was kind enough to let me take a third ride with them (midnight shift!), I had an astounding bias against them.

Let me give a more elaborate approach: As a Muslim, I too receive brutal biases from people, whether it’s from ignorant students or news media. The accusations and stereotypes are like constant clock work, only going backwards. It’s the world’s Great Plague of Misunderstanding.

I’d be a fool to believe the same ideas towards anyone else. So by 10:30 p.m. I embraced the East side of Detroit as I arrive to the Tenth Precinct on Livernois. From the outside the building gives off a muffled, quiet demeanor. Inside, there is a bustle of city employees, converting my impression suddenly when they come out with uniforms. I wait patiently for the shift to begin as they suit me up in a bulletproof vest.

I rode with two officers the first night. One of them was Officer Edwards, a policeman working for Detroit for two years. As I bring up the issue at large, he briefly commented, “What happens isn’t all racially motivated, but some is.”

Yet the growing demise against authority has now preyed on gun control. With recent events like the anniversary of the events in Ferguson, the policemen have now found themselves holding on to hot coal.

According to the 2010 U.S Census, the city of Detroit is 82% African American with 10% white and 8% listed as other. Based on a recent article, 62% of its police force is black with the Police Chief James Craig closely stating, “Detroit isn't Ferguson. We have a good relationship with the community, and I don't think race is a core issue.”

So here’s what I learned spending a couple evenings with the cops.

They aren’t all white.

The news has the whole world twisted into believing that in areas where the demographic is mostly black, then the police authorities must be...white! While that may be truthfully the case in some cities, it isn't in Detroit. I entered the doors of the Tenth Precinct with a mixture of different faces. I was greeted by even more and pretty soon, I made friends with some of them. It’s as if we have almost forgotten that they’re real human beings, some have cool personalities. Sure we get disgruntled from the overpriced tickets here and there, but I’ve noticed that they’ve sadly accepted their underappreciated efforts to society. If only we knew the stuff they had to deal with.

And you should see the stuff they deal with.

It wasn’t even two hours into the shift when we got a call of a stabbing in a home. There was blood everywhere in the house, an ambulance, and the arrest of a drunken man. Eventually his pants fell down. That same time in another precinct, four people were shot, one of them being fatal. Even before the shift started, unit cars with shotguns were immediately called over for help at a busy intersection. Their radios went on all night with calls. Shortly beforehand, I was conversing with the senior policewoman that night, Officer Ferguson. She has been with the Detroit Police Department for over 15 years and continues to proudly serve. I asked her briefly about the unwanted limelight.

“Whenever I walk into a place with my uniform on, it just breeds hatred,” she stated. “Even the car, nothing but hatred. Without it, I have no problem.”
Maybe this is why she also mentioned that off duty there is absolutely no mentioning of her job at home.

“When I’m home, that’s it. I’m just home. I don’t talk about work.”

This had me thinking. If she’s the good cop, then where are the bad cops?

Let’s peel off the racial issue for a moment and focus on the superiority complex.

There are bad and good cops of every color, as Officer Craig mentions in a published report; “The way you treat citizens and respond to calls for service is the way you build trust, regardless of the officer's race."

However there are the occasional exclusions, like Freddie Grey who was dead after the treatment authorities executed during his arrest. Cases like this occur with shallow evidence that laugh in the face of human empathy. Don’t be fooled by word dances officials may say to sway the public mind. However, this no less brings me to the next point:

Form your own opinion.

Everything I heard about cops, all the news, cartoons and donuts, Officer Edwards clearly settled at the beginning of my first ride.
“Don’t stereotype me.”

It’s completely unfair, this residual spread of ignorance. It’s the stereotypes’ support system. Like the Muslim terrorist, the black criminal, or the thieving Jew.

America can lay out all the cases evidence on the table, type out the confessions of the dead, and put someone behind bars.
The injustices that happen deserve to be known and fought for. There are silent ones that happen too, and the media ties their own hands to the steering wheel.

In the end, it’s up to you to do the research and come to your own analysis. You want to be asked about your motives behind gaining knowledge. You want to present real time experience amid all the commotion. Don’t falter from the truth, embrace it. And if no one believes you, they probably couldn’t handle it.