Yesterday, I went on a citizen ride-along. This means that I just rode along with a cop during their shift. It was way more fun than it sounds like it would be. But anybody can do it, you just have to sign a release form and go. It's pretty awesome.
So we got a domestic violence call so we got to "run code" (which is cop code for lights and sirens get there as fast as possible). We got to the house and the cop I was with, B, went and found the male and brought him to sit in the car. (I'm not racist, I'm just telling you how it is...) So, me, this little never-been-in-a-fight, I'm-scared-of-scary-looking-people white girl, is locked in a cop car, sitting not even 2 feet from a scary looking black guy who just got the cops called on him for domestic VIOLENCE in the back of the police car. Forget the bars and glass between us, I was scared and I felt too awkward to start up a conversation, so I turned on the radio. (When we were at the last call I got tired of listening to some junky song, so I changed it to a Christian radio station that plays more of the Christian Rock genre.) And here's what came on the radio:
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?
What happens next?
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before
At which point B comes back and starts to question this guy, and turns the radio down.
I couldn't believe what had just happened! Of all the songs on the radio, this song (Dare You to Move by Switchfoot) at this specific time! There were kids outside playing and they were the "everybody's here, everybody's watching you now" part of the song. "What happens next?"-logically question to ask yourself as your sitting in the back of a police car, now isn't it? God was in that police car at that moment when I turned the radio on. He was their with me the whole day, keeping me safe, teaching me many things about life and about this world.
From B's questioning we learn that this "scary looking black guy who just got the cops called on him for domestic VIOLENCE in the back of the police car" really was the victim of the domestic violence. He had a job. He had two twin boys who were 9 months old. He was trying to take care of them and the girl over-reacted. When B left to question the girl to see if the stories lined up, I started a conversation with him. I learned a lot about him too. He was super cool. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was trying to do the right thing.
God was in that cop car with us both. I think I will remember this situation for years to come because it shattered so many of my previous thoughts about life in general.
Situations don't make you a bad person.
Black culture is not like white culture.
Bad stuff happens to good people.
I am blessed.
God is with me.
God loves me.
God love everybody.
You included.
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