Policing with a Passion-Interview with Officer Carmichael Lewis

Transcript

Chris: 0:35

Welcome to pulse check, Wisconsin.

1:03

Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. This is Dr. Ford Post Check Wisconsin. I wanna thank you for joining us here again today. Today we have another special episode for you. We have with us Officer Carmichael Lewis. It's interesting how things work out. Uh, Carmichael and I went to high school together and I hadn't seen him in probably about maybe 10 years or so. I, and I was recently back in Chicago for a family event and just happened to run into him randomly at a coffee shop. It is crazy because I had been meaning to get him on the show, and I think we even spoke once on Instagram about getting him on and talking about some of his programs and there he was. Carmichael has been a police officer for a number of years as we get into in the interview. But I thought it'd be good for him to come on so we can talk about some of the achievements that he's had with his programs and, hopefully we can get something like that going here in the city of Milwaukee. So with that being said, let's get it.

Chris: 2:17

We got Carmichael Lewis here with us. He's a public safety professional author, an entrepreneur, a youth mentor as well. And he is a founder of some programs that we're gonna get into here that help young men reshape their futures. So with that being said, Carmichael man, thanks for being with us. Thank you for having me, Dr. Ford. yeah, man. Can you take us back to your, you tell me like where you came from, um, and, and, and we'll kind of parlay that into, you know, how you changed your trajectory into where you're at right now. Sounds good. Uh,

Carmichael: 2:47

raised on the south side of Chicago, Morgan Park community, not too short than anybody else in the, in, in, in, uh, in the Chicago Chicagoland area growing up. Faced a little bit of adversity, you know, um, but stayed resilient. You know, I'm, I'm here today just to, give back to, to young people and give them the right direction to path

Speaker 6: 3:04

So, we, we talked a little bit beforehand about, how you realized that you were on a certain trajectory, like when we were growing up, right? So, carmic and I went to school together. We grew up together in high school, and you realize, you know, you needed to make a change. You had to move yourself from, as you put it in, in your bio from one of those kids with problems to someone that's determined to make a difference. What was that catalyst for you? That realization that you needed to change the direction you were going?

Speaker 5: 3:26

Really my. The, the people I hung out with, you know, uh, I, I realized that the people I was hanging out with, um, didn't match my, my future at the, my present didn't match my future because of the crowd I was hanging out with. So I had to stop hanging around with that crowd because it was sending me in the wrong direction. Um, and that's why to me, I believe that mentorship, mentorship matters because I didn't have that direction. I didn't have that, that guiding light. I didn't have that person I can call to. So I kind of created those decisions. Yeah, man.

Speaker 6: 3:57

So, yeah, you know, like you said, you know, it coming outta where we came from, bro. Like a lot of people that we came up with didn't make it or they're in prison right now. Right? And so that is the hardcore reality I taught. We was talking about it on another episode that we had where we're talking about teenagers, right? So especially. teenage boys growing up in rural locations, they gonna do stupid stuff like we did, right? Like everybody does stupid stuff when you're a teenager'cause you know just how you are. But for us, those stakes are higher. You know, we ain't tipping over cows. It's different high stakes, and you end up in situations where, you know, you may be 15, 16 years old, but you doing stuff that could put you, you know, behind bars for, federal time. Right. Or, you may be even be out here losing your life, bro. So, you know, we, we always wanna make sure we put programs like yours out there. We always wanna make sure that we gravitate towards these programs that we'll get into as well. So, after that you went into policing, man. What originally drew you to policing after having, those interactions in the past? I realized that, uh, growing

Carmichael: 4:54

up in Morgan Park community, I never saw black and brown police officers. Mm-hmm. And if you did see the police, it'd just be calls for service. You know, they come on the call, they're riding by, and I'm like, you know what? If we had that officer, they'll just come by and just check on your wellbeing. Just see how you doing, or give you direction or give you resources. I'm like, okay. What if I become an officer I needed growing up, what, what if I became an officer I, which I would've saw, and I just became that. Yeah.

Speaker 6: 5:24

Yeah. And how long you been in the, how long you been in policing now, man?

Speaker 5: 5:27

17 years. 17 years. I've been the police.

