Veteran New York Police Sergeant LisaMarie Newkirk breaks the Blue Wall of Silence and speaks passionately about her disappointment of the recent black lives lost at he hands of other blacks and at the hands of law enforcement, as well her fellow officers who lives were lost as well on YouTube, Wednesday, July 13th.
In the six-minute and fifty-three second video, Sgt. Newkirk, a member of the fraternal organization, Blacks In Law Enforcement of America (BLEA), dressed in a black pin strip jacket and red button down shirt, against a black background, starts off uttering the words;
I am in mourning from the lost of life happening daily in our community streets taken at the hands of each other. I mourn the lives unnecessarily taken by police. I mourn the deaths of cops whose lives have been senselessly taken by folk who have lost their faith in humanity. And I especially mourn those who have lost their faith in humanity.
America we have a problem and that means it time for leadership everywhere to step up… (see full video below)
BW salutes and applauds Sgt. Newkirk for speaking up. Traditionally it was mostly retired law enforcement officers or those so close to retirement they weren’t in fear of retribution from their superiors, but now we are seeing active officers stepping up and speaking out.
Damon K. Jones, NY Rep for BLEA tells BW, “We support our sister NewKirk in being honest about how black law enforcement feels about these situations.
We hope more black law enforcement speak out in order to produce real change.”
Sgt. LisaMarie Newkirk is active with 16 years with New York Police Department and nearly 2 years with the New York Department of Corrections (NYDOC). She currently works in Manhattan.
