Twitter has served as mobilizing tool for marginalized activists who have used the social media platform to amplify isolated stories of police brutality until a clear narrative of systemic injustice has become undeniable (the #blacklivesmatter movement certainly was most helpful).
Now, one former police officer has taken to Twitter to tell his side of the story.
Michael A. Wood is a retired detective in the Baltimore Police Department's violent crime division and founder of the Police Leadership Association, a group that publishes educational handbooks meant to serve as the "single resource for career development for law enforcement officers and supervisors." He began tweeting Wednesday about things he had "seen & participated in, in policing that is corrupt, intentional or not."
Wood previously alluded to much of the misconduct he claims to have witnessed during a May 2015 interview on the podcast Dogma Debate with David Smalley. During that interview, Wood called for an end to the war on drugs and cited a lack of empathy as one of the main drivers of police misconduct.
This morning, Wood took to Twitter to lay out some examples of the police corruption he witnessed in Baltimore:
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Wood's account was meet with much skepticism and he admitted that it took him some time to see the malfeasance within his department, admitting that he had never reported any of the activities:
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Wood promised to continue exposing past police misconduct and to engage in dialogue with followers in the coming days:
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