Speaker 6: 5:32

Wow. Yeah. Is there any moment in your career, and of course we'll get into, you know, youth and Blue United, but is there any moment in your career during, you know, your police work that profoundly impacted you, any of those moments that, put you in that direction of, you know, changing your view of the community, of, of duty as well? I, I think it, it goes back to those run-ins

Speaker 5: 5:51

I have with law enforcement. It is like, I'm not trying to give, not trying to say law enforcement should do more or need to do more. Sometimes the police is only that, that the only positive figure they will ever see, so mm-hmm. What if we can leave that person better than way we found them? For example, when, when my interactions like. I didn't have the resource. I didn't know the resources. I'm not telling them they should have gave me the resources. You know, that's for my parents to do, right. Or for me to look for it. Right. But if I didn't have that direction or that guidance or that knowledge to know where to go, it could have just been something like, Hey, you know what, why don't you, um, stop with the wrong crowd? He put a mentorship program for you. Mm-hmm. You know? Mm-hmm. Why? Why don't you go, uh, I see you keep hanging with this person because every time I come here, I see you here. Why don't you try to hang with someone else, someone different, you know, you seem like a good person. Why don't you, you know, just kind of give you direction. So I believe that, um, that's what kind of made me, uh, uh, think about policing differently. I, I've called it policing with a passion. Yeah.

Speaker 6: 6:54

Yeah. You know, we had a, uh, a episode, Mariah The Weather Bookie came on and she talked about some of the programs that she's doing here in Milwaukee. We got a big problem with, uh, reckless driving, right? And so she talked about, her own personal experience, you know, her brother ended up dying in a reckless driving accident. And how traditionally, especially in our communities too, right? Like a lot of it is don't talk to the police, right? Like, don't, you can't trust'em. You can't do X, Y, and Z, and so, how she really flipped that, 180 in her mind when she got to working with police officers, especially those that are invested like you, Carmichael in the community. How those individuals are reaching out to the communities, providing those resources, giving that alternative view of the community as well to people who are coming up saying like, Hey man, like these are other things you can look into if you're not getting that at home or if you're not getting that, you know, from your friend group, you're kicking it with, so, you know, it, it is even more of a testimony to the work that you're doing and the work that people like you are doing that are wearing the badge people that are in the community as well. It's funny that you said that

Speaker 5: 7:55

because. When I first got got on you thinking that the uniform put you in a position to be in charge, right? Or that you can get information from people and, no, that's not it. So I came in with a, with a different mindset. So I had to realize that, wait, hold on, I'm gonna have to deal with trust, you know, and build a trust takes time. You know, it could be communication, it could be asking the right questions, for example. Some people may show up on singing and say, Hey, um, what is it you need? You know who called Right? When I show up, I may ask, how can I help? Or I may just listen because they're gonna tell their story or you gonna hear their need once they start thinking. So I believe just ask them, ask, ask them the right question. And sometimes silent is, is. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 6: 8:47

Mm-hmm. Yeah, man. That's one of the things that we talk about too, right? Like silent, like listening, right? Even in any, any profession, any front facing profession, You listening to the person in front of you gets you a lot farther than you know you running your mouth, right? Mm-hmm. You know, I feel like, especially nowadays, man, like this is, this is where we're at. Especially, you know, if you go into these communities, if you talk to people who are trying to, to turn it around, you talk to people who are trying to have better outcomes. They'll tell you what they need. Right? Like the, the solutions are gonna come from within the communities, it's not gonna come from outside. So there, there's definitely the right perspective. So let's talk about one of the programs, uh, that you built, man, we're gonna get into a lot'cause you into a lot bro, and I appreciate you. But one of the programs that you talk about was Youth in Blue United. What is that and how'd you get into that?

Speaker 5: 9:34

Youth and Blue United is a program I started to help bridge the relationship gap between the youth and the police. Started a few years ago, and what made me get into it, I was taking my position as a police officer. I'm taking my platform because I believe my platform as a police officer is helping me to reach more and teach more. So that was huge to me. But then I also thought about what I needed as a youth. You know, as a youth. Those was run as, so how can I connect both of them? But in society nowadays, a lot of people saying it, you know, us versus them as a, as far as. Youth don't like the police. Police. I'm like the youth. Like, no, I'm in the schools where young people are begging for youth in Blue United. You know, where they want that guidance, they want that mentorship because they don't have that at home, you know? So sometime they come to school looking for that guidance and, and that's what we're here for. So that's what made me start. And the program I love the most that's been most impactful is Ignite Your Purpose, which, which, uh, helps young people discover their. Who they are, where they going, and uh, their, their vision. So I think that's been most I impactful because I mm-hmm. I had young people that told me they were failing in class. They, they didn't wanna come to school. They wasn't as aspiring to come to school until I ran my program through that school. And now, you know, they getting good grades, they. I'm making the right decision. Their, their parents are calling me or emailing or text me and, and showing up differently. And so that's the thing. Mm-hmm. I believe that if a person is rooting their purpose, they will always walk with intention. That's what we're trying to do. That your purpose give y for attention. Giving them that, that purpose so they can walk with intention.

