In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, Black Cleveland police Sgt. Vincent Montague crossed the blue line. He marched in the streets, arm-in-arm with Black Lives Matter supporters. And in a rally in front of hundreds of aggrieved community members, Montague spoke about his fear that his two young Black sons would die by the hands of the police. In interviews with local and national media, he described the struggles Black cops face inside their predominantly White police departments.
Montague closed the call by saying, “Whatever I have to do, even if it is going against that code of blue … even if it jeopardizes my safety at work — it’s worth it … if it saves someone’s civil rights from being violated or someone from dying unjustly by the hands of the police.” It was one of the hottest, hypest nights of the year. The Indians had bested the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field, and Mary J. Blige had just blown the roof off the Quicken Loans Arena, pouring party people into the Warehouse District. Traffic was backed up for blocks, while the sidewalks teemed with weekend warriors, fighting and flirting their way to the next drink.
Montague later told detectives that Love did not comply, that his hands were down rummaging for something under the seat, with the car still running. Love told a different story. A lawsuit filed against the city,, asserted that Love had put his hands up as soon as he was in the sights of Montague’s gun.
Of course, these sorts of studies mean nothing to you when you’re the one pulled over by an overzealous Black cop who seems to be dehumanizing you just to showcase his fealty to the boys back at the district. That Black officers can perpetuate some of policing’s most virulent violence should be obvious to anyone who has watched the video of Black Memphis police officers mercilessly beating Tyre Nichols to death. It’s also obvious, I’m guessing, to Greg Love.
Eventually, Montague found a part-time job as a paralegal at a Cleveland law firm. He hoped the position would bring him one step closer to his goal of becoming an attorney. Instead, it introduced him to the person who would inspire him to become a cop. In part, policing’s disrepute with many Black people likely stems historically from its inextricable connection to the triangular slave trade. Precursors to policing were developed by European colonists as ways to protect their property and profit from the rebellious threat posed by the large populations of Africans that they enslaved.