I had reservations about writing this blog post before I mustered up the courage to go ahead and do it. A lot has been witnessed throughout this anomalous year in regards to police brutality. Many deaths, protests and riots have overshadowed even a catastrophic pandemic, which still rages on and continues to kill people. While the black community continues to struggle with our unfair treatment by those that are supposed to protect us, I have borne witness to a couple of examples of police actually helpling. They were so foreign to me that I was motivated to write about them. To put them into a place of permanence before I forget about them. Because I may never see these positive examples ever again.
A few days ago, I ran out of a gas only seconds after pulling out of my driveway and onto the highway. Granted, the gas gauge on my Xterra doesn’t work anymore, but my wife and I have learned how to predict the mileage fairly accurately, especially from a full tank. When I arrived home the night before, I knew good and well that I was probably running on fumes. But, as all humans do at some point, I tested the limits of the Universe. I just figured that I would be allowed to make it to the gas station the next morning. Well the Universe, in its limitless hilarity thought otherwise.
The engine died and I coasted to the side of the road, cursing myself as I did so. Why we don’t keep a filled gas can in the back is beyond my understanding. I was forced to call for help. After a texted reply that help would be arriving soon, I hit the hazard lights and settled in the driver’s seat to await my rescue. Cars whizzed past my on the highway, periodically rocking my stranded vehicle. Dusk quickly turned into night, making the rural highway dark and menacing. I scrolled through social media and played a few levels in a mobile game as crickets began to chirp all around me. I looked into the rear view mirror to see a car pulling up behind me. Assuming it was my wife with the gas, I opened the door to get out. I closed it immediately after noticing a police officer walking towards me. The lights were not flashing on his patrol car, so I had no idea. He walked up to the passenger window. I rolled it down as he asked, “Hey, are you alright?”
As he asked me this, my wife was pulling up on the other side of the road. My nervousness turned into great relief as I pointed and said, “Yes, there’s my gas right there.”
“Oh ok, I saw you here and was just checking that were ok,” the officer said.
“Yeah, I’m good. Thank you.”
And with that, he walked back to his vehicle and drove away. I don’t know what would have happened if my help had not arrived at the same time the officer did. Probably nothing, but my heart was racing and my voice was a little shaky for a few minutes after. He was white, but he was actually trying to assist me. It’s a shame that the current state of society caused me to assume the worst.
The second instance of police coming to the assistance of black people was not my own experience, but one I saw while driving home about a week ago. We were on the way back from picking up a few items from the store. In the median area of the highway, there sat a SUV with a few people trying hard to secure a mattress to the roof of the vehicle. As we got closer, I noticed a police car behind them and to my utmost surprise, the officer was out of the car actually helping the black couple tie the mattress down. And I mean he was into it, standing up on the side step of the vehicle, stretching across the roof and everything! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and I wanted to turn around and take a picture of it. I would have no doubt featured it on this blog post. Realizing that would be weird, I subdued the urge. Nevertheless, it was an image that stayed with me the rest of that day. I wish more people that look like me could have seen it. Maybe it would move the needle of police perception back towards the middle, like it has for me.
I’m fully aware that doesn’t mean all police and soft and cuddly now, just because of two situations. But it does remind me that good police officers who actually care about all walks of society do still exist in my community. Even if they are few and a far between, it gives me hope that maybe one day police brutality will disappear entirely.
Jay Owens 