Speaker 6: 11:17

And, it sounds like, it started out, just you Right. And, and the community reaching out to school. And now you at a point now where you, you're recruiting other officers to get into schools too'cause the program's building

Speaker 5: 11:27

Yep.

Speaker 6: 11:28

Other officers, firefighters

Speaker 5: 11:31

have, uh, teachers, I have deans also. So it's teaching. People that we can't do this alone. It is just not police officer. Mm-hmm. We need other people in that community. So if you are a good person, you a solid citizen, and you have a story and you're passionate about this work, you can boo united and needs you on the team because your story need to be told. I always like to say, you're the aspirin of someone's headache. I only we gonna let him suffer. Mm-hmm. So your story could be someone else's story right now and it could, it could change that trajectory.

Speaker 6: 12:03

In your program now, now is this, you know, are these just like meetings that you're having with kids or are you meeting'em outside? Is there program like mentoring that's going on? Both. So, uh,

Speaker 5: 12:13

whether it's a church, school, youth based organization where, where the youth are needed, I'm, I'm there, but mainly they're out of CPS schools. Peace circles. I, we would sit our peace circles and we'd just build, we just talk. It's an after workshop. I give'em thought starters and, and we just talk. I use this leadership model called Inward. I word Ford Inward is like we are looking within our, we're we're connecting how we connecting with others. And forward is that intention and purpose part. You know, what our goals, our aspiration, what do we want to be, who we want to be, that what the play, who we should be hanging out with.

Speaker 6: 12:50

Right, right, right, man. And like you said, giving these kids an alternative look. Right. Like it so often, especially like coming from communities that we come from, right? Like being in these situations, you can only see. What, what you see, I know so many people that we came up with that had never been outside of the city, right? Had never been to, you know, I had know people that had never been to the lakefront. Right? And like for so many kids, that may be the only thing that they see is, you know, the four or five blocks that they're always running, man. So having, having folks, like you said, that have walked that walk, having folks that, you know, have their best interest in mind and showing them these alternatives, teaching them, the importance of, going to school and, and, and getting those grades so you have options, right? Not to say that, you know, college and everything else ain't for everybody, but I mean, it, it is one of those things that you have options, right? Like you can, you can get out if you want.

Carmichael: 13:38

Yep. I believe exposure, uh, breeds expansion. Mm-hmm. You know, you can only think of what you see. So if I'm only seeing the person across the street and what they're doing, guess what I'm gonna become? And a little example of myself is like, you know, my interaction with police, guess what I became? I became a police. That's what I saw. Mm-hmm. Schools smaller, again, exposing our young people to more, yet you exposed to the police, but you're also exposed to teachers, doctors, lawyers. Them in front of people just don't know what they can be.

Chris: 14:11

One of the things that you do outside of that work is you're a writer too. You're a author. Tell us about, you know, the books, uh, that you're writing right now, and what inspires you to start writing. So, I just

Carmichael: 14:22

finished, I'm finishing up one book called The Father Effect. Uh, so I'm still creating that right now. It's called The Father Effect. So it's talking about the, the effect of fatherhood and how just. Father is, is, is, is important. I just finished a book with my, my, my sons. It's called What To Do With A Dollar, and that's my 11th book. So, wow. The story behind that is I, I added a little, I had some cash on me, so I gave my son some money and they said, dad, what I'm gonna do with it, and that's spark my intrest Like, wow, wow. He don't know what to build A dollar. Okay, how can I explain it to him? So I said, you know what, that's coming up with a storyline. You know, we only, we did about four functions and four functions are, you know, spend it, save it, invest it, or donate it. So all throughout their book, they, they spent, it didn't gain money back from it. They saved it, got a little penny from it, uh, and then they invested it. So once they invested, they found out like, wow, I got more money on my return. I was able to donate, save, and gust. And still I'm able to buy some more ice cream. So just showing them something different. Every book is tied back to my family or it's tied to my personal life. My very first book was, that was of the past. Hmm. To me, that helped me get through what I was going through. Uh, I was kind of going through something, uh. And my wife said, babe, you, you are, are carrying a lot of weight from your childhood. You should write it down. And I'm like, nah, I'm about to write it down. I'm not about to do that. Mm-hmm. But then I had time, I said, you know what? I have time. I said, you know what, let me get a journal. And I started writing. I started writing, cleared that journal, and I cleared that journal. I read it and I'm like, wow, I've been through a lot and I'm here now to talk about it. What if my story can help save someone else? Mm-hmm. And so

