New Dispatch From The Brady White Files: Why Risk Your Life if You're A Cop?

Brady White, as VodkaPundit and I have chronicled over the past several months, is every cop in America. He writes under a pseudonym in order to have the freedom to say what many cops across America want to say. He has worked riot lines in a big-city police force. He’s watched city councils across the nation, including his own, do everything they can to denigrate, discourage, and defund the police. He’s seen colleagues take an unjustified rap simply for being a cop. As he told VodkaPundit in October,

My name is “Brady White.” It’s not my real name but I am currently a police officer in a major city. If I were to write this under my real name I’d be reassigned, investigated, suspended, or possibly even fired.

I am taking on a risk by writing these columns. But the reason I do so is twofold: One, I can’t remain silent anymore and; two, because the public needs to know what the day-to-day front-line patrol officer deals with.

There is a mass exodus in law enforcement. Nationwide.

It’s been a few months since we heard from Brady White. He and I reconnected this week, and he’s got another column—or rant, as he prefers to call them. He wants to talk to you about what cops everywhere are feeling as the Derek Chauvin trial continues and the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright in Minnesota plays out on the news.

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Jeff Reynolds: “You’ve been awfully quiet lately.”

Me: “That’s been by design.”

I left my large city agency last fall and my quality of life has been better since doing so. Sometimes no news is good news. It was weird. Last fall after my initial columns ran, the riots seemed to slow down and Joe Biden won the presidential election. Then the Capitol fiasco happened and police were somehow not the devil anymore—for about a week, anyway.

Then another high-profile incident, hand-picked to be run with by the media, happened and it was back to rioting, looting, and the racial divide splashed all over cable news. This has become the norm in America anytime any high-profile incident involving police happens.

Related: Brady White Files: Big-City Cop Explains Why He Left That Police Department for Good

Twenty-seven killed over the weekend in Chicago? So what. Triple-shooting in the ghetto in Louisville? Big deal. Who cares? No money to be made there.

I had a senior officer tell me as a rookie, “This place would rather there be 500 homicides this year where it’s neighborhood on neighborhood rather than one of us (cops) kill one of them (citizen/criminal).” He’s not wrong. Cities have deep pockets. So does the local dope man, but not on the level of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against (insert city here) because your precious baby boy with six baby mamas, felony warrants, and a gun decided he wanted to hold court in the street and lost.

Have I seen the video out of Brooklyn Park, Minn.? Yes, I have. Like you, I have many questions. What’s the officer’s background? She’s reportedly a twenty-six-year veteran of the force. When was the last time she was on patrol? Was Clinton in office? Was her duty belt set up for cross-draw on the taser? (Doing so means it’s a conscious choice to pull that or your duty weapon.)

Why has it become the norm in large cities to burn, loot, and commit mayhem, and in some cases murder in the name of …. the dead person? Racial equality? Social justice?

Last year the #defundthepolice movement was the flavor online for a while. You want to ensure incidents like Brooklyn Park keep happening? Defund your police departments. Cut the training budget. Lower wages to ensure you get lower-quality candidates. As someone who’s seen the hiring process first hand, let me assure you: right now the talent pool for law enforcement is shrinking. Who, with a college degree, military experience, and other specialized training wants to join up right now? For less than $50K a year, or a disproportionate wage for a high cost-of-living city, and to have every decision you make be scrutinized by the media in perpetuity? The city manager of Brooklyn Park was FIRED for suggesting the officer in question be given… get this… DUE PROCESS.

You know, the same rights all citizens are afforded?!? Perish the [expletive deleted] thought!! Let’s face it, this officer could have been drawn, quartered, and hung in the town square while her family was made to watch and it wouldn’t be enough for those in society who hate the police.

All these high-profile incidents are serving to do is speed up the exodus out of large agencies that don’t back their people and law enforcement altogether, while simultaneously ensuring you can’t recruit your way out of this mess. Because who really wants to do this job right now? Certainly not the activists; they’re making too much money spray-painting buildings, shaking down corporations, and marching in the streets with impunity during a global pandemic. Seems to pay well.

This brings me to my last point today, boys and girls. If you are a large-city cop with a department, city hall, and vocal citizen base, why are you doing anything proactive? Especially in Minnesota, while the Derek Chauvin trial is going on?

You cannot win in the court of public opinion as a police officer right now. So why try? Why risk your livelihood, pension, and freedom for people looking to put you in prison for doing your job?