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Here is the article from the Miami Herald of which the OP was based upon. It goes into more depth.
It is ridiculous what these police are doing, not only to Mr. Selah's workers but to the community there in general in regards to harassing residents of an area for no reason, or petty reasons. Police can make their job a whole lot easier just by treating regular citizens with respect and being more cordial. Instead of arresting people for trespassing, they could exchange greetings, watch the TV in the store for a few and build more of a trust within a community that needs good law enforcement.
This situation is similar to the Stop and Frisk thing done in NYC and it is also very damaging to black and minority youth in particular. In the Herald article, Mr. Selah mentioned that his customers are also frequently harassed and arrested for trespassing or loitering. People don't realize that an "arrest record" causes just a much negativity as a criminal record with convictions in most cases, ESPECIALLY when one has a very LONG record like the employee featured in the article due to the arrest.
A normal person will say/think "something must be wrong with _____ since he/she gets arrested so much" and this will deny that person the opportunity to get a new job and in many cases a particular career or admission to schools/educational programs.
I have been arrested on some bummed charges, one of which was a felony that was not prosecuted and that I had to go through the process of getting expunged. Due to the nature of that charge, I may be denied the opportunity of working in specific industries, especially as they relate to childcare or teaching as background checks can and do show expunged charges when they are requested by specific groups/agencies/companies.
Where I work now, since it is indirectly with the senior community and indirectly for the government, had my expunged arrest come up and I had to submit a whole bunch of documents stating the resolution and legal actions I took towards the police department for them to hire me. Luckily someone referred me for this position as I don't think I would have gotten it without that networking buddy to go out on a limb for me even though those charges were asinine, dismissed, and expunged, they can always pop up and potentially cause me problems, all stemming from an overzealous cop.
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
4,300 posts, read 4,408,773 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by residinghere2007
Here is the article from the Miami Herald of which the OP was based upon. It goes into more depth.
It is ridiculous what these police are doing, not only to Mr. Selah's workers but to the community there in general in regards to harassing residents of an area for no reason, or petty reasons. Police can make their job a whole lot easier just by treating regular citizens with respect and being more cordial. Instead of arresting people for trespassing, they could exchange greetings, watch the TV in the store for a few and build more of a trust within a community that needs good law enforcement.
This situation is similar to the Stop and Frisk thing done in NYC and it is also very damaging to black and minority youth in particular. In the Herald article, Mr. Selah mentioned that his customers are also frequently harassed and arrested for trespassing or loitering. People don't realize that an "arrest record" causes just a much negativity as a criminal record with convictions in most cases, ESPECIALLY when one has a very LONG record like the employee featured in the article due to the arrest.
A normal person will say/think "something must be wrong with _____ since he/she gets arrested so much" and this will deny that person the opportunity to get a new job and in many cases a particular career or admission to schools/educational programs.
I have been arrested on some bummed charges, one of which was a felony that was not prosecuted and that I had to go through the process of getting expunged. Due to the nature of that charge, I may be denied the opportunity of working in specific industries, especially as they relate to childcare or teaching as background checks can and do show expunged charges when they are requested by specific groups/agencies/companies.
Where I work now, since it is indirectly with the senior community and indirectly for the government, had my expunged arrest come up and I had to submit a whole bunch of documents stating the resolution and legal actions I took towards the police department for them to hire me. Luckily someone referred me for this position as I don't think I would have gotten it without that networking buddy to go out on a limb for me even though those charges were asinine, dismissed, and expunged, they can always pop up and potentially cause me problems, all stemming from an overzealous cop.
This is how any citizen can be (pardon the pun) "black-balled" by the government. They know full well that all a person needs is the accusation thrown at them - and even though they are proven innocent or expunged - they are treated as if they were guilty and spend the rest of their life proving it. This is especially egregious seeing how everyone is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. It is quite the opposite in the United States. But, hey . . breath in the fresh air of liberty, right?
I don't agree with profiling or other forms of police harrassment. But at some point urban youth have to acknowledge that profiling/harrassment exists, and that they should make whatever lifestyle changes are necessary to remove themselves from the elements. My philosophy willingly acknowledges that "live and let live" is thrown out the window, but until these urban youth can force police departments to change their policies through the judicial system, it's best that they just remove themselves completely and make something out of their lives. We shouldn't pretend these are choir boys on the way to work in most cases. We all know that idle hands are the devils playground, and that's what drives the police to act as they do.
Get it together, make something of yourself, avoid being an urban vagabond and the police are not likely to harrass.
what can the citizens do? start by suing the police department and the city, as well as the individual cop, every time a frivolous arrest is made. when enough of these lawsuits are rolled out, someone will sit up and take notice. the second thing they can do is contact the state police and file a complaint every time a frivolous arrest is made. if the state police cant or wont do anything, then they can step up to the federal level.
I don't agree with profiling or other forms of police harrassment. But at some point urban youth have to acknowledge that profiling/harrassment exists, and that they should make whatever lifestyle changes are necessary to remove themselves from the elements. My philosophy willingly acknowledges that "live and let live" is thrown out the window, but until these urban youth can force police departments to change their policies through the judicial system, it's best that they just remove themselves completely and make something out of their lives. We shouldn't pretend these are choir boys on the way to work in most cases. We all know that idle hands are the devils playground, and that's what drives the police to act as they do.
Get it together, make something of yourself, avoid being an urban vagabond and the police are not likely to harrass.
Dear God! This just proves that you don't need time travel to go back to the future. Is this post from Mayberry USA circa 1950!!
"black youth" OMG. And what about that broad swipe that implies that all the "black youth" under perpetual arrest policy are misbehaving, or shiftless, or whatever the bleep this is suggesting.
I have a headache now.
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