Speaker 5: 16:09

I, I turned my, my storm. Into a story to help others. Mm-hmm. And that's what shadows of the past is from. So I just love my, I love putting my, my thoughts on paper and helping others because I'm leaving that blueprint for not just my family, for the world, for the, for the future that's coming behind

Speaker 6: 16:29

me. And that's the thing about it too, right? Like I feel like so much in what we do. Right. Especially when we were coming up. Right. You're told just to kind of push all that down. Right. So we have mental health awareness month coming up too. And, and for, for a lot of that, especially for young African American men, you push it all down and you just keep going. Right. You tough it out. Right. But that moment that you sit back, right. And like you said, you got a journal, your own personal experience, you were able to read through that story and say, not only am I able to get the, get this out and reflect and see. In front of me all that I went through but how can that story help somebody else? And you'd be surprised how many people you can help with that who, even if you're, you're helping them realize, hey, you can reflect on this too, right? You can, you can do the same process, right? You can open up and not hold it all in. Right? So it's good not only for you, for your communities, but it's good for mental health of, of everyone in our community to do that. Oh yeah. Mental health is important

Speaker 5: 17:23

to me. I tell people all day long, respectfully, if you're not seeing a therapist, man, something wrong with you. Right. You can't, you can't carry this by yourself. Mm-hmm. You, you have to have somebody to, to not say, dump it off on, but you have to, you have to give this to somebody and you can't give it to your wife. You can't give it to your kids. You, you quote unquote, supposed to be that rock. You know what I mean? So again, having my therapist, I've been sitting there for about five years and she's amazing. She helped me become the person I am today, and I thank her for that, and I will never not see therapy because it got me from a moment. It got me from a moment where I was like, wow. Like man, just out of it to a moment where now I'm purposeful now, now I'm walking with intention, you know?

Speaker 6: 18:11

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 5: 18:12

I'm seeing things clear. Yeah.

Speaker 6: 18:14

Yeah, man. Like I say, if you coming up in, we grew up in a communities like it, you got trauma, just accept it. Yeah, yeah. Like you said. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the wrong thing to do. Not to see somebody that could, to help you carry that and you know, I, I love that. Especially like, I feel like our generation and going forward is more accepting of that'cause trying to tell previous, I couldn't even imagine telling some of our coaches in high school that. Right. Like them having that same mentality. Right. But I mean, like, that's where we gotta go, man. That's how you, that's how you have to deal with it. You have to treat your mental health like you do your physical health, right? Yes. We put a lot of emphasis on you need a primary doctor, you need to take your medications, you need to make sure that you know where your vital signs are. You know, it's that vital sign of your mental health. You gotta check in with that too, because all of that is attached to it as well,

Speaker 5: 18:57

Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's, and it's, it's important. You can't just. A lot of people use, um, therapy as smoking a cigar or smoking or vaping. Right. Or, or cheating. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, you know, it's, it's, it's so many things they try to put in place. It's like, man, just get in front of somebody and talk to somebody. You'll be surprised. Right. You'll be surprised. Uh, and again, and my therapist kind of help me come up with something different where I went back to go get certified to be a life coach. You know, so now I'm a certified life coach where I'm able to, to talk to people and handle situations differently,

Speaker 6: 19:33

In addition, you have programs in, entrepreneurship, real estate too, right? Which one of your programs is the one that you feel like you're most proud of right now and the more one that's having the most impact? Yeah, I would say

Speaker 5: 19:45

ignites your purpose. Ignites your purpose, because I believe the young people like purchase. That's why they're out here doing what they're doing. Again, if your purpose is to, I'm gonna say it'cause every young person wanna gets to that and that, and that be gonna be a, you know, so if your purpose is to go there, what's your crowd look like? Who are am? Mm-hmm. What are you doing? Mm-hmm. Okay. How are you waking up? What are you doing at now? What are you eat? What are you watching, what are you listening to? All those, all those are key facts, like how you showing up in school. Because how you do anything is how you do everything. Be mindful of what you're doing. Like, are you stand up late playing video games while you getting your rest? You know, where's your community? And I'm not talking about community outside your own, I'm talking about your, who's your community inside your, your family, your parents, you know? So it's just, again, asking those right questions with them to see, okay, show me that road.

