Kind of a distressing thing told to me today...

[Bluzmann57]

I ran into a family friend earlier today and she told me that people had better believe the stories about cops targeting African Americans because it happened to her son.
A little background here. This couple, who have been married to each other for over 50 years are both retired and living fairly comfortably in a "nice" neighborhood( predominately white). They worked hard in two high paying UNION shops and managed to have nice savings and pensions, so they sold their old house at a nice profit and moved into this other neighborhood. They drive decent vehicles, nothing fancy, a Chrysler and BG (not his real name) drives a Ford pickup because he has decided that he needs to stay busy and is mowing lawns.
Anyway, their son and Daughter in law came to visit over the Thanksgiving holiday and apparently just left yesterday to go back home, to Kansas City. They pulled out of the driveway, into the street and BOOM! the cops were there almost immediately. I guess the thought of having still more African Americans in the neighborhood, even for a brief visit must have bothered someone because apparently someone called and said there was "loud music" coming from the car. Except there wasn't, according to mother, father, son, next door neighbor, and some guy walking down the sidewalk. I guess the cop actually wanted to search the car and the owner refused and told the cop that he was a lawyer, which he is. The cop supposedly then apologized and told him to be on his way.
The moral of the story is, don't be black and successful or you will be targeted. For that matter, don't be black and poor or you will be targeted.

[Cha]

1. Kick for reading when I get back.. thank you, Bluzmann

[SweetieD]

2. This kind of story happens all the time. I am not sure why it is so shocking for some to believe.

.

[okaawhatever]

3. We aren't addressing how many of these police incidents start when some "citizen" calls the police

on a suspicious person of color. The Wal Mart shooting, the kid on the playground and many others started because someone called the police to report a dangerous person, and by dangerous I mean minority. Something to think about.

[AverageJoe90]

7. And this, IMO, is a HUGE problem.

Now, granted, there are some truly rotten cops who do this shit on their own prerogative. But what to do when a cop is just doing his/her job, but, unbeknownst to them, that the report was filed falsely, especially if it was with malicious intent? That does seem to happen rather a good bit more than many of us actually realize.....

[marym625]

14. perhaps cops could stop

Stopping people because of nuisance calls. I am not suggesting that a call about someone "pointing a gun at kids" should be ignored. But things like this and WWB with hands in pocket, either get better information on what is suspicious, or when they get there and see that some dude is just out for a stroll, then be on your merry way.

[cstanleytech]

18. What is the potential liability though if the police start

deciding to ignore a call or investigate? I mean take the guy with the hands in his pocket it seems innocuous enough and you would think no big deal I will just let them go and not even stop them but then what if it turns out the guy had a handgun on him and used it to murder someone 3 houses down after the cop decided not to stop them? I am pretty sure the family of the person who was killed might very well try to sue the police for failing to check it out.

[marym625]

19. Then they need to stop everyone that walks down the street

There's a line. Just walking down the street is not suspicious. There is no reasonable cause to stop.

And people who make these nuisance calls need to be charged with something. I am not saying jail time but minimally a ticket. Calling on someone for WWB is bullshit.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

32. It's 1955 in San Diego I'm 15 years old and the cop stops me

walking down the street by the beach, he asks me my name, age, where I live, what I'm doing, where i'm going, and have I ever been arrested, he enters all this information on his field interrogation report form, all this takes about 15 minutes.

Flash forward to 1985 in San Diego, my 15 year old son is sitting on our front lawn by the beach and the cop pulls up and yells out his car window, "hey asshole get over here".

Sadly this is a true story.

BTW not that it makes any difference. were white

And the police wonder why they aren't respected.

[marym625]

34. I'm sorry that happened

To both you and your son.

There's no doubt many cops treat everyone they see, that does not fit their idea of a respectable person, like shit. But the difference between what people of color and white people put up with is incomparable. Mentally challenged people, I believe, are second in receiving horrible treatment from cops.

The day will come it's all poor people that are abused on the daily.

Cops and those that control cops have to change. We have to change them. I just don't have a clue how.

I hope your son didn't have to put up with much more than that. No excuse

[NJCher]

20. this is a good point

One would like to think that cops could employ some common sense, or even intuition...but then there are situations like what you describe.

I wish I had an answer.


Cher

[ncjustice80]

31. They need to do away with reasonable suspicion stops.

Cops should be forbade from so called "consentual encounters" with the public. Of annofficer sees someone walking down street, they should need proof of a crime to speak with them.

