Published: Sunday 1 June 2025
Book title: DEFUND Black Lives, Policing, and Safety for All
Author: Sandy Hudson
Published by HarperCollinsCanada
Review by Calvin Lawrence
NO ROLE IN SOCIETY IS MORE DIVISIVE THAN THAT OF THE COP. FEARED AND RESPECTED,INSULTED AND EMBRACED,VIEWED AS BOTH THE GLUE KEEPING IT ALL TOGETHER AND THE FORCE OF BREAKING IT ALL APART; THE HEART OF OUR CIVILIZATION AND THE SOUL OF ITS DISRUPTION. HE is BOTH A UNITER AND A DIVIDER TORN BY ALLEGIANCES AND RECOGNIZED AS THE CURE AND THE DISEASE ITSELF. THE DOUBLE LIFE OF SOMEONE WHO SEES HIMSELF ONE WAY AND IS SEEN BY THE PUBLIC IN ANOTHER. I’M A MAN WHO BECAME A COP.
QUOTE FROM THE BOOK. “AN INCONVENIENT COP”
To add to the above stress I was a BLACK Man who became a cop.
BLACK LIVES MATTER is a logical response to a world where the truth has to be a lie and the lie has to be the truth. Their goal as I understand it is to replace racist behaviour with Justice. However their approach like many groups before them ,who tried to accomplish the elimination of racist behaviour, is severely flawed as laid out in the book calling for the defunding of the police. Black Lives Matter has not come to grips with the idea that Emotions are the enemy of facts.
There are nine major areas of people activities that we work through on a daily basis.
Economics , Education, Entertainment, Labour, Law,Politics,Religion, Sex, and war. Racist behaviour takes place in all nine areas. Therefore we as black people are all victims of and participants in the global system of white Supremacist/racist behaviour. This includes but is not limited to members of Black Lives Matter. By using the term, Anti Black Racism, rather than White supremacist behaviour, they strive to avoid harm by white society. All white people do not support or practice white supremacist behaviour. It is only those who wish to maintain dominance and control over black people in the nine major areas of people activity. In my opinion Black Lives Matter members will never achieve their goals until they stop using linguistic camouflage and understand the global system of racial control and being used. Even the name Black Lives Matter is a form of linguistic camouflage.
Police Officer Defined :
Any Person who Speaks and Acts, to promote Justice and Correctness, at all times , in all places, in all areas of people activity,including economics, education, entertainment, labour, law, politics, religion, sex, and war.
The Police and Black Community have several Commonalties:
- The police and black communities don’t want to be identified as a group response when misdeeds are done by either group.
- Both the police and the black communities are looked down upon for snitching on one of their own.
- Both the Black Community and Police Community have a Culture.
- Bad Cops hide within the ranks of good cops and Black Individuals who commit crimes hide within the Black Community.
- Black People are not going away and neither are police officers.
- Both Police officers and members of the black community want to go home safe at the end of the day.
Keeping the commonalties in mind, the onus to reduce the conflict is on the police because they took the oath and this oath translates into legal responsibility.
The Black community has an ethical and moral responsibility
to ensure a safe community when possible. As Sir Robert Peel said in one of his Principles. “The Police Are the Community and the Community are the Police”.
The Black Lives Matter organization states that Police Officers are an abusive organization practicing racist behaviour. I agree with the general statement, however, the big difference is that they fail to recognize that there are good police officers living up to their oath, both Black and White.
I draw your attention to number one of the commonalties. Whenever we generalize we lose accuracy.
From a racial perspective I draw your attention to number five of the commonalities. Neither is going away.
Black Lives Matter, as I understand it, view black police officers as some sort of traitors to their race and are part of the abuse. This generalization has resulted in shunning officers from having meaningful dialogue with black organizations and individuals such as myself and others. I experienced this first hand when I tried to explain what must be examined regarding police shootings on the CBC Evan Solomon program. Black Lives Matter members’ response was to cut me off; did not allow me to speak and berated me. This was counter productive to improving police race relations between the police and black community. I have been working in the area of Police/Race relation since 1970. No matter what has been said and done, relationships between the police and Black communities have deteriorated.
Black Lives Matter have only added to the conflict because they failed to address the problems in our own black communities. The sarcastic statement that “Black Lives Matter to Everyone But Black People” is a direct result of the organization’s unwillingness to address this sarcastic statement. To my knowledge Black Lives Matter members have shun offers to speak to black police organizations such as The Association of Black Law Enforcers. I am a member of this organization and was once their Issues Officer.
In her Book “. DEFUND, BLACK LIVES, POLICING, and SAFETY FOR ALL by SANDY HUDSON there appears to be some confusion between the duties and role of policing and the courts, mental health practitioners, drug abuse organizations, homeless organizations, and the prison system.
What constitutes proper use of force is not adequately explained. Yes, the excessive use of force is illustrated with excellent example. Unfortunately, the use of force is not able to be explained in legal terms by Black Lives Matter or the public. Also, the examples provided by Black Lives Matter have been given in the past. The elimination of Police brutality has to start with Canadian Police Organizations.
Holding individual police officers accountable should be the main objective. Jumping all over the world will not make a difference. Monitoring Canadian cities is the only way to start. Several Black Police officers have written books on racist behaviour in policing and strived to illuminate the abuse. Unfortunately BLM has ignored our valued experience and input.
