Random Thoughts on 7/24/2015: Why Do They Keep Killing Us Edition or Has life finally become Grand Theft Auto?

You know how in Grand Theft Auto games where you can barely graze an officers car and end up getting gunned down in the street? That is basically the black experience right now.

University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing shot Sam Dubose.

Here is the sad part,in GTA you have to initiate contact with the cops to prompt a response (or commit a horrible crime) but in real life cops can pull you over and kill you for not having a front license plate (Sam Dubose, RIP) or an illegal turn signal (Sandra Bland, RIP).

Sandra Bland was murdered in her jail cell….potentially.

In Grand Theft Auto I always blamed the Police actions on poor A.I. but what is the excuse in real life?

The narrative about games and violence is that playing GTA will lead to more mass shootings and violence but in reality it looks like it has normalized the police use of excessive force.

Never have i feared more for people then when they get pulled over or stopped by the police. It doesn’t take much to escalate a situation and the police are armed. I know people who work as officers. They are good people. I have worked with police very closely during my career, they were very professional and as caring as they could be. BUT there is a cultural and systemic issue in our current police culture and black people are dying because of it.

Just my thoughts…..Peace

Random Thoughts on Sept. 17, 2014- Violent Police and NFS: Rivals

I am an EA Access member on Xbox One and with that I now have access to Need for Speed: Rivals. This game is a cops and robber chase game where you can play as a cop or a street racer. I had a realization recently that I cannot play as the cops in this game.

For context, when you are a cop you are armed with spike strips and EMP blast and other offensive skills to incapacitate racers. There is no peaceful pull over option. I am having a hard time being a violent cop. In a country where unarmed black men are being killed by police, I can not role play that behavior on my own.

The killing that hits home for me right now is the unarmed black man who was killed at a Wal-Mart in Beavercreek, Ohio. I proposed to my finance in a Toy R’ Us near that Wal-Mart. I have been the unarmed black man at that Wal-Mart. It hits close to home, literally for me.

NFS:Rivals is a fun game. It’s almost too real for me right now. Not all cops are bad but in this game they are. Violent police are not something I am comfortable with right now.

Just some thoughts…. Have a good day!