[ncjustice80]

30. Zero liability.

Supreme court ruled police have no duty to aid.

[cstanleytech]

41. Wow that is just messed up. I mean if they know there is a problem

and they choose not to do anything they should be held liable as it sounds like they are becoming an accomplice to the act.

[cpamomfromtexas]

39. Cops have no liability, so the question is illegitimate

[Stonepounder]

40. Police routinely ignore calls.

I've had a couple of calls to police ignored. Our house backs onto a densely wooded steep hill. I don't know who actually owns the land, but the hill is so steep that nothing is ever going to be built on it. The first couple of we lived here, the woods behind our house was a favorite gathering place for drug deals. I called the cops and even went to the station to report it. Nobody ever came to talk to me and no cops ever showed up to investigate. Another time, after a long, hot, dry summer, someone was setting fireworks off in the woods. I was concerned about the fire risk and again called the police to report it. Again no one ever came.

So, I suspect there is minimal to no liability when police decide to ignore calls.

[heaven05]

17. that's what in the fuck is bothering

me. All these people who are terrified by the "demon" black people. It's hateful and calculated to bring harm on those uppity n......!!!! Amerikkka is really beginning to stink to high heaven with hate.

[cstanleytech]

21. Oh I agree there is alot of that and it goes against the reality which is

that there are asshats both white and black who use a gun to commit violence and the numbers are actually pretty even or atleast for 2011 they were

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded/expanded-homicide-data

"Of the offenders for whom race was known, 52.4 percent were black, 45.2 percent were white, and 2.4 percent were of other races. The race was unknown for 4,077 offenders. (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 3.)"

And the real kicker is that most (if not all) of the mass shooters are white!!!!

[heaven05]

24. So because of the "asshats" that are using guns,

and those "asshats", of which 52+ percent were black, necessitates calling the police when one might be walking in a lily white area where everyone knows that uppity n..... doesn't belong. It does not happen in black areas where the cops roll up fast, with guns drawn on white people who may be not a resident of that part of town. Did I get your response straight. And yes I know an overwhelming percentage of mass shooters are white. If I didn't get the thrust/gist/purpose of your response, let me know.

[cstanleytech]

27. Nope I am agreeing in my own (very) awkward way sorry if its rough though as

my writing isnt the best as school was a few decades ago and writing was one of my weakest areas back then and D was my usual grade
Oddly enough though in reading I did far better

[heaven05]

36. I am still honing my

skills here at 66, I considered being a writer, didn't work out. You have no problems with me. We're on the same page.

[kelly1mm]

28. But doesn't your quoted statistic mean that whites were dispropotionately underrepresented

in gun crimes while blacks were disproportionately overrepresented in gun crimes? If blacks are 13% of the US population and commit 52.4% of the gun crimes isn't that a problem? Shouldn't they be around 13%?

[nomorenomore08]

48. Even if true, that doesn't justify treating every black person as a potential violent criminal.

But of course, that's exactly how many white Americans tend to behave.

[kelly1mm]

49. Sure, I agree with that. But I don't understand what the point of the post was as it

seems in opposition to the point he was trying to make.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. kick

[AverageJoe90]

5. I am so sorry your friend had to experience that.

Yes, even black folks who live in really nice neighborhoods, drive nice cars, etc. aren't totally immune from being wrongly accused of trivial B.S., and bothered by the cops.

[handmade34]

6. witnessed same Friday

I was out working last Friday (in Charlotte, NC: I have to drive through many different neighborhoods - mapping and determining changing demographics in neighborhoods)... I have become very sensitive to diverse populations and neighborhoods and how people live...

...as I drove up a street in a "white, solid middle income" neighborhood (w/"neighborhood watch" signs), I saw 2 police cars and officers in the middle of the street talking to 2 young AA men... as I approached I noted that none of them looked too happy... it seemed more than obvious that a resident in one of the houses called the police because of "suspicious" black men walking in this nice neighborhood...

seems you can't even walk through a "nice" neighborhood if you are a young black man who doesn't live there...

