Imagine being a black man carrying a gun while riding his bike. You bump into a police officer who happens to be white. Would you feel uncomfortable?
Certainly, would be our answer. With everything going on right now in the country, people have gotten into fights for much more insignificant stuff. Compared to just jogging, or just being drunk on the street, or sleeping in your own house, roaming the streets with a gun on your waist sounds quite provoking.
But not for every police officer out there. It seems there are still people who treat others as if they come in good faith unless there is reason to believe otherwise. People who don’t abuse others just because their uniform allows for it. In other words, there are great cops out there.
One of them is officer J. Roe of the Clayton County Police Department, who a few days ago had an interesting encounter with a black man from the neighborhood.
Facebook user RD Worth posted a long text about their accidental- but so didactic- meeting the other day.
The man, who is a Morehouse College graduate, is also a dad of two, a corporate worker, and a division 1 college basketball official. But, the police officer that had a chat with him knew nothing of this, and just focused on the fact that he was a person possibly needing help.
Worth left his house on his bike as his car was at the mechanic. The young man had never ridden outside a trail before, so he had no idea whether it would be safe or not. For better or worse, he decided to take his pistol with him- just in case!
“I took my car to the shop today, so I took my bike to get a ride in while they’re working it. First time riding the streets (and not a trail), so I decided to ride with my pistol,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
But the last thing Worth wanted was to bump into a police officer- let alone a white one.
However, he proved to be quite unlucky, because both his bike had a problem and a patrol car started following him.
Worth hoped it was a black cop, but he had no luck there either.
Soon, a white officer stepped out of the car and approached him. At that point, while many would have responded on the defensive side, Worth felt like treating the man as he would like to be treated.
So, the two men started talking about the bike and the problem it had, while the officer even kneeled to take a better look and gave his baton to Worth to try and fix it. He made no mention of the pistol or why the man carried it. But, later on, as they chatted briefly, he asked what brand it was and if he could take a look.
“I take my pistol out, make sure it’s pointed away from both of us, proceeded to take the magazine out, breech it and hand it over to him,” Worth explained.
After a few minutes, the officer left but not before Worth had taken a selfie with him.
This was to prove that the two indeed had an interesting, though unusual, meeting. It is also a good reminder to everyone that life is not black and white and we should always consider things carefully before judging others.
Great job, officer Roe, and a big thanks to RD Worth who took the time to write his story so as to let everyone know that there is still good in people.
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