Police Are Trained to Fear

As a former cop, I know why so many carry out their work with an “us versus them” mentality

Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty

In 2000, I was a rookie patrol cop in the Baltimore Police Department. Everything I’d learned from six months in the police academy and another month of field training was still fresh in my head. I fancied myself as a squared-away, polished-looking crime fighter at…