Racial profiling? You decide

[Xtreme]

The other morning at 2 a.m. I drove to the local gas station to get cigarettes and some doughnuts; I pulled in about the same time as this black gentleman in a minivan. I parked beside his van and went in, by luck we both came out together and he wanted to look at my truck. As we stood there talking a local policeman drove through, he made a slow pass and left. We continued to talk and a few minutes later the policeman came back and pulled up behind us and got out. He asked what we were doing out at 2 in the morning, this peed me off just asking this with no cause, I went into the cig and munchies story and the black gentleman said he was on his way to work, with that the policeman says; “can I see some i.d.?” As I reached for my wallet he says; “No not you, you can leave, JUST you” as he looked over at the other guy.

Not wanting to be an ass, I got in my truck and left; about a half mile down the road this incident started getting to me as I remembered I have temp plates on my truck. I made a u turn and went back to see if the van had plates, the whole time planning on the “I forgot something” excuse. This time I pulled along the other side of the van and got out, mumbling how I should have bought two packs of cigs. I went to the back of the truck as if I were looking for scratches just to see the plates on the van, sure enough it had up to date plates. The policeman also had the guy’s stuff, wallet, change, keys, etc. on the back of his cruiser as if he had searched him. I went in the store and slowly walked around like I was looking for things, a few minutes later the van drives off and the policeman went in the other direction.

Looks like profiling to me???

[MemphisTiger]

1. That does seem weird

I can understand if the gas station has been having problems with robbery that time of night, but to only detain the black guy was wrong, IMHO.

[CTLawGuy]

2. yup

that is definite profiling, unless they were looking for a specific person that fit his description or a truck that fit his truck's.

What state is this in?

[SouthernDem2004]

4. How is that definitely profiling?????

[CTLawGuy]

7. if it was just a random stop

whats the difference between the poster and the black man? They're both parked at a store, they both went in and came out and were talking.

Why stop the black man, and not the original poster?

Perhaps you have an explanation?

[SouthernDem2004]

8. Could be many...

1) The Police knew the person they spoke with.
2) The tag did not come back to that vehicle. (Not uncommon)
3) Someone, maybe the clerk, called in the person was suspicious.
4) The vehicle had just left a location of interest.

Just a few...

[CTLawGuy]

10. then it's not a "random stop"

and I said its profiling...

"IF" they were not looking for someone that matched the black person's description OR a truck that matched his. Those conditions cover everything you said in your above post.

Please read my entire response before making hysterical comments.

[SouthernDem2004]

11. Huh?

"Please read my entire response before making hysterical comments."

Do you know what hysterical means? www.m-w.com
In no way was my reply hysterical.

No one was arguing or discussing if the stop was random or not. The OP was concerned that the person was detained because of their race. We have no way of knowing why the subject was detained. I gave several reason why one subject maybe detained and another may not.

Seriously, www.m-w.com If you are going to insult someone please make sure your post makes sense first and you use words correctly.


Peace

[Xtreme]

12. You made good valid points N/T

[CTLawGuy]

34. I didn't mean to insult you

but I think we can guess why the cop stopped the black man instead of the white man, UNLESS it was NOT a random stop (ie looking for him personally or his truck specifically.

If it is NOT a random stop, then that goes out the window. That's what I said.

You reacted without understanding what I said.

[seabeyond]

18. oh bullshit, i say remembering you are police?

you know the cops do this. i know the cops do this. pisses me off. lots of people dont have issue with it. doesnt bother them. it bothers me. my husband road along with police for a week and a black man walking down the road 2 a.m. stopped and did the same. no cause, no problem with vehicles, just stopped the person and checked him out. doesnt bother husband. bothers me.

you know they do this. dont pretend they dont. at least simply say well, what if we caugth someone or something anything

i think it is wrong and dont like it and have seen police more and more at any point feel they have the right to check out a person

and you know they pull the black out of our society more. not even something to debate. we allowed this from cops a long time ago. part of the slippery road

[SouthernDem2004]

20. Yes, I stop people all the time just to contact them.

I work midnights and if I see someone walking around a neighborhood or business at 0200 you bet I am going to talk and speak with them. It is what I am paid to do.

