MACON, Ga. — A lot of Crucial Conversations involve people in law enforcement. Captain Raymond Reynolds with the Bibb County Sheriff's Office talked to 13WMAZ's Lori Johnson about what it's like being in law enforcement during this historic time.
Captain Raymond Reynolds has been in law enforcement for 33 years in Bibb County. When asked if it is tough being an African American law enforcement officer, he stated, "Absolutely, it's tough. The reason it's so tough is because we have to police every day and we have to deal with so many different types of things."
It can be a lot for anyone, even a seasoned veteran like Captain Reynolds.
"I have to make sure the young deputies that come through, I have to give them also a pep talk that, 'You're going to be faced with some things that a regular, a white deputy wouldn't have to go through and you just have to be prepared for. Know how to handle it and you just can't get all blown because those things are going to happen because of the color of your skin,'" Reynolds said.
Captain Reynolds can put it all in perspective. It's about serving everyone in the community, and that's why he was so proud of the protesters who took to the streets in downtown Macon.
"Because something of this nature, it's going to affect the entire country, and what it was, they wanted to show there was just as many white people out there as there was black people. They wanted to show they were more consolidated together than we are apart," said Reynolds.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office works to train its officers on how to respond to different situations with all kinds of different people. It's called "Crisis Intervention Response Training, or CERT, and it's mandatory for everyone.
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