It always warms my heart when I ask the question, “when has a police officer ever done you a solid?” – and the phones overflow with positive stories.

And in the wake of another couple of police shootings – this time injuring 2 police answering a 911 call in the Bronx,it’s easy to see why they’d feel it’s open season on them.

And unfortunately it seems that only the ‘anti-cop rabble’ are making all the noise and getting all the attention.

That’s why it’s refreshing to hear the comments from a man whose father lost his life due to a police action.

He was one of a dozen panelists who spoke to a group of about 200 male students at Newark’s Central High School in helping the city to launch the “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative.

"I wanted to show kids that I'm not anti-police.”“The police department is not divorced from America.” “But, I think that because I live in Newark, and because I’m an African American male...it means that I’m more susceptible to be stopped and searched than...someone from Millburn who doesn’t look like me (and who) has a different background than I do. That’s just a fact of life in America. Does that make it right? No. It means we have to address it.”

While these words may not seem too different than the words uttered by New York City’s Mayor Bill deBlasio about his biracial son – the difference lies in the opening sentences.

"I wanted to show kids that I'm not anti-police. The police department is not divorced from America.”

Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, Police Director Eugene Veneble, and other members of the law enforcement community encouraged students to create relationships with law enforcement and engage in community policing.

“There is a lack of fellowship in our community,” “Over time we have developed this cycle of not trusting each other.”

calling on the students and officers to recognize the similarities they share with one another and saying:

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