Member-only story
13-Year-Old Adam Toledo
And the State of Policing
He was a kid.
That was the only image that got stuck in my head as I watched the footage of Adam Toledo shot by a Police Officer in Chicago. I did not think about the gun that Adam Toledo dropped after the officer asked him to do so. I did not remember Adam raising his hands after the officer asked him to do so. The whole world got slightly blurred as the footage ended. I played it again one more time, as I could not believe what I just saw. And when it played again, the only question that lingered in my head was: How old is Adam?
Reports said Adam was 13 years old. Just a year younger than my sister’s son. I have no idea why my head drifted to my nephew, but it did. A 13-year-old seventh-grader was shot dead by a police officer after he complied with the officer’s instructions.
My head was racing to find out something. Anything I could latch on, to support the officer. I grew up in an environment that taught me to respect the Police for their service. I never saw them as professionals; I saw them as saviors. As a kid, police cars and firetrucks were my go-to toys. They were always a part of my life. I grew up respecting the Police, and there are parts in my brain that I still know pines for them.