Speaker 7: 20:42

Show me those five steps to get there.

Speaker 6: 20:44

And that's the thing, right? A lot of the lot, lot of folks don't, they don't go past that, right? The initial, I'm gonna go to the NBA, I'm gonna go to the NFL, I'm gonna start a business, It's that path up to it, right? That, that you have to do. And, and it is not the kid's fault. They don't know, right? You don't know these steps and, and, and as a child you're not thinking about it. And in the front of your mind, you just said, this is my goal. I'm gonna get that by any means necessary. A lot of times for a lot of folks, like those, those goals. I mean, if you think about, you know, we, we went to an abnormal high school, we had abnormal amount of people that went to the NFL. Right? So that is not normal. Right. But at the same time, it's that thing of if you don't make it right, right. Like, do you take advantage of the opportunities in front of you? Do you put yourself in the situation? You know, alright. I didn't make it to the NFL, but I made it to college and I'm gonna do this with the degree that I was able to get. The majority of us who went to college and played in college, that's what we did. Right. And so, you know, that's the thing about it. If you, if you're putting in that work, if you're thinking how you gonna get there, one of those steps involved is gonna put you in a good position where you can. Build relationships with people that you can, you know, like Carmichael that's gone, put you in a position that you can achieve your goal or you can be in a situation where you know, X, Y, and Z person that can get you up there, you know, when you, when you want to get there. Right. So it's so important to have programs like that. So important to have investment in community like you doing. Yeah, I think it's important

Speaker 5: 22:00

because the end goal right is, say in the NFL. But imagine the character you got to have behind it, the resiliency. Mm-hmm. You know, the discipline behind it. So at the end of the day, guess what? You don't make it to the NFL. Look who you become along the way. Mm-hmm. So to hit it on the head, what you just said, you're absolutely right. So it's like you look at the, the character you're building along the way. So if you do make it great, but if you don't guess what you still, you still gonna take that same energy and that same focus and put it somewhere else. Mm-hmm. So I call it having two plan A.

Speaker 6: 22:33

Exactly. Exactly. And that's a, that's the thing, you know, a lot of our coaches, especially in high school and in college too, a lot of'em had the mentality of you gonna be professional in something. Right. And so that mentality that you gotta have to get to the NFL, like you said, that discipline. Get to the, get to the NBA, right? That, that, that resilience have that good community around you, that that friend group around you, et cetera, all those things are still gonna be important. Like even if you don't make it to the NFL, right? Even if you don't make it to that, to that, to that level that you want to be, and so, those structure that you're putting in place are gonna make you successful and gonna keep you in that position.

Speaker 5: 23:08

A hundred percent.

Speaker 6: 23:09

What structural barriers. Keep you up at night, in the emergency department. I see people at the worst time in their lives as a police officer. You see people at the worst time of their lives too sometimes. But are there any structural barriers that you see as barriers that keep you up at night?

Speaker 5: 23:22

The only barrier that comes to mind is yes, if I get taken away too soon where my, my. I didn't put the right people and the right system in place for this to go on for generations because I believe this business and, mentorship program is important. So me get taken away before it had been birth, because I can see this all across the world, you know, uh, officers, uh, and officers are doing this already, right? It's a different type of purpose that you need to have with this. It's, it's a, it is a certain curriculum that I have where it teaches to be a little bit more patient, a little bit more positive, uh, passionate about what you do. Yeah. So that's, I I think that's what keeps me up at night. The simple fact that, uh, if, if I get taken away too soon and the, the vision hasn't been planned or me putting systems in place to keep this going.

Speaker 6: 24:16

Yeah, man. Yeah, absolutely. And for someone, let's say, you know, a kid is out here listening. We got a lot of listeners from, from all over the city of Milwaukee, all, all around the country at this point. But for somebody who's listening that feels like they're kinda locked in, right, like they're locked in, limited by their zip code, limited by their history, limited by their situation, what is some advice that you would give them to push past that?

