That city has a very high black population and equally many black gun homicides. I have even helped the department tweet unsolved murders on my own accord, because I feel that police departments need as much help as they can get solving murders.
“Sure, I would do it again, but I would like to be a little better prepared for the fallout,” Magnus said Monday.
The police chief said he and about a half dozen other members of his command staff were at a community center when the protest began Dec. 9, and that a woman he was chatting with “on issues of the day” asked if he would hold the sign.
I looked at it for a minute and realized this is actually pretty innocuous,” Magnus said. “That 'black lives matter’ is something that I would think that we should all be able to agree upon. All lives matter.”
“I thought it was an important gesture of goodwill,” he added.
Not everyone agreed. The Richmond Police Officers Association said in a release that the chief was violating state law against politicking in uniform.
“It certainly wasn’t intended to be a political statement,” Magnus said, adding that he was not campaigning for any candidate or ballot measure.
“It was intended to be a humane statement,” Magnus said.
Still, he understands the reaction.
“I can understand how it is hard for a lot of police officers, especially given what has gone on in some the protests — the violence ... the anti-police sentiment,” Magnus said.
As for how the chief would have felt if one of his officers had held up a sign in support of Ferguson, Mo., police Officer Darren Wilson, who shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, triggering protests across the county?
“I would have been appalled. And I think there is a real difference,” Magnus said. “My statement was about building bridges. “A statement like support of Darren Wilson, especially under the circumstances, is incredibly divisive and I think inappropriate.”
Meanwhile, the reaction to Magnus’ sign waving, which gained nationwide attention, continues to roll in.
“The majority of what I have seen has been pretty positive and heartfelt,” he said, though “there certainly has been some critical reaction and I’m not surprised by that.”
Has he learned a lesson from the decision to hold the sign?
“I learned that three words can have an extremely powerful impact,” Magnus said. “I don’t think this is a movement or a situation that is going to disappear.”
KUDOS to Chief Magnus for at least caring about his community. The people of Richmond and even other cities should all work with their police departments. Listen to my podcast below on how cops and community must get along. When you work together, you progress together.
With Files from SF Gate
