We’d also be foolish not to recognize that demonizing the police—who are bringing hope in so many communities—has great dangers. We’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. And, coming from a public service family, it disgusts me. Yet, indeed, we do stand at a moment where there is a great danger the police will be demonized when they are, indeed, a key part of the solution. Only a fool thinks you cannot simultaneously support the police and listen to those who think they’ve been treated unfairly. That’s the kind of thinking that divides rather than brings reconciliation. We can support the police and talk about how to make policing better at the same time. 

My uncle was a New York City police officer. My grandfather was a battalion chief with the NYFD– and his brother was also a NYC cop. Those are some of their badges at the top of this article.

They were the Bannons, my mother’s side of the family, and a key part of my upbringing. Although my last name is Dutch, both sides of the family were decidedly Irish.

And the Irish loved and served the city—as officers and public servants.

They did so when it was not a good time to be a cop in New York City.

The 1970s

When I grew up in the NYC of the 1970s, it was a very different world than NYC today. As I wrote in Compelled,

In New York City, what many called the “liberal experiment” of American neosocialism was coming to an end—rapidly. The social spending had simply become too much. NYC was headed toward bankruptcy. President Ford didn’t want to help, leading to one of the most famous headlines of all time: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.”

And it was a bad time to be a police officer.

Former New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, explained:

“We have a history in this city, in the 70’s, of these sorts of assassinations of teams of police officers and we saw more coming down the pike…Actually, in 1972, there were 12 police officers killed.”

My grandfather would tell me (not using words I would repeat here) how the fire department would be ambushed using intentionally set fires and how they responded (it involved axes). My uncle would talk about the danger of the job when it felt like it was open season on police.

I remember. And I’m concerned.

Let’s Be Careful

We stand at a precarious moment.

Many African-American leaders are concerned about how they are treated by the police. A recent CNN poll shows a severe racial divide between how whites and non-whites view the police. More than half of white Americans (57%) say none or almost none of the police in their community are prejudiced against blacks. Only a quarter of non-white Americans feel the same way.

I’ve sought to listen to evangelical African-American pastors and leaders. In order to promote dialogue, I’ve hosted articles in the “It’s Time to Listen” series at Christianity Today and moderated the #ATimeToSpeak conversation last week from the National Civil Rights Museum.

I’m committed to racial reconciliation and to listening (and giving a platform to) evangelical African-American leaders—and we are not done building bridges.

Good police officers are doing the same—looking to build bridges with communities that feel marginalized. They know that we’d be foolish not to listen to good people who feel disconnected—and all you need is some basic math to see that there are some who do, indeed, feel that way. That number including the vast majority of persons of color, and a surprising-large percentage of whites.

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