Speaker 5: 24:37

A quote I live by is, and it's, I made this quote, quote up, is, don't let where you from determine who you become. Because a lot of times we get stagnant and I'm just from here. I'm just this, I'm just that. Don't look at where you from. Look at who you could become. And I think that's way more important where again. Identifying a purpose, identifying a vision, and know exactly who you need to hang with, who you need to be surrounded by. You know, uh, identify accountability partner. You know, if you do 1% each and every day, that's 365% a year that you, you are increasing on yourself. So you must value yourself differently. Look at your, look at yourself in the mirror. Sometimes you have to give yourself positive affirmations. Mm-hmm. Most of the time, we, we, we listen to ourself instead of talking to ourself. I think we need to do more talking to ourself, you know, saying I am. Mm-hmm. You know, so pouring that positive spirit in your life will be very important and then make a difference when you start talking to yourself and stop listening to yourself.

Speaker 6: 25:42

Absolutely, man. I was just recently on, um, uh, a guest on the podcast and, and the way that we closed it out was she asked me a question that I'm gonna ask to you here, and one of the things is, you know, what would you tell your 16-year-old self, if you could go back right now and you know, you, you had the DeLorean, what would you say to yourself as a 16-year-old because you'd be surprised how effective and how. Influential that can be on somebody who is in that situation that you may have been in when you were 16.

Speaker 7: 26:10

Hmm.

Speaker 6: 26:11

Man, that's a good one. I'm gonna go back to the

Speaker 5: 26:13

affirmation because I, I didn't start talking to myself until I was an, an adult to sell, to sell, to tell. My 16-year-old self

Speaker 7: 26:22

tell you are amazing. You can do anything. You are kind, no matter what you've been through,

Speaker 5: 26:32

you can be somebody. So just pouring into that, that that young person to let'em know what they can become. So that's what I'll say to my younger self. Just, just pointing to'em positively. Absolutely, man.

Speaker 6: 26:46

Absolutely. Well, for our listeners out there, how could they get involved? I'm really looking forward to, to getting your program in front of some people out here in Milwaukee to see if we can maybe get you up here as well. But how can people reach out? How can they find more information? Just how can they get their hands on one of your books too?

Speaker 5: 27:02

So you go on, uh, www.youthandblueunited.org. That's where my, my website is and my books are all on Amazon. Like I said, I have about 11 books. You can put Carmichael Lewis on your, in your Amazon account, and all my books will pop up. And especially for the ones that's, that's the teenagers. It's one called The Ultimate Teenager Guy, which is what I run my igniter purpose book through. I learned that certain amount of young people. I'm unable to read, so I had to pull the knowledge out of the book for my adults. That's listening. The Gold mine is a good one. It teaches people how to stay positive in negative situations you got the Mommy and me for the newer moms. You got the daddy in me for the no Dad. So yeah, but

Speaker 7: 27:46

just look on, uh, and

Speaker 6: 27:49

name. That's what's up, man. That's what's up. Well, brother Cargo, I appreciate you, man. It's been powerful. I appreciate you sharing your story, especially growth, the work with teenagers, law enforcement, man, as you're doing all our community. Thank you for doing all that. It definitely matters in what we doing, man.

Speaker 5: 28:06

Hey, I appreciate you

Speaker 6: 28:07

Time me, doctor. Absolutely, brother.

28:10

A common thing that we see in medicine as well as any other professional endeavor is if you have someone who is from the communities that they are treating, or from the communities that they're working, how much of a difference it makes to engage that community, how much difference representation makes in almost any field that you can think of. And so. Well, that's one of the reasons why I wanted to bring Carmichael on here, because again, you know, we both came from these communities that he has decided to make his passion to make a difference in by implementing some of what he has learned, some of what he has been through in order to help the next generation. Policing is one of those fields that we need more representation in from our communities because there are things that are unspoken in our communities. There are cultural contexts that we need in order to foster that relationship between the communities and the police in order to help facilitate community growth. Right. I know people who have had bad run-ins with police. I've had bad run-ins with police as well, but there's also been some positive with police in growing up, a lot of my coaches in high school were police officers and they were very clear in telling us how to carry ourselves when we go outside. And so this is the context that Carmichael is trying to. Teach the next generation, and frankly, this is something that we need to continue to support, not only here in Milwaukee, but all throughout the country, i'm sure a lot of the communities would, would be receptive of it too. So. Looking forward to helping to foster any relationship that I can with our, uh, common council here, with our state legislature, any way that we can to help get a program like this here in Wisconsin. Looking forward to seeing you all on the next episode. And with that being said.