Despite having a friend who was once married to a cop and watching many episodes of various Law and Order shows, my grasp of what it’s truly like to be a police officer was quite limited. But now that I’ve read Frederick Douglass Reynold’s memoir Black, White and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey In Life and Law Enforcement, my eyes have been opened.
Let’s face it, police officers don’t always have the best reputation, especially in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement. But the police also have one of the toughest jobs on the planet, and for that they deserve a lot of respect and understanding.
Reynolds was the son of two impoverished sharecroppers who moved to Detroit. His childhood was not easy, and there was a lot of tension between his parents. Despite being smart and showing a great deal of potential, Reynolds got caught up in a bad crowd and criminal behavior, something he does not sugar coat. He was going down a really bad path.
Joining the Marines was a means of escape for Reynolds, and proved he could be responsible and work hard, but still he faced challenges the four years he was in the Marines. When he tried to re-enlist he was denied because he had be reduced in rank two times. And despite working two jobs, Reynolds ended up homeless in Compton, living in his car, and often hanging out in all-night movie theaters.
However, things began to turn around for Reynolds when he got a job as an armed security office through the city of Compton. This led him to his career path as a police officer from 1985 through 2000, and he was later made a detective ultimately retiring in 2017.
When Reynolds joined the force, crack was beginning to destroy many in the black community, and he saw first hand its devastating effects on far too many people. Gang violence was also taking hold of Compton, and Reynolds speaks about the deadly battles between rival gangs naming such gangs as the Bloods and the Crips. He saw his fellow officers get gunned down. And he saw riots nearly destroy Compton. Reynolds witnessed things that I only knew through watching the news and by reading newspapers.
Reynolds’s fellow officers are also a potpourri of characters, some of which he speaks fondly and others, well, not so much. Some in law enforcement are principled and truly want to serve and protect the citizens of Compton. And sadly, there are some officials in law enforcement are quite corrupt.
Reynolds also discusses how his career in law enforcement also affected him personally with the break up of his first marriage to finding true love with his devoted second wife, Carolyn. He also is not hesitant to discuss his relationship with his children, which wasn’t always a smooth ride. In fact, he and Carolyn are raising his son Dominic’s child who has autism. Reynolds remains a man of conviction who wants to do the right thing no matter how difficult.
Black, White and Gray All Over is rich in detail, certitude, history, and information. While reading it, I figured Reynolds must have written down copious of his experiences working on the force. He really explains so many things that at times, it’s overwhelming.
In Black, White and Gray All Over, Reynolds proves law enforcement (like many professions) is filled with saints and sinners, and a lot of in-between. His books is a singular primer of what it’s like to be a police officer in one particular dangerous city.
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