[seabeyond]

23. so why come up with a bunch of reason,. yes this is what you do

take it a step further, a black person a white person. that black person was chosen for the questioning.

not a hard one. a reality. every black person knows this. why there is simmering. every white person knows this, admit or not

if nothing else it at least validates a truth for black people, and they dont have to try and convince people. and we pretend it doesnt happen. just let it be known this is what we do in this nation. it is

and any young male, black white or mexican.

well police know this person you question stays in their brain. they trust you a little less. human behavior. they get to. and more and more that happens in their life, less and less they will trust cops. their fault, i say no. a reality

this black man was singled out. talking to some white man minding his own busness. had to make him feel like shit. why would we pretend otherwise. had to make him feel less. it was meant to

[SouthernDem2004]

25. I gave possible reasons....

If you reread the thread and the OPs post you will notice the topic is really about possible profiling of one subject. I provided possible other reasons as to why one was detained and one was not. I never stated it was not profiling.

You are making assumptions. You do not know why the subject was detained or how he felt about being detained.

I personally think its great the OP was concerned. People need to be more involved with their Police force. Civil discourse is always a good thing.

On a side note, please capitalize. Your post are difficult to read and follow.

[seabeyond]

28. civil discourse is not allowed. yes it would be a good thing

but i recall in posts in the past you have said, keep mouth shut be polite do as you are told. civil discourse is no longer allowed. we are not allowed to be angry for a cop coming up to us, and wanting to get more information for no reason

look i am a upper middle class educated white old woman. i should not have issues with police. i do. police might want to reflect what is going on. i suggest this black person is going to be bothered. you tell me i cant know. well, if you have no more empathy or desire ot understand human behavior and the reaction one will have to abbuse power, then......it will continue to get worse

you are one of the good guys. but you are not my boss. that isnt your job not on the street not on this board. you gotta understand the respect for the power you are given over others. and i dont see it. their is a righteous feel.

anyway

profile is there, our nation is missed up, civil discourse is not allowed, could get us tasered. treat us like animals, we just might become

[theboss]

29. If someone is walking in my neighborhood at 2 AM, the police should stop

That would be incredibly unusual activity. And there is a hospital nearby with a mental health wing so who knows what could be going on.

[seabeyond]

32. i....... am going to think about this some

see, for me to have turned on the police at my age after a lifetime of not being there, makes me ask why. anyway. socaldem, is my neighbor. my friend, my equal, probably in age, the simple walking thru life. there should absolutely not be a wall.

i am not the enemy. you need not be afraid of me. i assure you. and for me to start becoming afraid of you......tells me something.

there are too many walls.

i know my issue over the years developed as my little ones were growing and seeing police thru their eyes, and watching a decade of the police creating what they are today.

unfortunately "cops" the show, came on. a lot like the show. the cops on these shows like to be on shows. they are asses. i have watched enough years, that i, as an adult, would be pissed the way they talk to people. and that is just talking. the very first step. and in being pulled over, i havent liked the interaction. sorry. they are what i call assholes.

give me one i can like.

cop after cop that i tried to get my son to interact with was rude. i know rude. my son can feel rude. he really could feel it at two. each time i would have to say, well some people arent little kid people.

i had a cop tell my 5 and 7 year old, the reason she was standing in front of me was to protect an inspector, from me hurting her.

i mean just sit and think about that. both boys already afraid and intimidated at the airport. eyes huge. i.... am a mom. and dont fuck with my 5 and 7 year old. i dont care how much respect a police officers demands from me.

i will commit civil discourse, and that has become a crime.

i said to the cop. are you suggesting i would hurt another human being. you say this in front of my children. me.......the pacifist, the one that wont hurt anyone for any reason. (said this for my children to validate who they know to be their mom. let them see i wasnt afraid. and we have the right to own our truth. someone, no one gets to make me something i am not. why. because i am a parent. a mom. and no one gets to fuck with my children)

you treat us like criminals. that is what we will become. in illusion that woman made me criminal. and i said no. and it is in every part of society. it is the stranger to stranger interaction. family. parents have to connect with children. cops have to connect with society. they are conditioning self to refuse that connection. at this point, we have to have strong ass law. because if that cop is conditioning himself to not look at me as a human being, it allows him to abuse. at this point i dont trust. and we are at this point. i dont trust

this is me, just throwing out a bunch of shit. i am not going to pretend the cop likes me. they make it clear in the hello ma'am as they are deciding am i friend or foe

[Xtreme]

5. Illinois

[SouthernDem2004]

3. Maybe they were familiar with him...

I have been working the same area for over 5 years and I know most of the locals. Its a good chance the Officer in question knows the gentlemen he was out with. He maybe a local criminal known for robberies or burglaries. There is not enough information to jump to any conclusion.

