This article was written by Ryan Mellott.

The U.S. experienced several shootings within the past week; Dallas, Texas, Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana. The shootings in Dallas left five dead and seven wounded; all of whom were police officers. What the Hell people, this is messed up. One thing we need to realize is that stereotypes and fear stem from the most extreme cases. Let’s look at the fears of both the law enforcement and the civilian side shall we?

Side #1 — Law Enforcement:

It is up to the law enforcement to deal with crime in the city. So yes, it is understandable that they are a little on edge when they are walking into any situation; they never know what dangers might arise. However, that does not protect them and give them the right to be quick on the trigger in the many situations that we’ve seen. But I pose the question, how many interactions happen every day between a law enforcement officer and the members of its community that do not go sour? We never hear about those. Not all law enforcement officers are so quick to pull the trigger, just like not all members of that community are out to hurt cops. Do police have a right to be wary? Yes. But simply living in that situation does not give them probable cause to take unnecessary actions (unlawful searches, beatings, shootings, etc.) and the imbalanced arrest rates for minor crimes, including pot.

Side #2 — Civilians:

When you think things can’t get crazier and worse somehow they do. We are seeing the people who are supposed to protect and keep order now open firing on civilians; this is the case with both Castile and Sterling. So, of course we have a reason to be pissed off! We have a problem where cops are using deadly force in unnecessary situations. Why should we trust somebody to protect our lives when we see that trust broken in this past week? However, there are instances of disrespect towards police, and violence as well. The cops absolutely have a right to be on their guard and ready at a moment’s notice, but does it justify taking a life? No. Their job requires them to be serious, alert, and prepared for the worst at all times. They are everyday people who are going out to protect the public (which includes you), and no matter what you should have respect for that.

By the amount of outcries it’s obvious something needs to change, this much is understood.

CHANGE NEEDS TO HAPPEN; for the sake of both parties here. I believe that the only way things will change is if both sides stop being who the other side fears. We’re creating our own worst demons. With the Dallas shooting, this is giving people a reason to fear. With the shootings of Castile and Sterling, this is giving a reason for people to fear. The sniper suspects were alleged to be purposely targeting the people who are supposed to protect us. Both tragic events took us back a major step. Instead of working together, both parties invoked more violence and fear. The cops can be quick to the trigger because they are scared of situations like these. And civilians are scared of cops because of the situations like the unnecessary killings that happened earlier this week. Both sides in this spectrum need to realize that the majority of the other side is not the people they fear.

So what are they fearing and why is there so much? One reason that these situations are happening is that there is fear of the unknown. Civilians do not know what it is like to be a cop, to risk your life everyday trying to protect others. Cops might not recognize the daily hardships some civilians experience. Both sides fear aspects from one another. I’m not going to pretend that I know what living in that environment is like but I do know from my experience, in general most people do not want to hurt each other. Let’s take a moment to realize that each side is scared of the worst of the other. Not all cops are going to go shoot innocent people. Not all civilians that cops walk up to are trying to hurt them. There needs to be more casual conversations held and more relationships formed to where each side can come to the table and learn about the other side. The more open people are the more understanding of each other they will become.

Black or white, who gives a damn! So you may or may not have noticed I did not mention race in this, because why should it matter? A couple good friends of mine helped me put this in perspective. So these ideas are not completely mine, but I fully believe them and support them. Unnecessary killings are happening and it is messed up. The majority of shootings we see on the news are black deaths. But, putting that title on it is taking away from the true crime, taking a human life. It does not matter what race the person is, a life is a life and they should not be taking this way.

A message to the Black Lives Matter movement, your cause is totally understood. Seeing friends, family members, neighbors being typecast by police and seeing them killed is terrible and shouldn’t happen to anyone. However, who is to say that one race is more important than any other race? That may not be what you believe, but that is the way it is portrayed. I know that the idea behind the campaign is that there are the people out there that “do not value black lives as much as others” and you are trying to change that so you can believe everybody becomes equal. So yes be pissed, you have a reason to be, but take the color out, ignore the race. It’s only creating more separation. How different would it be if headlines read, “Police officer shoots man” in comparison to adding race, “White police officer shoots black man”. A border has now been drawn between two groups that shouldn’t be defined as separate to begin with.

To the All Lives Matter movement, what the hell? If you really believe that “all lives matter” then you should be just as angry as the Black Lives Matter about these killings. Yes it is noble for you to stand up for the men and women in blue who are working day in and day out to protect this great nation, but do you think it is right for them to take a life in an unwarranted situation? Not every officer is going to do this, but the ones that do need to be reprimanded for the mistake that they made; a mistake that cost a life. It doesn’t matter if they “looked suspicious” or anything like that. They are innocent until proven guilty. Castile had a gun in an open-carry state and was reaching over to grab his license to show the officer. That shooting was uncalled for. If you believe all lives matter, stand up and show it.

Both sides have killed and been killed. If you want the killings to stop, practice what you preach. People should be pissed off because there have been unnecessary human killings. Anybody should mourn for any loss, regardless of race. Plain and simple. No color needed. People are dying on both sides and it needs to stop.