...I’m a police lieutenant in the city of St. Louis. I have been on the job for just about 32 years. St. Louis has one of the highest rates of police shootings in the country, and Black mistrust of police runs deep. ...

Police unions are growing furious at calls for reform. The police union is defending the [brutal] actions of officers...[and people say], “The reason why they are allowed to keep their job is because of the police union.” The reputation of most unions is that they uphold the officers in a wrongdoing. ... The community look at it as the unions all stand united, no matter what [police] do. But we have two unions in St. Louis—the St. Louis Police Officers Association, and then the second one is called the Ethical Society of Police. And that’s what we should be—as police officers we should be ethical. Yes, there is systemic racism—and this is how I’m going to fight it. If something is wrong, we say it’s wrong. ... We stand on truth, what’s right, and what is just. And when you do that, you have better relationships with your community.

[At] Ethical, we are not perfect. Sometimes we make mistakes. ...We had to say, [to one of our members]... “Hey, we love you. We care about you, but we can’t support the behavior.” Sure we have loyalty,...but, I can’t back you when you’re doing something wrong.

...George Floyd, he was murdered on my birthday. And for me to sit and watch that officer, with his knee to Mr. Floyd’s neck, was totally devastating for me. And in that moment, that’s when I felt “us versus them”, because George Floyd looked like me.

To heal the divide is going to take a lot. And we, as law enforcement, it’s our responsibility. Unions across the country can change by following our lead. First, we need to get out there and apologize. We got to be accountable for what we do. That’s the only way we can begin to heal the divide.

—Lieutenant Cheryl E. Orange, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, speaking in a video published by the New York Times.