[Xtreme]

6. I guess "tone" was it

His tone of voice when he said JUST YOU, sent off alarms with me.

[SouthernDem2004]

9. They may know him. No way to know I guess. /nt

[ET Awful]

14. If they knew him they wouldn't have asked for ID. n/t

[SouthernDem2004]

15. Sure they would....

They still need his DOB and id number to run him for warrants.

[ET Awful]

16. They first would have addressed him by name.

When police are familiar with a suspect, they typically use that familiarity.

Normally they would say something along the lines of "Hey XXXXXX what are you doing out at this hour? You have any warrants? You sure? You have any ID on you? You know I've got to run a check."

If they knew the guy they would have acted like they knew him. That's not the case here.

[SouthernDem2004]

19. Really? You were there with the OP?

You have formed an opinion which is based on incomplete information.

[ET Awful]

21. If they'd addressed him by name, the OP would have mentioned it.

The one forming an opinion on incomplete information is you with your insinuation that he had warrants and that police had reason to hold him but not the OP.

Good job of trying to distract though.

Perhaps if you went back and read the original post, you might realize that he gave a pretty detailed description and NOWHERE is there any mention of the police addressing the other individual in any familiar way.

[SouthernDem2004]

22. Are you actually reading posts?

I never once insinuated he had warrants.

You are reading things into the OPs post and are making assumptions.

[ET Awful]

24. Hmmm, who was it that said

"They still need his DOB and id number to run him for warrants."

Must have been somebody posting using your name.

[SouthernDem2004]

26. We run everyone we contact for warrants...

If you get stopped for a traffic violation, you get run.
If you are in an accident, you get run.
If you have contact with the Police the odds are they are going to run your id/dl or do a check with Name, DOB and/or Social.

I never insinuated the subject had warrants. I stated they would need that information to check.

[ET Awful]

27. So how many people do you stop in convenience store parking lots

for buying cigarettes and run?

[SouthernDem2004]

30. Depends...

If I feel a need to, I do. I do not see an Officer wasting his time and talking to someone just buying something at a store. Odds are there was more to it.

[ET Awful]

31. I see, so talking to someone in a parking lot would warrant such treatment

for a black man but not a white man, that certainly seems to be the case here.

See, I've actually witnessed such things happen to friends of mine. I've had people that arrived at a store in my company thrown to the ground and handcuffed, searched, detained for over an hour. Why? because they were young black males, no other reason. Didn't matter that they were with a white male of the same age. The police ignored me.

That was in Bakersfield, California. I've had similar experienced in Los Angeles.

[SouthernDem2004]

33. Whatever you say... /nt

[alarcojon]

36. I take that to mean you don't believe the poster?

on what basis? I suppose you won't believe my stories of being profiled either (in Chicago) so I won't bother.

[Beaver Tail]

13. Yes it is Racial profiling

Unless this man had some sort of outstanding warrant but if he did it is most likely he would have been arrested pretty quickly.

[Robb]

17. Police profile all the time.

There's profiling that's wrong, and there's profiling that they use to do their job (e.g. "twitchy people might have something to hide, etc.).

Hard to say what made the cop's "radar" go off about the other guy ... or, frankly, what made him decide you weren't a problem. :)

[noiretextatique]

35. yes, it's "standard procedure"

that's what the two cops, in two cars, told me when they pulled me over for driving without lights on a brightly lit city street. in preparation for my court date, i research the vehicle code in california, and it is illegal to drive without properly functioning lighting...so once they found out my lights worked, and my registration and insurance was in order... that should have been the end of it. but...they ordered me out of the car and ran a check anyway...i was so pissed that they added some bogus ass charge, in addition to citing me for driving without lights.
they didn't show up for court, and the judge was so disgusted by the charges, she apologized, and threw out the case, and i got my $450.00 bail back.
the last time i forgot to turn on my lights downtown, a cop just flashed me...like everyone else does :shrug: p.s. i'm black :eyes: i do not believe they would have treated a white woman in a business suit driving a volvo the same way...but maybe that's just me :shrug:
that wasn't the first time either (i grew up in los angeles) :eyes: and probably not the last either :eyes:
STANDARD PROCEDURE.