Why does having a little more melanin in your skin make some cops escalate situations instead of executing their duty of maintaining public order?

What is it about darker skin that brings out the worst in cops?

Obviously, all cops aren’t this way. I think we all know that. I’ve had my share of positive and negative encounters with police officers to support that claim. I can remember being stopped by a police officer two years ago in the middle of my run because he recognized me from previous runs around my neighborhood. He was curious about my running routine. We chatted for a few minutes, and he left me with some words of encouragement about staying in shape.

No confrontation, no judgment, just a friendly conversation.

I can also remember being with a group of my black friends when I was 13 years old and having five or six police vehicles pull up after we had just been kicked off the city bus. The bus driver contacted 911 and told police officers she saw a BB gun before pulling off. One of the boys showed us an orange-tipped plastic BB gun he got from his older brother, cousin or whoever before putting it back into his drawstring book bag as we continued to walk.

Kicking a group of teenagers off the bus for being obnoxious ... we deserved that much. Responding to a call about a BB gun — that looks like a BB gun — isn’t wrong either, I guess. But multiple police officers jumping out of their cars with weapons drawn on a handful of middle school kids was excessive.

I can remember sitting on the ground with my hands cuffed behind my back wondering if I was going to jail. I remember thinking about what I’d say if I had to explain this to my parents. If they ever read this, it’ll be the first time they’ve heard this part of the story. The officers took our addresses, let us go and the bus station sent a letter in the mail about being kicked off.

Being a police officer isn’t an easy job, and the country is thankful for those who police the right way across all communities. However, there have been far too many reminders — at the expense of black and brown bodies — that police officers across the country have a major issue with police brutality and excessive force, especially when dealing with African Americans.

George Floyd’s death is one of the most recent examples of this. Floyd was a 46-year-old black father who died in the custody of Minneapolis police officers after Officer Derek Chauvin forcefully knelt on his neck for over eight minutes despite hearing cries of “I can’t breathe.” Chauvin was subsequently fired from the Minneapolis Police Department and charged with second-degree murder. Three other police officers at the scene were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin.

Floyd’s death is not an isolated incident. Chauvin isn’t just one bad apple in a system that is otherwise flawless. He is one piece to the puzzle of a systematic structure that has allowed certain police officers to operate above the law. According to the Los Angeles Times, Chauvin had 18 prior complaints filed against him.

Eighteen complaints and he still held a badge. Eighteen complaints and he was still held as a respected officer of the law. The Los Angeles Times reported that only two of those complaints resulted in reprimands. Each complaint being met with no significant consequences continued to give Chauvin the power to operate in an abusive manner until he went too far.

The death of a handcuffed, unarmed black man shouldn’t be the breaking point.

There needs to be a better system in place that will help eliminate the bad apples before they turn completely rotten.

If those 18 complaints were taken more seriously then maybe Floyd would still be alive today. Maybe Chauvin wouldn’t have acted on his impulse to leave his knee on Floyd’s neck after the man was handcuffed. Maybe the other officers would have had the decency to go against one of their colleagues who was acting out of line if there was a police culture that cultivated that kind of backbone. Or maybe the bad apple would have already been removed before he ever crossed paths with Floyd.

Hypotheticals won’t bring Floyd back, but harsher reprimands for police officers who have proven to be too aggressive in the field could help create a better culture surrounding police brutality. Harsher reprimands could save the next person of color from dying at the hands of an officer.

Taking complaints of police brutality a little more seriously could prevent peaceful protesters from having to use the slogan “I can’t breathe” for a third time.

Eric Garner’s cries of “I can’t breathe” fell on deaf ears of police officers six years ago. Floyd’s cries of “I can’t breathe” were also ignored.

The choice to ignore people of color in this country is literally costing us our lives. People of color have been suffocating with feelings of pain, anger and fear about the same issue for far too long.

When is America finally going to take a second to listen, take action and show the world that black lives do matter?

Frank Bonner II is a Tulsa World sports reporter.

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