Azerbaijani Sheriff: In America everything depends on you - INTERVIEW

Report’s Interview with Azerbaijani Sheriff in Los Angeles Fakhri Mirzaguliyev.

- Could you tell us more about yourself? How long have you been living in the USA? Why did you decide to become a policeman?

-I was born and raised in Baku. I have been in America since 2002. I came as a student; then I received a green card. I chose to be a policeman because I wanted to work as a detective in the prosecutor’s office, and there were two ways - through the police or advocacy. I graduated from Azerbaijan State Economic University in Baku, but this diploma did not matter for the prosecutor. Therefore I studied law.

-How would you rate the activity of Azerbaijanis in the USA? How do Azerbaijanis integrate into American society, and in what areas are our compatriots more successful?

- There are not many Azerbaijanis in Los Angeles; there are more of them on the east coast. Everyone is busy, getting on their feet; in most cases, they are not doing stupid things. We help as much as we can. If someone came to nowhere, we support, accommodate for a couple of weeks, help with products, tips, and so on. In America, it all depends on you. If you have a goal and desire, you can achieve a lot.

-At present, protests are being held in the USA against the police. Your thoughts on the causes and consequences of this will be interesting. What is the current situation?

-According to statistics, in America, 2% of cops are bad, but television concentrates only on them. Every day, police save babies, help people in emergencies, fall under bullets, and save others, but this is not shown in the news. In 2019, 339 police officers died, 100 from bullet wounds, but this is also not interesting. Good stories are not for sale; everyone is interested to see how the cop messed up. In America, 250,000 people die every year by mistake of doctors; no one pays attention to it. The reasons that have been announced are racism and oppression. I don’t know-how in other states and departments, but for almost 20 years in America, I haven’t seen that.

- Tell us how you got sick with a coronavirus.

- I had to communicate with infected people at work. I passed the test in advance when there were no symptoms yet and isolated myself. Five days later, a positive result came, but by that time, I already knew that something was wrong. I had severe headaches, then the temperature rose, lost my sense of smell. Within a week, everything went away. I did not feel anything terrible. This virus is more durable than regular flu, but again I recovered without side effects.

Vusala Abbasova