Reply #415: You don't know what

[Tomee450]

you are talking about. I saw that child's face, it was full of fear. I am an adult and have never gotten over my experience with the police. I am African American and had to call the police because someone had broken into my house. When the police arrived, I hurried to the door in my night clothes, opened it, and was faced with about twenty cops pointing guns at me. I told them that I was the person who had called but it did not matter. They screamed at me, told me to come out of the house and when I complied,made me lie face down in the dirt. They could see clearly that I had nothing in my hands but the keys I used to open the door. My hands were up and they knew I had no weapon yet they demeaned me by yelling and forcing me,in night clothes, to lie down in the dirt. A supervisor later apologized for the actions of the police. Later, another supervisor came to the house, also to apologize. That episode has fostered more distrust of the police. In fact, even when riding in my car and seeing a white policemen behind me, I feel uneasy. This child IS traumatized. She will never forget this incident and will probably always fear the police and not trust them. That is unfortunate, children should be able to trust law enforcement. How you continue to support the actions of the police against a five year old is beyond me. That child was treated so harshly because she is African American. Children of all races have tantrums but you will only see the police hancuffing a black child.