One of the biggest gaffs in the behaviours of the BLM organization was blocking the Gay parade because the police was invited to march. The Gay Community at one time was abused as much as the Black Community by the Police. The Gay Community turned their efforts inward and produced financial success and political clout. That resulted in the politicians and police changing their outward stance toward the gay community. They are more successful because of their collective endeavours. We as black people have not followed suit therefore we are left behind. Rather than BLM learning from this process they blocked the parade because the police were marching. One group, the Gay Community makes strides by gaining the police’s respect. BLM tries to earn credibility by diminishing the advancement of another culture regarding respect from the police. This is backward thinking and alienates other groups and individuals from the BLM cause.
Finally, Defunding the Police is a completely wrong idea. With the increase in crime, especially random crime more police , equipment, and training, is required. The 22 Murders in Nova Scotia is a prime example. Equipment could have been used to possibly save lives. If BLM feels that more money should be allotted to mental health and drug issues then petition the governments for more financial aid.
The question of disarming and abolishing the police is a nonstarter. With the shootings taking place in Ontario alone who is going to stop the action. Will it be BLM members?
With Respect, BLM needs to look for insight instead of blaming Police and the Black Communities
I am available for presentations, workshops, and discussions, upon request.
The Diameter of your knowledge, dictates circumference of your activities.
To assist with their “insight” regarding policing I respectfully suggest that Black Lives Matter Members read the following from my collection of books:
Racial Disparity in Arrests and Charges, Dr. Scott Wortley and Dr Maria Jung.
You Had Better Be White By Six AM, Book one and two, By Sgt. Craig Smith, RCMP.
Black In Scarlet by Cpl. Lynell Nolan, RCMP (Retired).
An Inconvenient Cop, by Edwin Raymond, with Jon Sternfeld.
Black in Blue, African Americans Police Officers, and Racism, by Ken Bolton Jr. and J. Feagin.
Starlight Tours(The Last Lonely Night of Neil Stone Child, by S. Reber and R. Renaud.
The Community and the Police -Conflict and Cooperation, by J. Fink & L.G. Sealy.
Verbal Judo, The Gentle Art of Persuasion, by George J. Thompson and J. Jenkins.
Policing The Black Man, (Essays) Edited by Angela J. Davis.
Crisis in Canadian’s Policing by Sewell with C J Williams.
Policing The Planet, (Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter) J.T. Camp.
They Can’t Kill Us All, by Wesley Lowery.
Driving While Black, by Kenneth Meeks.
About the writer
Calvin Lawrence retired in 2006 from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) after twenty-eight years, and eight and half years with Halifax City Police. He was recognized as one of Nova Scotia’s outstanding citizens in Steve Kimber’s book: “More Than Just Folks”, 1998. He is currently a consultant on police-related subjects. He is the author of “Black Cop”.
This is not a review. There is not a single quote from the book, Defund: Black Lives, Policing, and Safety for All throughout the entire piece.
What this is however is a weak attempt to defend the local armed wing of an illegitimate settler colony.
A true review would present information provided by the author and respond to the specific merits of those direct statements.
I’ll use this piece to display an actual review.
The author writes, “The sarcastic statement that “Black Lives Matter to Everyone But Black People” is a direct result of the organization’s unwillingness to address this sarcastic statement”. This is an incredibly convoluted sentence that makes the pitiful attempt of equating inter-personal and intra-community violence with the actions of a state-sponsored “abusive organization practicing racist behaviour” (the idea that police officers are “an abusive organization practicing racist behaviour” is something the author “general agrees with”).
Earlier in the “review”, the author lists six “Commonalities” supposedly shared between Police and the Black Community. The fourth one is stated as being, “Bad Cops hide within the ranks of good cops and Black Individuals who commit crimes hide within the Black Community”. Again, the author makes a false comparison between an armed state-sponsored institution and communities of families and individuals who have been racialized by the settler-colony as “Black”. Also, the author provides no data to support the claim that the Black Community allows “Black Individuals who commit crimes” to “hide within the Black Community” at a higher rate than any other community.
Further, the author states, “Finally, Defunding the Police is a completely wrong idea. With the increase in crime, especially random crime more police, equipment, and training, is required. The 22 Murders in Nova Scotia is a prime example. Equipment could have been used to possibly save lives.”
When the author refers to the “22 Murders in Nova Scotia” it is assumed that he is referencing the 2021 rampage of white Canadian Gabriel Wortman. The same Wortman whose actions were made more deadly by the fact that he owned refurbished police equipment. The same Wortman who neighbours reported to the RCMP for domestic abuse and having a cache of illegal weapons, yet nothing was done (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mass-shooting-nova-scotia-firearms-gun-violence-1.5567330). The same case where police had been funded with life-saving equipment (the Alert Ready system) and did not use it (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/questions-remain-rcmp-ns-emergency-alert-1.5540100). This was not a funding issue. Maybe it was an issue of the White Community allowing a White individual who committed crimes to hide among them.
Finally, the author reminds the readers that “Whenever we generalize we lose accuracy”. It is hoped that the author with take his own advice and if he attempts to write another review he does not generalize a text, organization, or movement but that he accurately cites the material under consideration.