Baltimore

This will be another personal post. I haven't had much time to finish up my book and a lot has been on my mind about recent events in Baltimore. I went to Baltimore for a quick weekend get-away Friday-Sunday morning and saw some of what has been on the media. From the security of our hotel we saw a helicopter with a spot light and bull horn several times circling overhead as well as 30 or so police in riot gear. We saw 3-4 police cars parked together at a street corner nearby. At that time, the protesters had dispersed from Camden Yards which was a block away from the hotel.

I wasn't a part of the peaceful protest so I will be first to tell you that I don't know what went on. Since we were in the city at the time, I have paid special attention to the news lately. This is definitely something grandpa would have written about.  Social media (like this blog) really impact how these events are portrayed.   I really appreciate people posting pictures and video from the event and explaining what happened around them at the time.  There has been some conflicting stories told by the media vs told by the people who were there. If anyone has been glued to it like I have, I'd suggest looking for youtube videos that don't come from a mainstream media outlet. There were 10,000 peaceful protesters and a few hundred have been arrested for the atrocities inflicted on the city. 200/10,000 is 2% (to put it in perspective). These approximate numbers have come from media outlets and hopefully have been fact checked :(. There have been great numbers of people who have tried to stop the violence and who have cleaned up the city. Hundreds of people volunteered to clean the streets on Tuesday and many people unified during this event to help their neighbors. Many people have spoken up about peaceful protest and violence not being the answer. I feel for their struggle and the larger issues that are part of it. 

Looking closer to home, I work above a city police department and would love to get their take on the situation. I also wanted to find out if conflict resolution annual certification is a requirement for the police force. I'd also like to look into conflict resolution classes for myself as there are a few times that my job warrants having that kind of training. 

Peace be with you and light your way!

https://youtu.be/0HaaRZ8nxd4