I started as a police officer in 1986 and things were definitely different then. Looking back now I can say it was a gradual change and your time frame is about right. Things were changing during that time. For instance, in Selma, we had never had a gang problem until then. Suddenly we became aware of it and I was sent to New Orleans for a week to a gang school to be educated. While I was there, the Rodney King story broke. The reason I can remember it so well is one of the instructors at the school was a LA County Sergeant. It angered him and he said some things about the LAPD that he probably shouldn't have told everyone. Just say, the other LEOs in LA didn't appreciate the way the PD operated.

I know that Selma has never been the same since those times. At one point it was a good place to raise a family. Now, those of us that are still here are doing all we can to make sure our children don't return here once they move away to college or the military.

In the political world, I think that era saw the radicalization, for lack of a better term, of the Democratic Party.

Like pieces of a puzzle, all these things fit together and i commend you younger guys for recognizing this.

Last edited by jawbone; 01/31/19 11:48 PM.
Lord, please help us get our nation straightened out.