Marq Claxton, a retired NYPD police detective, gave an impassioned reason for the reaction to black men getting killed by cops. He is tired of prefacing every critique about the police that states most are good.
Retired police detective Marq Claxton slams lionization of police
Retired police detective Marq Claxton did something long overdue. He criticized the undue lionization of police when talking about the slaying of black men.
The host pointed out that the sister of the Tulsa, OK black man killed by the police officer said that not even a terrorist got killed like her brother did. Claxton noted that there is a dismissal of black lives.
“When you think about it,” Claxton said. “You have to believe that time and time again you have black folk, unarmed black folk many times, sometimes armed black folk possibly, who are committing basically suicide by police; who are engaging in a course of conduct that is so abhorrent and abnormal that they are placing themselves at the mercy of a police force. And that just can’t be the case. Instead of us looking and examining the realities in certain communities by certain police officers and police agencies, we choose to be dismissive of concerns of people. And that is where you find that the frustration is beginning to boil over. But you can’t dismiss the reality of a history and a legacy of police violence toward black people. There is no way to dismiss that. It is time to now address it affirmatively.”
The host attempted to talk to pressure on police officers. The retired detective pushed back.
“First of all, I have a huge problem with some of the genuflexion that goes on towards police,” Marq Claxton said. “It is time for us to stop this thing about lionizing police. And I am talking as from a professional police officer, retired now for several years. I was a volunteer. I wasn’t a victim. I was a volunteer. I knew what my responsibilities were. I knew what the job required. I knew that there would be difficult times. I knew I was faced with extremely dangerous positions. I knew there was a possibility that perhaps I would not make it home to my family at times. But I volunteered for that because I felt that I could perform and do that job in a certain way. And I upheld those professional standards throughout my career. I think it’s time for us to stop providing excuses and stop providing the disclaimer even when you criticize the police by saying ninety percent of police do a great job. These things are a given. It is time for us to really address the issues that concern a large segment of our society without having to lionize and bow down before police officers. These are volunteers and not victims, nd they should be held to high professional standards. And it is time this country, this government does just that.”
Well said. We need more police officers to get out and speak in this manner.