Why this black London police officer volunteered to work the Black Lives Matter protest

Insp. D'Wayne Price says his worlds collided this week. 

Price, a 24-year veteran of the London Police Service, has been watching closely the protests that have swept across cities in the United States after the killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis at the hands of police. 

London is hosting its own Black Lives Matter protest in Victoria Park on Saturday, and Price will be there. It was supposed to be his day off, but he volunteered to work. 

Price spoke to London Morning's Rebecca Zandbergen about being a black man in London, police brutality in the United States and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement while wearing the uniform.

Why did you volunteer to work at tomorrow's protest?

There were a couple reasons. For me, I felt it was important for me to be down there and for people to see me.

They see this black police officer who has been here for 24 years and supports the cause. It's been a tough week, in terms of my worlds colliding, my professional world and my personal life. And I just felt sitting at home while this is going on just wouldn't be right for me personally. So, I'll be down there and I'll be open to conversation. I don't know how you can't get behind the cause. 

Talk to me more about what you just said. You said this is your personal life and your professional life colliding. Tell me about that.

I've kind have been in the middle of these two worlds, where I am often a voice of the community to the police. And trying to explain issues to the police and get them to understand where the community is coming from. I'm also the person who's explaining to the community what is in the hearts of the officers that I work with, and what it means to them to do this profession and be out there and trying to keep the community safe.

We know that there are issues and we know there are things we need to do better. We get that. But I'm constantly in the discussion of trying to explain both sides. And both sides are very important to me. My police life and just living my life as a black man and the racism that I've endured, as young as I can remember almost.

So to have them both coming together like this, it's been a lot. And I don't want this to sound like, 'Oh poor D'Wayne, the black police officer.' I'm good. Tomorrow is about what these young black women, these organizers, have done. They've done an excellent job of organzing this and advertising a peaceful protest. I'm proud of what they've put together.

Tell me what it was like for you as a police officer, as a black man, watching the last moments of George Floyd's life at the hands of police?

It was disgusting. It was an incident that was so outrageous or egregious that everybody had to stop and watch and assess how they feel about these police brutality incidents. It's almost like we've hit the reset button with this and people are looking at it and saying, 'Ok. I see what you're talking about.' It was awful.

To have a prolonged incident of someone handcuffed, while that officer has his knee on his neck with his hand in his pocket almost like he's posing. Like he's just captured a big game hunt. It was awful. I had a hard time watching it and I've had a hard time watching anything related to it since. It's an 'Enough!' moment. 

How do you square what we're hearing from protestors, that they often suffer at the hands of police officers. How do you square that away with being a police officer yourself then?

It's a case by case situation. In terms of the black community feeling that the attitude of police is that they get dismissed, that they're not listened to or they're not believed, that's what I would like to see change. And I believe it is changing.

Of course, here in Canada, we have oversight that they just don't have in America. And when I watch those videos — and there are several cases, George Floyd isn't the only case — but when I look at some of the other cases, I think: where is their oversight? Like, I know that would be investigated by our Special Investigations Unit immediately. Where are their police leaders to speak out against it? Where is their training? I know here, I'm not saying we don't have issues here in Canada, but the oversight and the training is really far ahead to what is happening in the United States.

You're going to be at the protest and talking to people. What do you hope to say to some of the young protestors who are out there, who are very concerned about what's going on in the U.S. and here at home?

I don't think it's really about what I'm going to say. I don't have anything to say. These people have put together this protest because they have something to say. I think too often with the police, it is about what we have to say. And we have the voice to be able to say it.

Racialized people don't have the voice and they don't get heard very often and they also don't get the benefit of the doubt. So, I won't be going down there to say anything, but I'll be there to listen. I have friends and family that will be down there to participate and for me it's about being down there for whatever they need.

I'll be willing to listen and I think that's how all the officers down there will be. We are not going to be down there to inject ourselves at all into this. We're just down there to make sure that everything stays peaceful, which we fully expect it will, and to make sure the protestors are safe themselves.