((PKG)) PROTESTS / POLICE DEPUTY
((Banner: Racism, Seen from Inside))
((Reporter: Marsha James))
((Camera/Editor: Gabrielle Weiss))
((Additional Camera: Virginia Gunawan))
((Map: Laurel, Maryland))
((Main character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
So, here we have me graduating from the police academy.
This is my chief at the time. Quite happy to have a gun and
a badge. I was working on the bus. We used to wear plain
clothes on the bus. And that's me with the general
manager. I had just made sergeant. I remember being the
only African-American female in that group of promotees. I
remember the levels of competitiveness and the gratification
that I was able to compete at that level and excel.
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
My name is Tracy Simmons and I am a retired Deputy Chief
of the Metro Transit Police Department. I served there for
over 25 years in various capacities. I came up through the
ranks and I retired at the rank of Deputy Chief and I was the
first African-American woman to reach that rank at my police
agency.
It was very intimidating for a young woman, especially a
young black woman. I was in a highly, you know, Anglo
workplace with majority male and it was challenging. You
had to get in to fit in, to get along and really, you really still
weren't a part of. Be clear. You know, in the police
department, there was rampant sexism, rampant racism.
There were remarks made in roll calls that, you know, I
wouldn't dare repeat. And as I was there, because I was,
because I was there, I got to be a voice for things that
needed to change and be different.
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
There'll be a certain segment of racism because we come
from those same communities. Police officers come from
those same communities and they bring along with them
their belief systems, their worldviews and their cultural
experiences. It's, I think it's come to a head. I think there's a
lot of things that we get to see now because of technology
that has occurred for many, many years. And that now it’s
kind of in our face. We all had an opportunity to see George
Floyd, you know, be murdered right on television. I've never
seen anything like it in my life and I don't think most
Americans have.
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
I think though, our country is in a break down and I think that
around police brutality and law enforcement, I would tell the
protesters that I support them wholeheartedly. I would tell
them to be thoughtful and be aware that there are other
stories and other spaces.
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
That's just part of the story but it’s not the real story. It
doesn’t tell the story of the ten police officers that got killed
last week. It doesn't tell that story. Or guy down the street
that got shot by other assailants who the police locked up
and now they're in jail. So, there are a lot of stories here to
be told.
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
And so, I'm hopeful. I do think that there are definite ways
that we can begin to change the culture and we get to just,
you know, retire out those that want to hold onto the old
ways. It's not like….It's changing. And those that aren't
ready to change need to move on. They need to go.
((Courtesy: Reuters))
((NATS:
Because he changed not only this country, not only the
United States. He changed the world. George Floyd
changed the world.
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
We get to say what legacy George Floyd's death has on us
as a people.
((Courtesy: Reuters))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
As long as people feel like it isn’t going to die out like all the
rest of them, because those four officers will go to jail for a
very long time. But it doesn't mean I feel super safe about
my son driving at night. It just doesn't.
((Banner: Racism, Seen from Inside))
((Reporter: Marsha James))
((Camera/Editor: Gabrielle Weiss))
((Additional Camera: Virginia Gunawan))
((Map: Laurel, Maryland))
((Main character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
So, here we have me graduating from the police academy.
This is my chief at the time. Quite happy to have a gun and
a badge. I was working on the bus. We used to wear plain
clothes on the bus. And that's me with the general
manager. I had just made sergeant. I remember being the
only African-American female in that group of promotees. I
remember the levels of competitiveness and the gratification
that I was able to compete at that level and excel.
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
My name is Tracy Simmons and I am a retired Deputy Chief
of the Metro Transit Police Department. I served there for
over 25 years in various capacities. I came up through the
ranks and I retired at the rank of Deputy Chief and I was the
first African-American woman to reach that rank at my police
agency.
It was very intimidating for a young woman, especially a
young black woman. I was in a highly, you know, Anglo
workplace with majority male and it was challenging. You
had to get in to fit in, to get along and really, you really still
weren't a part of. Be clear. You know, in the police
department, there was rampant sexism, rampant racism.
There were remarks made in roll calls that, you know, I
wouldn't dare repeat. And as I was there, because I was,
because I was there, I got to be a voice for things that
needed to change and be different.
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
There'll be a certain segment of racism because we come
from those same communities. Police officers come from
those same communities and they bring along with them
their belief systems, their worldviews and their cultural
experiences. It's, I think it's come to a head. I think there's a
lot of things that we get to see now because of technology
that has occurred for many, many years. And that now it’s
kind of in our face. We all had an opportunity to see George
Floyd, you know, be murdered right on television. I've never
seen anything like it in my life and I don't think most
Americans have.
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
I think though, our country is in a break down and I think that
around police brutality and law enforcement, I would tell the
protesters that I support them wholeheartedly. I would tell
them to be thoughtful and be aware that there are other
stories and other spaces.
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
That's just part of the story but it’s not the real story. It
doesn’t tell the story of the ten police officers that got killed
last week. It doesn't tell that story. Or guy down the street
that got shot by other assailants who the police locked up
and now they're in jail. So, there are a lot of stories here to
be told.
((NATS))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
And so, I'm hopeful. I do think that there are definite ways
that we can begin to change the culture and we get to just,
you know, retire out those that want to hold onto the old
ways. It's not like….It's changing. And those that aren't
ready to change need to move on. They need to go.
((Courtesy: Reuters))
((NATS:
Because he changed not only this country, not only the
United States. He changed the world. George Floyd
changed the world.
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
We get to say what legacy George Floyd's death has on us
as a people.
((Courtesy: Reuters))
((Tracie Simmons, Retired Deputy Chief, Metro Transit
Police Department))
As long as people feel like it isn’t going to die out like all the
rest of them, because those four officers will go to jail for a
very long time. But it doesn't mean I feel super safe about
my son driving at night. It just doesn't.
