I’m looking at a photo of a smiling white cop in uniform. He’s sitting down and talking with a group of small Black kids. One is leaning on him and eating potato chips; another is sitting between his legs. Everyone looks relaxed and happy. Their bodies are obviously harmonized. This didn’t happen automatically. It happened because that cop is regularly out in the community, day after day—sitting and talking with people, listening to stories and jokes, telling stories and jokes of his own, buying things in the local stores, and being a consistent part of that world.
