A Police Chief says BLACK LIVES MATTER is a group that we work with and are accountable to. Refreshing

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/07/21/this-cop-sees-black-lives-matter-in-a-way-that-will-make-conservatives-blood-boil/

The battle between supporters of Black Lives Matter and those who see BLM as a racist, violent group of domestic terrorists is getting worse in the wake of the deaths of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, which BLM had zilch to do with. It’s easy to assume that every police department everywhere are working on ways to stop BLM in their tracks, but that’s not true. There is at least one department that actually sees BLM quite differently.

Earlier this week, Phoenix Black Lives Matter hosted a forum in which police officers, and other community leaders, were invited to speak. The Phoenix Police Department’s assistant chief, Mike Kurtenbach, said outright:

“The Phoenix Police Department doesn’t see Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization. We view Black Lives Matter as a partner who holds us accountable.

We stand with you to find solutions.”

There’s no way to respond to that but with cheers, and Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton reinforced that by telling the diverse crowd that they’re looking to have a very diverse police department, and they want people to apply to work in their department. More diversity can mean more accountability, which means changing policing for the better. Working with BLM as a partner, instead of fighting them as a terrorist group, also leads to better policing.

We’re full of people—mostly conservative—who believe that BLM is specifically waging a war against cops, though BLM actually decries that violence. They want to remain peaceful. Yet, our conservative leaders, particularly those at the Republican National Convention right now, scream about Black Lives Matter being inherently racist, as Donald Trump himself said. Then again, from a white supremacist, that’s not too surprising, but it’s disgusting that so many in the GOP agree with him.

There’s also Rudy Guiliani, who claims to have saved a lot more lives with his broken windows policy than Black Lives Matter ever did. He said:

“I don’t see what Black Lives Matter is doing for blacks other than isolating them. All it cares about is the police shooting of blacks. It doesn’t care about the 90 percent of blacks that are killed by other blacks.”