DeeGeesLifeBlog ~ Life as Art ~ Or is it Heart?

Amazing what you don’t know until you know. In researching my piece for this weekend’s SONday Blog, I was redirected to this FB page and boy, was I ever humbled. Not so much over the sudden shock of who exactly Police Chief Brown is, but the testing journey that God has put him on, along with his many police colleagues spread far and wide across this fruited plain. Puts a whole different perspective on All Lives Matter and the disingenuous claims from the Black Political Plantation owners the likes of (well, you know who they are, since I’ve described them in detail for years). More’s the pity that the lamestream liberal media will forego any and all acclamations of what Police Chief David Brown has confronted and overcome in his own life, to turn it all over to God and be of benefit to others. “Love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind … And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself … On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets”. ~ Matthew 22:34-40

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From the Facebook page: Heroes In Blue  – July 12…

His son died after being shot 12 times by police officers (after his son had previously killed an officer) and his brother was murdered by drug dealers. Rather than burn down the block he has risen to run one of the largest police departments in the nation in his efforts to stop police brutality.

He is Chief David Brown, head of the Dallas Police Department. This week he saw five of his officers murdered during a peaceful rally in Dallas. He is one of many #HeroesInBlue actively working to make our communities a better, safer place.

Thank you for your service, Chief Brown. Keep up the great work.

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Further research led me to the UK Guardian, Washington Times, USA Today, and People Magazine among others. Even Snopes showed up on the list with an emphatic YES to the authenticity of the content, and that indeed is saying something about Snopes – seems like they do get facts straight sometimes. What emerged was the profile of a man having been through not one, but multiple experiences that would have devastated most of us into withering violets.

As the Guardian began in their opener:
There’s a paradox in the way Dallas police chief David Brown has handled the crisis in his city this past week. The words he says seem detached from, and even opposite to, his manner.

“That I’m able to stand here and discuss this with you is a testament to God’s grace and his sweet, tender mercies,” he said at a news conference on Monday. His face looked like granite. His voice remained as even as his pressed uniform. “I’m running on fumes,” he said.

This combination of qualities – unwavering calm, alongside the freedom to confess frailty – has captured the imagination of the nation as it has watched him navigate the worst loss of life for police since 9/11.

So where does it come from, this authoritative calm coupled with emotional honesty in the face of crushing stress and heartbreak? The police chief’s experience with crime is more than just professional. He knows violence from every angle; he is an expert in anguish.

FROM THE COMMENTS THREAD
Police Chief Brown can change the world. He is just amazing in every way, especially considering what he has gone through in his personal life. It only makes him more admirable. He refuses to take sides. He seems to have a gift that is guiding him to rise above and do the right thing, and to teach others while he’s at it. I have so much respect for him. 

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And the Washington Times took it up:
Our president should learn from Dallas Police Chief David Brown. Chief Brown has reminded us of the heroic work of many police officers and the importance of building a healthy relationship with the community. He delivered a powerful message during a press conference after the shootings.

“We are hurting. All I know is that this must stop — this divisiveness between our police and our citizens,” he said.

At that moment and in the days to follow, this black police chief became a leader in our badly needed national conversation. Chief Brown is an example for young black men as well. The police force, he recalled recently, “took an inner-city kid like me with flaws and made me their police chief.” Dallas, he said, “had supported me through very difficult challenges.”

My children have learned about the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and now they hear the inspiring words of Chief Brown. What these tragedies teach us is that we are all human, regardless of profession, color or ethnicity. Our hearts all beat the same, and we all have to find compassion in ourselves to know that our brothers and sisters are hurting and embrace the obligation to help.

FROM THE COMMENTS THREAD
Police departments around the country should model their departments after the Dallas PD. Community policing has been proven effective in bridging the divide between many communities and police officers.  I love his last line, get out of the picket line and put in an application. Be the change you want to see! This guy is just awesome. He has handled this situation with such dignity, grace and eloquence.

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USA Today added to it..
Keith Humphrey, the police chief of Norman, Okla., who once held that post in Lancaster, just south of Dallas proper, isn’t surprised Brown has been front and center in helping Dallas deal with the brutality of the killings.

“There are some people who would just shut down, and they would have others conducting the interviews,” Humphrey told The Washington Post. “But that is not David. He realized the community wants to hear from him. The nation wants to hear from him.”

During his news conference Friday, Brown, who is black, seemed to address the entire country when he urged the public to consider the dangerous and often under-appreciated job police officers perform.

“Please join me in applauding these brave men and women who do this job under great scrutiny, under great vulnerability, who literally risk their lives to protect our democracy,” he said. “We don’t feel much support most days. Let’s not make today most days.”

Humphrey said he’s proud of how Brown has handled himself in the face of such grief and shock.

“He is setting an example to chiefs all over the nation of what resilience is and how to help your officers get through these tragedies,” Humphrey told The Washington Post.  “He’s a true leader.”

FROM THE COMMENTS THREAD
I don’t know much about him but he sounds like a very intelligent individual who is trying his very best to change things. 70% of black youth are being raised by single women, that’s a big, big problem, if not the greatest problem of them all. Black fathers need to stay and raise their children. Communities must change not the police. Why do I get the feeling none of them will want to risk their lives in dangerous neighborhoods where people hate cops…

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And People Magazine put the capper on it all…
A third-generation Dallasite and the first born-and-raised police chief in decades, a devout Christian and former accounting major who joined the department in 1983 to revive a neighborhood devastated by the crack epidemic, Brown has long been focused on better policing through better community relations.

“It’s my normal to live in a society that had a long history of racial strife,” he said Monday. “We’re in a much better place than we were when I was a young man here, but we have much work to do, particularly in our profession. And leaders in my position need to put their careers on the line to make sure we do things right and not be so worried about keeping their job. That’s how I approach it.”

“In my opinion, how can you argue with aggressive community policing if it has yielded the safest the city has been over 86 years?” Brown told the Dallas Observer in February.

Of “bridging” the gaps between black communities and the police who serve them, he said Monday, “I’ve been black a long time, so it’s not much of a bridge for me.”

And to the protestors themselves, Brown said, “We’re hiring. Get off that protest line and put an application in. And we’ll put you in your neighborhood, and we will help you resolve some of the problems you’re protesting about.”

FROM THE COMMENTS THREAD
Well I was going to write in Joe Biden’s name for President, now I will write in Chief Brown’s. That stupid shooter brought an assault rifle so Chief Brown brought a bomb. Respect. I love his call to the protesters to join the force! If you want to make a difference in your community and want to end police brutality, become one and help make change. Our leaders on both sides should take notice of this man who exemplifies what it means to be a human being.

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Read full articles at:

UK Guardian: Dallas Police Chief David Brown

Washington Times: Dallas Police Chief David Brown Puts Obama To Shame

USA Today: Police Chief David Brown Has Dealt With His Own Personal Losses

People Magazine: David Brown’s Own Heartbreaking Personal Connection To Police Violence

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Soli Deo Gloria!