Charleston, WV – Officer Tony Messer of the
South Charleston Police Department, has gamed his way into the
hearts of the community.
In a time where tensions between the public and police are
volatile, he has found a way to “humanize the badge,” and
interact with the community that he otherwise couldn’t reach,
especially with so many people fearing police officers.
“There was nothing [sic] better than seeing a police
officer growing up, and nowadays they are a lot of kids that fear
the police. I don’t want to be like that. I want us to wear those
capes.
I want us to be heroes because that’s why I looked up
to law enforcement when I was growing up. It was just a different
time, but that’s why I’m humanizing the badge I want to get us
back to that point,”
Messer, a police officer for four years, unwinds from his shift
by playing Call of Duty or other video games he can stream online.
He used to stream on Twitch and Mixer, but now he enjoys Facebook
Gaming.
One day, he got this idea that he wanted to build a better
relationship between police and the community. He decided to
experiment with this idea
“to represent his profession in a approachable, professional and
positive way.â€
The experiment worked. Now, as he relaxes and streams his games,
he is still “Officer Messer.†He does this on his own time, and
it doesn’t cost the taxpayers a dime to interact with him. He
shows the community, and individuals who may be a little wary of
police, that police officers are humans too.
He does raise money while streaming and gaming. However, it
doesn’t go into Messer’s pocket. Quite the contrary. He uses it
to rent an ice cream truck for the kids of his city, and other
community outreach ideas.
That is Messer’s favorite part. Interacting with the kids.
“Getting out and talking to them, and being funny, I
honestly think that is the biggest part of humanizing the
badge,â€
Messer is accomplishing his goal in showing that a person is behind
the badge. His Facebook page was created on March 26, 2020. In a
little over four months he has gained over 9,000 followers.
At a time when police officers and members of the community
should be coming together, Minneapolis has chosen to do away with
its community service police officers.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN– Due to recent approved
budget cuts of the Minneapolis Police Department, they will be
cutting its entire staff of community service officers.
City Council recently approved a
revised budget that cut more than $24 million across various
departments, including $1.5 million being cut from the police
department’s budget. On July 29th, Mayor Jacob Frey
signed off on the revised budget.
The Minneapolis Police
Department will be cutting its entire staff of community service
officers due to recent budget cuts. https://t.co/ht92uZluRi— TC Crime Watch (@TCCrimeWatch)
August 4, 2020
Minneapolis Police Department Spokesman John Elder said that all
25 community service officers (CSO’s), who work hard to assist
the department, will be terminated by the end of the month. These
paid positions are held by civilians who oftentimes are in school
studying law enforcement.
According to Elder, cutting the program was a “difficult
decision†for Chief Medaria Arradondo because the CSO position
was a tool for extending and increasing diversity within the
department. Many CSO’s would become sworn officers following
their training.
In addition to the approved revised budget cuts that have forced
the police department to disband their community service officer
unit, a Minneapolis commission is expected to review a proposed
amendment that would dismantle the city’s Police Department and
replace it with a new public safety department.
MPD formally graduated Recruit
Class 2020-1, adding 29 officers (24 men & 5 women). The group
of graduates is nearly 50% diverse. Officers were sworn-in using a
new oath, reinforcing intervening against violations of another
individual’s rights and upholding the sanctity of life. pic.twitter.com/01DmXOXLA1— Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD)
July 21, 2020
According to
CBSN Minnesota, the 15-member volunteer commission could
approve the proposal, reject it, propose a substitute, or ask for
more time to review it. The City Council is not bound by the
commission’s decision.
The proposal would essentially eliminate the Police Department
from the city charter and replace it with a “Department of
Community Safety and Violence Prevention.†Allegedly, the new
department would prioritize public health with a director who has
“non-law enforcement experience in community safety
services.â€
The department would still allow for armed police officers, but
they would answer to the new director. Some members of the
commission have worried that the process, which has already
included two public hearings and online comments, is moving too
quickly.
The Minneapolis city council
approves its first permanent cuts to the police budget. As a
result, crime has surged in the past two months — a tragic
example of the negative consequences efforts to defund and disband
the police are having. https://t.co/IaypZKstZA— Todd Young (@ToddYoungIN)
July 27, 2020
Their concerns are valid, seeing as how the process unfolded
during a violent summer in Minneapolis after the death of George
Floyd and with shootings dramatically higher than last year, many
residents are worried about the proposal to abolish police
officers.
Mayor Frey said that he remains opposed to eliminating the
police department.
He said:
“We should not go down the route of simply abolishing
the Police Department. What we need to see within this department
and within many departments throughout the country is a full-on
culture shift.â€
Mayor Frey and Chief Arradondo have made some changes since the
death of Floyd including requiring officers to document attempts to
de-escalate situations whether or not force is used and they have
expanded requirements for reporting use-of-force incidents by
having officers provide more detail in their reports.
According to
MPR News, violent crimes continues to climb to levels not seen
in the last several years in Minneapolis. This surge in violence is
happening at a time when the number of police officers on the
street are declining and members of City Council are supporting a
change to the charter that would completely eliminate the police
department.
Mayor Frey recently announced that 288 people had been shot and
wounded so far this year, which is 121 more people hit by gunfire
than the same period last year. In addition, response time data
shows that it is taking officers longer to respond to certain 911
calls as the force has shrunk in size.
_
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Police officer answers the “Call Of Duty†by gaming with the
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