There are amazing insights you can get by hearing it from the source, which in this case is St. Louis PD.
Melissa La Boy, COO of The Black Sphere team visited with a high level officer in St. Louis PD and she was able to get some interesting off the record insights.
It was no accident that the city of St. Louis has been chosen for protests. When you consider the crime in Chicago, for example where I was told by one protester there have been twelve cop shootings of black men, I find it amazing that St. Louis is the epicenter for social injustice? It is evident that St. Louis was chosen because the National League Championship Series baseball games (and crowd) would provide a nice backdrop for the protesters. And the strategy from the Left is to use every potential advantage to create a stir, in hopes of garnering votes in 2014.
According to police, there were many stories you didn’t hear about. Like the 13 police cars that were destroyed by protesters.
Also, a reporter/videographer was filming when she happened upon a few young black men preparing Molotov cocktails, who were not happy to be filmed. When challenged, she reportedly told them that she was on their side; nevertheless they put her in a headlock, and commandeered her camera. She ended up in a nearby St. Louis hospital.
One of the most revealing parts of the discussion with police was the revelation of what happens to police when they are no longer cops, i.e. off duty. This particular police veteran of many years said that when he is a civilian, he has the same potential issues with police as anybody else. Up until a police officer who stops him is made aware that the off-duty cop is indeed one of the men in blue, he is like everybody else.
Melissa spoke to others, but mostly the comments were “I so wish I could tell you what I feel about all of this, but…”
St. Louis police seemed confident about their response to the protests, and it was clear that protecting the protesters was a major part of the job, as well as protecting the public.
Melissa was told that one police officer that Ferguson made mistakes:
“Ferguson doesn’t handle as many murders as St. Louis. We hand handles over 100 murders a year. It’s sad to say, but it’s routine,” commented the officer who asked to remain nameless.
One problem this particular officer saw with Ferguson was leaving Michael Brown’s body out for over four hours, an issue raised by many on the pro-Michael Brown side of the discussion:
“You need to tape off the body, and get the emotion out of the situation as quickly as possible. That is standard for SLPD and other big city PD…in the recent shooting here in St. Louis, the body [of 18-year old Meyers] was removed within minutes.”
Another issue is the social media component.
Ferguson allowed the narrative to be set by people who for the most part are anti-police. However, in the St. Louis shooting, the police began releasing information on the teen who was shot, and his record was less than stellar.
Though the professional protesters wanted to attach the St. Louis shooting with Ferguson, they didn’t get as much traction once the truth came out.
Another difference in St. Louis is that the misinformation campaign by Meyers’ family, that Meyers had a sandwich, was debunked quickly. He did have a sandwich, but he also had a gun.
It’s amazing how politicians work the system, truly wanting their cake and to eat it to. They love the cops when they are campaigning as law and order. But the minute the cake hits the fan, politicians run down their rat holes, abandoning the people who are on the front lines.
