SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – A Savannah Police Department officer’s perspective is getting national attention after he was asked to write a piece for the Washington Post.
Patrick Skinner, who worked for the CIA earlier in his career, says we need to change how we speak about policing. He says it’s not a “war” on crime, because police officers are not at war with the communities they serve.
“Right now, we think of it as a ‘war’ on crime, and we’re ‘warriors,’ and I see a lot of police officers and it’s well-intended. They call themselves warriors, or punishers, or guardians, or sheepdogs. It’s well-intended, I understand what they mean, it’s well-intended, they’re trying to protect people. But, I’m not a sheepdog because my neighbors aren’t sheep. I’m not a warrior because I’m not at war with my neighbors. The mindset of ‘protect and serve’ – it doesn’t mean just protect, it means protect and serve, and that means everything,” Skinner said.
He tells News 3 he is not speaking officially for SPD, but rather from the perspective of one officer.
Skinner’s article, headlined “I’m a cop. I won’t fight a ‘war’ on crime the way I fought the war on terror.” was published on June 3. Read the full article here.
Watch more of News 3’s interview with Skinner below.