Talal! fel the war on law enforcement snow in full swing, We see it ever day in the news and on social ‘media, It isa war of words and usually says something like “police officers kill unarmed blacks" or *police brutality is Out of control" | know most of you read these words and Unfortunately these words are for the most part false The war on law enforcement is about a year old and it started in Ferguson Missouri with the shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Darrin Wilson on August 9, 2014, Unfortunately it began with a false narrative splashed across most newspapers and spoken on the news all over the country; that an unarmed black teenager was shot by a police officer ashe surrendered. This became the battle cry against aw enforcement, “hands up don't shoot and it was perpetuated by people lke Dorian Johnson who was with Brown when he was shot and told several versions of the story to several sources, but the theme was the same, That Brown had his hands up and was surrendering when Darren Wilson shot him. Grand jury testimony and science showed this to be false and as we all know, Brown attempted to disarm Wilson and as Wilson then pursued Brown, Brown turned and went to attack Wilson again and the rest is history. The criminal justice system has a process to thoroughly investigate these types of incidents, to find out if police acted properly, but it takes time. Unfortunately people like Dorian Johnson and those who look for opportunities to exploit tragedies like this have the luxury of the 24 hour news, the internet, and social media to fire up and anger the community and perpetuate a false narrative ike “hands up, don't shoot’ and then comes the rots and violence that follow and destroy communities. Unfortunately the war wages on, There were others like Michael Brown, and few still unresolved that do not make cops look good like Officer Michael Slager and the shooting of Walter Scott in South Carolina. Of course the overwhelming number of officer involved shooting are justified and we are acting appropriately. Unfortunately the damage is done and we are under attack. Protests and rhetoric are expected; people overeating withoutall the facts are routine, but things are different now. In 2014 FBI statistics say that 51 police officers were killed in the line of duty compared with 27, In 2013, there were 49,851 cops assaulted in 2013, While no offical statistics are ‘Minnesota Police Journal available for 2015, media reports show offices killed in the line of duty in 2015 are down, which is agood thing, But stil itis different. It seems that ambushes of police officers have increased and criminals and people who don't like police have been empowered to challenge cops when we have a legal right to approach and stop people in public and even arrest them, Cops are telling me they ate more frequently being challenged in arrest and other situations. Right here in Minnesota Black Lives MatterSt. Paul leading the charge against us and all of civil society. lagree with their right to protest and support their right to free speech, but that all changed, ist a the State Fir. Pigs in a blanket fty lke bacon” was a chant the protesters used. These words incite violence against cops and in my opinion against any authority figure. Their leader, Rashad Turner was dismissive of the comments saying they did not promote Violence against cops...Are you kidding me! The Black Lives Matter St.Paul group followed up with another protest at the Governor's Mansion on September 2, 2015, the same night as the St. Paul Police Federation Union meeting. Several officers who worked the protest came tothe union ‘meeting, but what they heard was the chant, “what do we want, dead cops, when do we want them, now: This was not reported in the media unfortunately, but would ike to hear what Rashad Turner would say about this, These events gotlotsofnationalmediaattentionandst.Paul Police Federation Dave Titus brought the police perspe to local media and the national media appearing on FOX News and CNN, The MPPOA also issued a press release which was extensively covered by most media outlets and we ae responding to undeserved negative media with our Faces behind the Badge Campaign aired on WCCO Radio. And some of our longtime political allies Governor Mark Dayton and Representative Tony Cornish have also publicly supported us against this group. Unfortunately though, this war on law enforcement will continue for the foreseeable future. And we cannot wait for the next attack to respond. We can all work to end this on several fronts. As often said you should get to know you enemy, Identify the local groups and follow them, they are all over the internet, who their leaders are and what they are saying about cops, then respond. Write letters to the editor of your local paper, engage elected officials who support these ‘9f0ups, shine alight on their message and share ours. Most October 2015,of these anti cop groups have Facebook pages or Twitter accounts and you can find the local elected officials who “Tike” them on Facebook or “follow” them on Twitter and ask them ifthey support their message of hate and violence. Engage our community partners, neighborhood groups and community leaders. Keep an open dialogue and take the time to educate them on the use of force and why we do the things we do. Once these issues are explained or demonstrated, most people can understand why we react in situations the way we do. And engage people close to Us; explain to them why we do what we do when the topi ‘comes up. They can be our biggestallies and want to be. We Just need to help them understand why we do what we do. ‘And if we serew up, own it. Our agencies should also encourage the use of citizen police academies. Get people in the community, our politicians and our critics into use of force training or scenarios s0 they can experience it for themselves, what we see, how we react, and the consequences, Reverend Jarrett ‘Maupin, a civil rights leader in Arizona and critic of police experienced this and based on media reports, seems to have a greater appreciation of what cops experience and how they react in situations. We don't need to wait for the next salvo, officer involved shooting, or police officer ambushed. We all need to get out in front of this and we each can play a small role in our own little world. We will win this war on law enforcement. | see it every day, we have allies everywhere. All the cop support in my community and on social media, it out there. We all need to harness it in our own way to educate and get our story out, Above all be safe,