Chronicle Editorial

Latest round of violence towards Police is troubling
Violence against peace officers across the country has been growing at a troubling rate. In the past two weeks at least eight police officers were murdered as they worked to patrol the streets and keep communities safe. First, five Dallas officers were slaughtered as they worked to protect members of Black Lives Matter as they marched through the streets of downtown Dallas. These officers ran into the fray to stop potential deaths. Then, on Saturday, three officers in Baton Rouge and four others were injured as a gunman open fired behind a gas station in broad daylight. Clearly, the issue isn’t always about race relations or gun violence. It’s more about trust, communication and societal change.  Other times, in order to push one’s personal agenda, others will brush aside pertinent facts in order to present a jaded view of what is really going on.
    Here’s why: In many communities trust between African Americans and the law enforcement has broken down. Violence in the inner city is at an all-time high. Not just by police, but against each other as well, which, in turn creates a higher exposure for the use of violence by police.
    We realize the ability to earn that trust isn’t accomplished overnight. At the same time, folks from both sides of the issue must also understand that in order to stop the violence, they must be open to listening to both sides and not immediately dismiss each others opinions. That’s where face-to-face communication, coupled with education by both sides, is the key to resolving this.
   Like it or not, today’s society is too reliant upon Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other means of electronic communication. How often is the interpretation of a message lost in a matter of texts, emails and brief video clips on television. That use of electronic means doesn’t allow for both parties to sit down and listen — truly listen — and hear what each other has to say. Too often we jump to conclusions before we have all of the information and only see what we want to see and not necessarily what it really is. Rather than pushing for a cause, or a political point of view, either to the right or the left, we hope a calm, rational conversation can be had. If we don’t, society as we knew it may never exist again as this spiral of violence will continue.