[bhikkhu]

8. I never thought about that myself, until talking to a black friend's brother one time

He had a nice motorcycle and I talked about how I used to have a bike but I never got my motorcycle endorsement and worried about getting pulled over. He said I'd probably be fine, but he was pulled over all the time - for being black on a motorcycle. Our town is mostly white and not many people ride, so he said he stuck out like a sore thumb. Pulled over three times in one week once, for nothing. After awhile he knew all the cops and they left him alone, but every time a new guy came in he'd get pulled over again...its hard to imagine really. He's a really nice guy with a decent job in town, and wasn't really complaining, just saying he basically lives in a different reality from "the rest of us", meaning white people. In spite of being a decent guy, good family, hard-working, polite, church-going, all the things an officially "good" person is supposed to be.

[Quayblue]

9. truth be told, thats the "initiation" a lot of black folks go through

when we move into neighborhoods that are predominantly white. Instead of a plate of cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood, we get pulled over a few times until we are deemed safe enough.

We were a military family and moved quite a bit, and it happened every single time we relocated.

[uponit7771]

45. +1

[ellennelle]

10. moral is

always tell cops you're a lawyer.

always.

[truedelphi]

42. I took that as the moral of the story also. n/t

[uponit7771]

46. +1

[Omaha Steve]

11. And unions helped them become middle class

I didn't want that overlooked either.

K&R!

OS

[marym625]

12. How do we get them to stop?

Seriously. How? What can we do? It's never ending.

[NJCher]

22. consciousness raising

Remember (or maybe you don't, depending on your age), but back in the late 70s and 80s, there were consciousness-raising sessions that showed women how to be assertive. Not aggressive: assertive.

These types of sessions could be done at police departments, if they were willing, but who is going to pay for the facilitators? Who is going to organize this effort and administer it?


Cher

[marym625]

33. yep. I remember

That's a good idea but as you said, who will pay for it? You know the powers that be won't.

It is something that has to happen everywhere, with everyone. Children have to stop being taught hate. Children have to stop living in fear.

I am just sad at the moment. Feeling hopeless

[LiberalElite]

13. reminds me of that young black man who

was suspected of not belonging in a house because his adoptive parents were white. I think he was also suspected of robbing the house for that reason.

[safeinOhio]

15. A camera on every cop

can't hurt.

[NJCher]

23. this would go a long way

They are doing it in the county where I work.


Cher

[jtuck004]

16. The moral is don't be black and alone. n/t

[1StrongBlackMan]

29. Or, be Black in a group ...

unless one of the other people in the group is a white male, preferably, a clean cut white male. (Having a white female, in the company of Black males can be equally hazardous, as being alone.)

[bullwinkle428]

25. Yes - we live in the same town, and I've lost count of all of the "DWB"

stops I've witnessed throughout the eastern part (allegedly more "liberal&quot of Iowa since I moved here in 1987.

[NJCher]

26. This doesn't surprise me

My young African-American students (college-level) tell me stories....oh, the stories.

Hispanics, too. Don't think they are immune.

What amazes me is how philosophical they are about it. Maybe I would be that way, too, if it happened to me on a routine basis. When I hear the stories, however, it makes me angry, even at the ripe old age of a baby boomer.



Cher

[Blue_Tires]

35. Anyone who doesn't believe the stories by now is just being willfully ignorant...

[Pacifist Patriot]

37. Completely agree.

My 18 year old son's best friend is African American. We let the two of them invite a few more friends over for video games and leftovers at our house on Friday while my husband and I were at a soccer tournament with one of our other kids. The neighbor across the street called to tell me she had been approached by another one of our neighbors who was concerned with "all those black kids" going in and out of my house and wanted to know if they should call the police. Fortunately my awesome neighbor put the nosy racist one in her place.

I shudder to think what would have happened if the cops had been dispatched to my house to find seven teenage boys (17-19 years of age, four of them non-white, all well over 6' tall) without parental supervision.

And this wouldn't be on the cops, it's on a neighbor who got nervous seeing "all those black kids" without considering they had every freakin' right to be there. I have easily as much disgust for the people who call in complaints as I do with cops who escalate situations needlessly.

Anyone who doesn't believe these stories is not just willfully ignorant, they also probably don't have a very diverse range of friends and acquaintances.

[leanforward]

47. I'd love to hear what was said, neighbor to neighbor?

As we are finding out, that is as bad as "fire" in a theater.

[randr]

38. Another moral to your story

Be a lawyer and the cops back down knowing they are wrong.

[blues lover]

44. On reporting suspicious behavior

I think it might just be a good thing to start calling the police on white guys wearing suits. Just call and report them for being in the neighborhood looking suspicious and trying to steal houses and pensions....

[nomorenomore08]

50. ...