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