In the above video, Major Neil Franklin, a retired police officer and current LEAP Executive Director, gets choked up as he reflects on the injustice of the War on Drugs, pointing out the role he played in enforcing this policy in poor minority neighborhoods.
“I think about all those things I did throughout the years that I’m not proud of today,” Franklin says, struggling to hold back his tears. “Every time I go here, it just—when that is brought up—it just takes me back to those things that I did as a police office for three decades that I’m not proud of, and that’s what we need to change. I am a police officer in recovery—from police officer to peace officer.
Birthplace: San Diego, CA
Birthdate: That’s for me to know
Political Party: Independent
Political Philosophy: Libertarian-liberal