“The media jumps to conclusions. Police officers go to a scene and they react to what is going on at the scene. They’re not reacting to race.”

Michael Blackstad, 51, is a former police officer from the Downey Police Department in Downey, California. He was on the force from 1997-2005, until he was medically retired due to a car accident on the job. Michael now lives in Fond du Lac, Wis. with his family and works as a produce manager at the local Pick n’ Save.

Samantha Blackstad, interviewer: Today here I have Mike Blackstad with me, also known as my father. He is joining me today to talk about his previous career in law enforcement.

Michael Blackstad, interviewee: Well, now I am a produce manager. I run the produce department at the Pick n’ Save here in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. I’ve been doing that for about sixteen years. Prior to that I was in law enforcement for just shy of nine years.

SB: Did you originally intend to go to school for law enforcement, or as you got older kind of changed your path and made your way back to law enforcement?

MB: Originally, I wanted to be a marine biologist. But then I changed and decided to go into law enforcement.

SB: What got you interested in law enforcement then? Was that something you always were indenting on doing?

MB: Mainly I like to help people. I also enjoyed the fact that it was always changing. There was never anything routine about a day’s work. So that was enjoyable.

SB: And were you in law enforcement in Fond du Lac County as well, or different county or state in general.

MB: No, I was in Downey, California.

SB: Roughly the year span, when were you on the force?

MB: I was on the force between 1998 and 2005, no 97 and 2005 I believe is when I was on the force.

SB: Did you, I mean I am assuming there is probably a lot of training that you had to do in general. Did you start off with I think the academy? Did you start off right away with that? Or go in a different approach first?

MB: I started in college, and I took a lot of law enforcement classes. Then I got hired by the Downey Police Department and they put me through the Los Angeles County Sherif”s Academy, which lasted about six months. And it was pretty intensive with training, schooling, and regards to all aspects of law enforcement, being the basics of law, physical training.

SB: So, in your training for law enforcement, and I know you said you took a lot of classes, physical stuff like that. Was any of this misinformation type things ever targeted? Like were you ever taught how to combat that? Because I feel like in today’s day and age maybe that would be something that academies might consider talking to officers with, especially with how the media reacts so quickly?

MB: What I was taught in the academy was to be truthful. Was to be honest. Was to act in a way that was honorable. You act as though you are being watched regardless of if you are. That was the premise of our teaching. We’re told to uphold the law. We don’t make the laws, but we enforce them.

SB: So, going back to your schooling with the basics of law, I’m assuming that that probably had to come into great play out on the streets and when you were dealing with people in general. How did you communicate with them in a proper way to make sure that they get the right information?

MB: You need to have good personal skills when you are talking to people. You need to be able to communicate. That’s a big part of being in law enforcement is you need to be able to communicate with people so that you can explain to them what they need to do and why. You need to be able to control a situation, especially when it is hectic. You’ve got to be able to explain yourself and control people.

SB: Seeing how the police force and law enforcement is handled by media today and everything was probably maybe a little different especially since social media wasn’t very prominent back then. What have you noticed from your personal experience and from what you have seen on the news, the differences in law enforcement?

MB: The media has definitely portrayed law enforcement in a negative way lately. The last several years it’s been very sad to see how law enforcement has been portrayed. It’s very unnerving to see the amount racism that’s been put into law enforcement, and it’s just not there. It’s very frustrating to see that happen. A channel that is in favor of law enforcement, Fox News. They are definitely in favor of. They speak of holding their judgement until evidence comes out. They are fair. From my opinion, CNN tends to jump to conclusions too quickly.

SB: I definitely think social media has definitely made it very difficult because of the instantality of it. If someone takes a video and it shares right away, millions of people can see it. It gets interpreted in millions of ways before any of the facts are released. From seeing what you’ve kind of seen on the news and the portrayment of law enforcement and with your personal experience, would you say your personal experience gives you a hindsight, or lets you in on what’s really going on? And would you say that that is beneficial to know in your standpoint? If that makes sense.

MB: Absolutely. The media jumps to conclusions and they don’t look at the totality of the situation. Police officers go to a scene, and they react to what is going on at the scene. They’re not reacting to race. They are not reacting to individuals. They are reacting to what’s going on at that absolute time. And they’re reacting to maintain peace. Of course, in every situation, in every profession there’s bad apples. You’re going to have that, but the 99% of law enforcement is genuine and they are there to protect and serve. And they are there because they want to help people. And it’s just really frustrating to see the news coverage lately.

SB: Do you have any advice or things that the general public or people could do to educate themselves better to kind of prevent them from being affected by misinformation or disinformation?

MB: A lot of police departments have neighborhood watch groups, join them. You go to the police department; you talk with the officers. A lot of them will offer a ride along. Where you will sit in the car with the officer, and you’ll ride around the town, and you will work a beat with the officer. And you will see what he does. Just getting out and talking to the officers and understanding them and realizing that they are just your neighbor. They are just guys and gals making a living and they are protecting your community.

SB: Is there anything else you would like to add either about your law enforcement career or just anything in general pertaining to the media or law enforcement in general?

MB: I am grateful to have served, sorry it was shorter than I anticipated. 

SB: I would like to thank you again for joining me today to talk about your career in law enforcement and thank you for serving and protecting us while you could. Mike served on the police force in Downey, California from 1997 to 2004 until he was medically retired in a car accident involving his unit.