As the ongoing controversy over deadly police shootings and told that -- in Tulsa and North Carolina continues tensions appear to be growing. Police Department are putting a greater emphasis in recruiting more minorities. In the era of black ice -- black lives matter that is easier said than done. As part of our series we spoke with a police officer about what motivated him to seek a career in law enforcement. I joined Chula Vista in June 2015. June 26 was my squaring day it was a very exciting day. I had the whole family there with my mom and wife and kids. It was a very fun day. My name is Kofi Agyeman . That means I was born on Friday. I am from Ghana and I am 30 years old. I moved here to America when I was about 15 years old back in 2000. They are going to what we call the South Side which is west of the date of five which is west of the date of 52 Main Street. My mom is probably worried the most out of everybody for my safety because as a Marine she did not want me to join the Marine core and once I decided to join the Police Department she said the same thing. She said you're going to leave the Marine Corps and join the Police Department at the time we are in right now? So right before law enforcement I was in the Marine Corps and I enjoyed being a Marine. I was in the Marine Corps for eight years but my wife and I have two little girls and we decided to get out of the Marine Corps just for the family sick I have always had law enforcement in the back of my head ever since I was a little kid I always wanted to be either a soldier or a police officer when I was growing up. Ethics and also affected by my father being in the military police back in Ghana. It was something that I always wanted to do so I knew I had to pick something that would make me happy and I chose law enforcement. I came into this profession knowing that I'm going to be putting my life on the line for the people of this community. You hear everything that is happening on the media is just teaches me to be mindful of what I do and to do what I am supposed to do. No police officer wants to shoot somebody. Nobody wants to go through that because it's a life-changing situation. Taking a young person's life will never be something that I would want to do I would only do it because I am scared for my life and I need to do it to save myself or I need to do it to save somebody from getting seriously injured or killed as well. The first thing I thought of with all of these shootings was I want to wait and see what happened after the investigations come out and I don't want to make assumptions. A lot of people make assumptions and don't know what is going on and end up leaving the wrong people. And a lot of time they are just doing their jobs. They think it cannot happen to me. If I was in that situation what would I have done. I will not know until I am in that situation. It is pretty hard. In their minds they are really being discriminated against and that's the reason why the will that way if somebody thinks he is being discriminated against I'm not going to take it lightly. I will listen to you or your complaint and I will try to be fair. Isaac I am a pretty fair guy. The main goal here is to have a good relationship with the community and have them know what we are doing and have their support and what we do and everything we do is for the community and we are there to protect them.
With the ongoing controversy over deadly police shootings in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina, the tension over race and policing continues to exist at the front of the country's collective consciousness.
To help bridge the gap between communities of color and law enforcement, police departments have been putting a greater emphasis on recruiting minorities.
But in the era of Black Lives Matter, that’s easier said that done.
As part of our ongoing First Person series, we spoke with a young black police officer about what motivated him to seek a career in law enforcement and how he is processing the deaths of black men by police officers.
Kofi Agyeman, 30, was born in Ghana. He came to the U.S. in 2000 and after serving eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he decided to become a police officer. He’s been on the Chula Vista Police force for one year.
Hit the play button above to hear Agyeman share his experience as a black police officer.
