I used to be a 911 dispatcher. I had to respond to racist calls every day.

[gollygee]

This is an example of how institutional racism works. White people are afraid of people simply because they're black, and call the police, and the police policy is that they have to send someone out. The system - the police policy - perpetuates the racism.

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/5/30/17406092/race-911-white-lady-calls-police-on-black-family-bbq-oakland

The man gave me his address and then said, “There’s a woman pushing a shopping cart in front of my house.” This one stumped me. I worked in a large metropolitan area. Yes, the city where I worked was affluent, and most people used their cars to get groceries. But surely he’d seen a person using a personal grocery cart before.

“I’m sorry, I’m not getting it. What’s the problem?” I waited for more clarification as I racked my brain for the correct penal code under which this infraction might fall.

“You need to get out here now.”

(snip)

The worst thing about it? I had to send someone out. Dispatchers usually don’t get to choose which calls lead to the dispatching of emergency personnel and which don’t.