My first full-time job in Georgia was managing computer networks, servers, and desktop computers for the City of Alpharetta. There were no computers in Alpharetta police cars back then, but officers were required to enter reports into computers at headquarters.
I got to know dozens of officers while working for the city. Mostly they were bad with computers. The good news in that was that I could fix the problems they had easily. The bad news was that I was likely to have to come back and do it again the next day. Now to be fair, hardly anyone was good with computers back then, but I thought the boys I met had a harder time with technology than people in other departments.
I got to know ranking officers more than I did patrolmen because ranking officers spent more time at headquarters. There was a Captain who made a decision the police chief thought was a bad one. Rather than firing him, the chief demoted him to sergeant.
I don’t remember what the issue was or whether I had an opinion about it one way or another, but I was surprised that the officer stayed with the city after being demoted so severely. He explained to me there were two reasons he stayed. The first was that no one shoots at you in Alpharetta. He said he could go to work in Atlanta with some rank, but people shoot at you in Atlanta. The second reason was that he had one more year to finish a degree in Information Technology at Devry University and he then expected to find a job like mine.
The other thing I could tell you about police officers is that they like dogs. At least, everyone got happy when the K-9 officer would come in with his German Shepherd. And the dog liked police officers. He seemed to really enjoy the attention he got inside of headquarters.
Nowadays, I don’t have any contact with officers, but I started praying for the police every day when the Black Lives Matters movement got my attention. Honestly, I might not have thought to pray for the police otherwise. I pray for both the police and those who seek justice through the Black Lives Matters movement because I think it is the right thing to do.
I agree with my friend Josh Buck who said, “Christians are called to stand in solidarity with the police, while calling for institutional change. Christians are called to stand in solidarity with the oppressed, who lay under the fist of our militarized society. But, to stand only with those you know and those that lay within the bounds of your family or tribe–is often the *unchristian* thing to do.”
May God inspire those seeking justice through the Black Lives Matters movement. May officers see those they police as their brothers and sisters. Amen.
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