ACAB stands for All Cops Are Bastards.

Maybe you read that and agreed, but more than likely you clicked wondering if I was serious. How can someone make such an unfair generalization? Cops are just people working for a paycheck, doing their best. Right? No. I believe from the bottom of my heart that ALL cops are BASTARDS. Stick with me, if you'd like to know why.

It's memorial day weekend, and I am a server in downtown Cleveland. As I drive into the bustle I am deafened by the sound of the blue angel jets, as they make their loops around the city. My heart begins to hurt, and I think about the destruction these formations are used for. I wonder if the spectators have made a parallel between the show they enjoy, and the massacre that occurs daily during air strikes. I've been blessed with the privilege of never having to worry if the plane above me will drop my doom onto me. There once was a part of me that believed in lightening up, but she left and hasn't returned. I'm unapologetically annoyed with humanity as I prepare to start work. I'm afraid of these jets, and I'm terrified of the people cheering for them.

I'm just as afraid of the men wearing bullet proof vests, and guns on their hips outside of my job. I'm unnerved by the way they casually stand hands on shoulders, legs apart. Everything from the shades that prevent me from seeing their eyes, to the way they nod approvingly to the passerby who says hello, exemplifies that they know they are THE LAW. I try to see them in a loving way, I swear I do. I don't want to believe that there is no hope for them, but I just can't see it. They are the class traitors, the people who get to walk away from their identity and become a link in the chain of the state. Try as you might to convince me otherwise, they know they are above the laws that end other people's lives. They are exempt from the personal responsibility of their actions, as long as they follow the boundaries set by other officers. The police are certainly here to protect and serve, themselves.

I've had the contents of my phone examined by a stingray without a warrant, and see this practice becoming prominent. A clear breach of the 4th amendment. I recall the rubber bullets I've seen fly. I think of the burn tear gas leaves behind almost indefinitely, rekindled by touch months after it came in contact with a fabric. I think of the time I essentially maced myself by accident after using an old bandana to wipe the sweat from my face. The unexpected pain was similar, but one of the two times this bandana touched my face I had a stake in why I hurt. I've decided that these experiences would make anyone weary of the police. So instead let me take a moment to honor the lives lost to police brutality in everyday situations.

some of the people who lost their lives to police 2016

The second photo is a boy named Tamir Rice, he was 12 when he was shot in a park by a Cleveland officer. The resulting investigation is nearly a copy pasta, where the officer claimed to fear for his life and therefore was not charged with any crime. He was "punished" with paid leave, a common and empty punishment for officers who end someone's life. Of all the people pictured, I can find 6 instances where an officer was placed on unpaid leave. None of these officers lost their role in our communities from these events. No justice was served.

Ironically one of the officers involved in the death of Tamir Rice was fired, months later. It turns out his background wasn't looked into before his hire, and he had a history of mental instability. It wasn't the death of a kid that did him in, it was the importance of documents. I look around me, and I see the power of the police expanding. I watch as Trump attempts to pardon Joe Arpaio with one hand, and places pressure for surplus military equipment to be given to the police with his other hand. As I look at our police forces across the nation, I'm haunted by one thing that never differs. There is no outcry against the violence, the law breaking, or the corruption coming from officers. A strong sense of morality and a duty to protect the people would certainly bring out those who witness these acts, right? So I ask you, if officers are people just like you and I, why do they stand in an impenetrable formation when one of them is in trouble? If you had very good reason to believe that a friend of yours killed someone from reckless violence, would you stand behind them? Have you ever respected someone, and later completely turned away from them after a revelation of their character? Personally I find that that people who are mean spirited and act on it, are not people I can defend. What if my view on this affected the safety of a town?

Here's the thing: I've had a gun held a few inches from my face, as I was instructed to hand over my purse in a bad area of Dayton Ohio. My body was hit with so much adrenaline that afterwards I had trouble breathing. I've had many people seek to diminish my power in life, but this was a single moment of absolute control. When a cop has a weapon drawn you need to stay extremely calm, not just for yourself but for them. Any move, odd behavior, or attempt to ask them "could you not" may trigger them to kill you, and they will be protected by "the fear for their life:. There is so reverse of this situation, the only thing that saves the life of a "threat" is the officers perception of how he or she can handle the situation. Often times, this means that Black men die unarmed as White men with automatic weapons are talked down.

This post isn't just about the great wrongs against the people from the police. Here I type thinking of the girl who is offered the opinion of her body from a man in uniform and feels unsafe doing anything but smiling. I am remembering that most of the times I've been pulled over the driver was black, I'm thinking about the police security this evening. Two of them walked into the servers station and even though I knew they were getting pop my body tensed up. They didn't say excuse me as they invaded our small work space, and one stared very seriously at one of the severs-a pretty blonde as he walked in. "Are you the one with the warrant?" he asked, letting the moment hang before laughing and turning to grab a plastic cup. The police carry a demand for respect in their small utility belt, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with giving them more power.As long as the majority of cops refuse to speak out against the wrongs they see, I will assume it is because they do not want to shatter the power they hold collectively. Silence is acceptance. A.C.A.B.