Bio

Anthony L Johnson was born on the east side of Columbus Ohio to a loving mother and a rarely present abusive father. Anthony’s father (David) never completed elementary school and couldn’t read or write but was crafty with his hands which allowed him to maintain a construction job most of his life. David was a functioning alcoholic and crack cocaine abuser.  Although David was able to maintain a job, his family rarely saw the fruits of his labor due to his drug addiction.  Anthony’s Mother (Kris) did her best to support Anthony and his older brother (Tim) by working three jobs while also taking care of her parental duties back at home.  Although Kris was rarely home due to her work schedules she made sure her two sons knew how much they were loved and cared for. Anthony and his family lived in a small two bedroom apartment.  The apartment complex where they lived was commonly referred to as “Uzi Alley” due to the amount of violent crimes involving fully automatic weapons.  At the age of ten, Anthony and his family were forced to move from their apartment due to the spike in violent crimes surrounding the complex.  City officials deemed the complex unsafe and later had it demolished. Anthony and his family were able to move a few blocks away in a small three bedroom house in an area known as “Eastmoor.”  At the age of 16, Anthony became fed up with the constant abuse of his father and decided to convince his mother to divorce him.  Anthony saved up enough money and purchased a marriage dissolution kit. With the help of his mother’s friend and a lawyer he was able to convince David that a dissolution was the best choice for everyone. Anthony was able to remove David from the household shortly after with the help of his older brother.  Anthony struggled in school and often did whatever it took to earn extra income to help his struggling family.  Anthony graduated high school after five years of credit recovery and summer school in 2006. He graduated at the bottom of his class with a 1.37 GPA. After graduating, Anthony moved into a house with three of his close friends.  The house quickly became known for illegal narcotic sales and gang activity.  After ten months the homeowner returned to Columbus and observed the condition of the house and requested that everyone moved out.  It was around this time that Anthony met someone who would quickly become a mentor in his life.  With the help of this new found mentor, Anthony decide to walk away from his life of drug use and crime to pursue a career in law enforcement.  After five years of dedicating his life to the profession, Anthony was accepted into the Columbus Police Academy.  Shortly after graduating the police academy, Anthony decided to dedicate his career towards helping others and finding creative ways to help bridge the gap between law enforcement and the communities they serve. In Anthony’s early years of policing he noticed a lack of positive police interactions on major social media platforms. He quickly decided to address the issue by creating his own social media presence (@OhNoItsDaPoPo) to help combat the negativity. Anthony now has over a million collective social media followers/supporters and videos that have been watched approximately 100 million times. Anthony has been recognized by multiple news outlets and organizations nationwide for his efforts in community policing.  Anthony was selected by Ohio Governor John Kasich’s office to sit on his “Community Collaborative board” to help improve relations between law enforcement and communities state wide.  He also serves as an active member of a non-profit, Humanizing the Badge, where he travels the country organizing and speaking at events to help bridge the law enforcement/community gap.  Anthony is an active member of the Columbus Division of Police Honor Guard, Peer Assistance, and Officer Support Teams. In 2018, Anthony helped create the #ItsNeeded podcast. The podcast was created with the help of Ryan Tillman who is a police officer in southern California with hopes in bringing law enforcement and communities closer together. The podcast is currently downloaded and listened to in over 42 countries. In 2019 Anthony decided to take another step towards helping others and created Promote Positivity LLC where he travels the country speaking at universities, high schools, prisons, detention centers, and private businesses.  Anthony has had the honor to speak at institutions such as Harvard Kennedy School of Government and The Ohio State University on topics involving community policing and social injustice.  Anthony is a proud believer in Jesus Christ and credits God for all of his accomplishments.  Anthony believes that everything he experienced has happened for a reason.  He believes that reason is to help others.