After a Black officer died by suicide, leaving anguished videos, another officer recognizes his pain

[Judi Lynn]

Hannah Knowles and Lateshia Beachum
,
The Washington Post
March 7, 2021
Updated: March 7, 2021 12 p.m.

Last month, Officer Shanette Hall told the head of her police department's brand new wellness unit about a news story: A Black sheriff's deputy in Louisiana had shot himself in the head while sitting in his patrol car, leaving behind anguished videos.

The deputy, Clyde Kerr III, said at one point that he could no longer abide by "this killing that's going on, especially by the police, which I am." Wearing his uniform in the videos that quickly spread online, he said he was "not having anything to do with this nonsense anymore."

Whatever Kerr's reasons for taking his life, Hall - a member of the St. Louis County Police Department - felt she recognized much of the pain in his parting messages.

"If I had to describe what it felt like being a Black woman officer, the most appropriate word would be ... heavy," said Hall, a leader in a mostly Black law enforcement association in St. Louis called the Ethical Society of Police. "It feels like you are wearing a wet blanket just on your back every day and you can't get it off - everywhere you go, it's on you."

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/article/After-a-Black-officer-died-by-suicide-leaving-16007375.php

[DAngelo136]

1. Two Words...

Christopher Dorner.

[Karadeniz]

2. It must take superhuman strength to put yourself in this position... but we need integrated police

To improve the racism. They don't only protect the people.

[Martin68]

3. This is an incredibly tragic story.