Reflections on Race and Racism with a Black Ex-Police Officer
Anthony Sturkey, a Black ex-officer from the Long Beach Police Department joins me on this Conversation on race to offer a realistic perspective on what’s happening today in the US regarding race, racism and law enforcement.
Key Topics:
- The fact that we now have cameras that document police brutality means that people see brutalization of Black people at the hands of law enforcement
- Racism in the police department is not new, is embedded in the system and is systemic
- The necessity and importance of Black Police Associations
- Anthony’s experience having to work alongside of another officer who was a KKK member
- Why he believes that it’s a fallacy that police departments don’t know about “bad cops” and racists
- His observations and opinion that that there are three types of Black police officers and what they do to survive
- How Anthony survived for ten years as a law enforcement officer until it was time for him to leave
- His thoughts on how the police academy programs new officers to just stand by and not intercede when they see brutality, and that people who would intercede are filtered out