A ‘tough profession’: Police perspective on protests

May 31, 2020

Police all over America are bearing the brunt of public anger after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis — but Dartmouth police are keeping positive and sharing a message of gratitude.

As protests, riots, and looting continue in cities nationwide for the sixth day in a row over Floyd’s death — including a Boston protest that turned violent earlier this evening — one Dartmouth mother wrote a thank-you note to the town’s police department for helping to celebrate her sons’ birthday parades.

We wanted to share this positive and heartfelt message that we received today from Lucas and Liam's mother,” a Facebook post from the department reads, over a photo of the two boys.

“I cannot express enough gratitude,” the department quoted the mother as saying. “My boys had amazing days and felt extremely special! As a parent these moments are priceless especially during these difficult times!!”

Dartmouth Police Detective Kyle Costa said that the department has received a number of supportive messages in the past few days, which he said is “nice to see.”

“It’s a tough profession,” said Costa. “It’s unique. You’re constantly gonna be judged by the court of public opinion for a lot of things...You’re never going to make everybody happy.”

“We certainly don’t condone bad behavior, whether it’s in police work or in any profession,” he added. But like in any job, Costa said, “there’s good and bad.”

“The vast majority of individuals that I’ve worked with are amazing,” he noted. “We certainly don’t have a lot of the problems that a lot of larger agencies do. We work together with the community.”

He went on to stress that “No matter what color you are, no matter what religious denomination you are, you are always treated equally by the Dartmouth Police Department.”

The best thing about this job is the people that I’ve helped, that say thank you,” Costa added. “There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”