Keenan Williams, an ex-convict is now best friends with the cop who put him in prison
He’s been arrested 45 times, spent six years in prison, and was even homeless at one point.
Keenan Williams of Grand Prairie is now a successful businessman and motivational speaker, and he’s telling his story and encouraging others going through a similar situation.
“I’m honored to be here,” said Williams during a speaking engagement at the Grand Prairie police department.
30 years ago, Williams was a drug dealer, a confessed gang leader, in and out of jails in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Grand Prairie. Now, he talks to Grand Prairie police trainees about “bridging the gap” between the community and criminals.
“I was that young man in the streets, selling drugs, and doing drugs, and then smoking the crack cocaine,” said Williams.
19-years-old, right out of high school, Keenan’s dreams of a successful college football career abruptly ended after injuring his knee.
His parents were also in the middle of a divorce.
Keenan says that’s when a downward spiral in his life began.
“And tried to go into the Navy, the Navy said no, because I had screws in my knee,” said Williams.
He started doing drugs and selling them. Then, he robbed drug houses to make a living and was shot six times. Eventually, Keenan landed in prison for a six-year sentence.
“Because this is not supposed to happen,” he said of the fact he was speaking to police that day. “This doesn’t make sense.”
It does make sense if you consider Keenan Williams’ path to where he is today.
“I just started robbing drug houses because I knew all the drug dealers because that’s who I was,” Williams said. “So that’s how I ended up being shot so many times, being an idiot!”
But this isn’t just a story about a self-professed reformed idiot. It’s also a story about whom the ex-con was sitting next to.
“I care about people. It’s just who I am,” retired Grand Prairie Police Department Detective Alan Patton said.
Back in 1993, with Keenan’s world of drugs and guns and run-ins with the law closing in around him, Patton offered Williams his first moment of respect.
“Keenan reached out to me and asked for 24 hours to say goodbye to his family,” Patton said. “I instructed the police officers in Grand Prairie to leave Keenan alone for 24 hours, and they did.”
And so, Keenan Williams, the drug dealer, the toughest thug in Grand Prairie, willingly turned himself in.
“When I talked with you on the phone that day, you were very respectful,” Williams said as he sat side-by-side with Patton last month in a second-floor room at the Police Department. “You didn’t judge me. You did your job!”
“You were not a bad police officer trying to arrest me because I was a black man. The way you conveyed it, for that moment, I accepted the responsibility for that crime. That sealed the deal for me,” Williams said all these years later with tears running down his face. “I knew right then that my life was about to change.”
“Because all this stuff is going through my head like ‘Okay, I’m about to go to prison for a long time. But at least by going to prison I’m not going to be doing crack cocaine anymore. I don’t have to worry about hurting people anymore. I don’t have to worry about people shooting me anymore,'” he said.
“I’ve always believed that [if] you give respect, you get respect in return,” Patton said.
“You showed so much respect to me and when you did, I respected you,” Williams replied.
Fast forward, through those six years, Williams served in a Texas prison. He would read more than 200 books, get his high school diploma, and pursue a college degree. That led to his renewed faith and the new philosophy, anyone can transform.
“But the first thing I said is, ‘I’m here to thank you because what you did change my life,'” he told the group of Grand Prairie police supervisors during his October presentation, recalling his first meeting with Detective Patton after he was released from prison.
“Something happened in my life, and it changed. So, when it changed, educating myself, having the right attitude, coupling that with aptitude, has determined the altitude of my life.”
Keenan felt his job was to help others realize that.
“Not only to give the people hope that are on the corners, the people hope that are in the drug houses, that are in the prisons and the jails, but I also have to let the communities know that we can work together on this thing,” said Williams. “No one raises their hand in the third grade and says, I want to be a crack head, or I want to go to prison for the rest of my life.”
He encourages those he mentors that you can make different choices, and determine your destiny. Sometimes you just need a little guidance. “That’s all I can do is start with one person, one community at a time,” said Williams.
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/4tlV2DYshso
- https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/former-inmate-now-inspiring-others-through-mentor-program/38357/
- https://www.wfaa.com/article/life/why-an-ex-convict-is-now-best-friends-with-the-cop-who-put-him-in-prison/287-496247343
- https://twitter.com/keenantxgop
- https://us-east-2.console.aws.amazon.com/polly/home/SynthesizeSpeech
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