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I would agree but certainly you would agree if someone in a known area for dealing drugs that has a long history of arrests for selling drugs takes off running when they see you then there is certainly a reason to stop them. I'm sure you would also agree that if they refuse to stop then the police have the right to forcefully stop them.
I don't agree with that. People who are not criminals are the majority of the people who live in those areas, like my nephew. I have lived in many neighborhoods known for drug selling and crime, people due to economic circumstances, sometimes cannot help where they are forced to live due to finances. They should not be overly harrassed and threatened by law enforcement. It is IMO better for law enforcement to treat these people well and gain their confidence as neighbors who trust the officers in their midst will ensure to let the officers know about the drug dealers.
I can admit that for myself, if asked to stop, I will comply with an officer's request. But other people are VERY afraid of law enforcement in those neighborhoods. I will also admit that when I lived in Atlanta, I was actually VERY afraid of our law enforcement due to some harrassment and trauma I personally endured multiple times with that department. I cannot honestly say that I would try to avoid interacting with them and I did. Once I even saw a crime and didn't contact them (a home I was moving out of was robbed) because I didn't feel like dealing with them attempting to criminalize me and make it out like I was a suspect. So I can understand that people will act like they don't hear the police. They get sick of dealing with them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xray731
As far as your nephew - did they tell him to stop? Maybe an incident had occurred and your nephew matched the description. I live in a suburb - but more than one "white" person has been stopped, beaten and had guns drawn on them because they didn't do what the cops asked them to do. There was a police brutality case here 25 years ago when the cops stepped over the line - but since then these situations have occurred because the suspect doesn't do what the police have asked them to do.
On your questions, he was running down the street by his house. Two officers jumped out of a car in front of him, pulled their guns on him and told him to stop running. He complied and was put on the ground and handcuffed. He asked them why they stopped him, what was wrong? They said he looked "suspicious." So he was stopped because he was a black boy running in the neighborhood. Not because he looked like some suspect in particular.
My son has been questioned as well by cops, luckily no gun has ever been pulled on him (he is 14). Once, we do believe he was mistaken for a suspect (they asked for him to take off his coat so they could see his shirt - which was a school uniform shirt with a logo from the school). They saw his shirt and just sped off in the car. The second instance he was just asked where was he going for no reason. He was at a bus stop and was going to school. He just said "school." They asked him what school and other meaningless questions. He answered him (contrary to what many of you white people believe, black parents OVER educate our kids on how to interact with police, this is not a new phenomenon for us like it is to you). After questioning him until the bus came, the officer left. Luckily my son got the number off the car and we made a complaint about that situation and the officer involved apologized. I used it as an example of profiling unnecessarily.
My kid is a nerdy, nice kid and doesn't deserve to be harrassed by police just because he is out walking on the street. My nephew is now an honors college student who likes to jog and stay in shape, he doesn't deserve to have guns pulled on him for wanting to maintain a decent level of fitness.
Also, as stated earlier, the "DRUGS" thing is silly considering whites in our area both sell and use drugs. Whites especially use drugs more often than black kids and they are WAY more likely to have drugs in the suburbs than the inner city. So it would be better for police to profile them more IMO. However, I also don't think they should be pulling guns on white kids running either.
FG had a rap sheet (as long as your arm) for selling and manufacturing drugs. Some arrests were for selling pot and the drugs he manufactured, and arrested for, were unnamed on his sheet and simply stated as 'manufactured drugs'-but you know it wasn't pot he was manufacturing. (he should have still been in prison and he shouldn't have even been on the street - the revolving door in action)
FG was on parole (not allowed to carry weapons or to be in contact with others who are on parole or who are involved with drugs).
FG had an upcoming court date for another drug related bust.
FG was speaking to a known drug dealer when the cops saw him, at which point he ran as soon as he saw the cop looking his way (he was also on parole at that time-not allowed to be around a drug dealer)
FG was found to be carrying a 'spring assist' knife, which is illegal under the Baltimore Code, though is legal under MD law - he was in Baltimore when found with the knife so the BC overrules MD law (he was also on parole at that time-not allowed to carry the weapon, and probably not even allowed if he'd been busted outside of the Baltimore city limits)
FG was known, by cops and by locals, to be a major drama queen while being arrested. The cops had made mention of that, at some point, and some of the locals mentioned it on news blurbs after his arrest.
FG ducked down, to avoid hitting his head on the top of the van, and walked into the van under his own power after the cops had lifted him up onto the back step of the van-which he did effortlessly and showed no signs of pain while doing it.
FG was kicking and rocking the van so the cop stopped and they put him in shackles then laid him on his belly inside the van.
FG allegedly had been kicking and spitting at the cops each time they had to deal with him inside the van, which is probably why they didn't belt him in.
Street cameras caught the van in motion 'at least' one time, and the van was driving at normal speeds with no quick starts, no quick stops and no jerks to the side.
The second prisoner in the van, when giving his statement to the cops, said that he believed FG was 'intentionally trying to hurt himself' - which he later recanted after he was released by the cops. He also said the ride was smooth - which he never recanted.
FG was known for selling and manufacturing but as far as I've been able to find he'd never been known to use (never been busted for using and never had a positive drug screen while on parole)-if the tox screen came back positive then no doubt he had made a purchase right before the chase and ate it while running.
So you're saying that some racist white cops unfairly racially profiled Freddie Gray? It seems obvious. How dare they arrest this gentle, harmless fitness nut who was merely and obviously enjoying a nice workout by running in a different direction from the police?
On your questions, he was running down the street by his house. Two officers jumped out of a car in front of him, pulled their guns on him and told him to stop running. He complied and was put on the ground and handcuffed. He asked them why they stopped him, what was wrong? They said he looked "suspicious." So he was stopped because he was a black boy running in the neighborhood. Not because he looked like some suspect in particular.
My son has been questioned as well by cops, luckily no gun has ever been pulled on him (he is 14). Once, we do believe he was mistaken for a suspect (they asked for him to take off his coat so they could see his shirt - which was a school uniform shirt with a logo from the school). They saw his shirt and just sped off in the car. The second instance he was just asked where was he going for no reason. He was at a bus stop and was going to school. He just said "school." They asked him what school and other meaningless questions. He answered him (contrary to what many of you white people believe, black parents OVER educate our kids on how to interact with police, this is not a new phenomenon for us like it is to you). After questioning him until the bus came, the officer left. Luckily my son got the number off the car and we made a complaint about that situation and the officer involved apologized. I used it as an example of profiling unnecessarily.
My kid is a nerdy, nice kid and doesn't deserve to be harrassed by police just because he is out walking on the street. My nephew is now an honors college student who likes to jog and stay in shape, he doesn't deserve to have guns pulled on him for wanting to maintain a decent level of fitness.
Also, as stated earlier, the "DRUGS" thing is silly considering whites in our area both sell and use drugs. Whites especially use drugs more often than black kids and they are WAY more likely to have drugs in the suburbs than the inner city. So it would be better for police to profile them more IMO. However, I also don't think they should be pulling guns on white kids running either.[/quote]
Please don't lump all of us in the same boat - I just asked a question. My husband's best friend is black and I know how Phil raised his kids as we watched them grow. Even though - they lived on the outer border of the city - they never had the problems you describe with police - but they had plenty of problems with the neighborhood - hence why they moved to the suburbs and they haven't been racially profiled here either - despite it being primarily white.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LoveToRow
So you're saying that some racist white cops unfairly racially profiled Freddie Gray? It seems obvious. How dare they arrest this gentle, harmless fitness nut who was merely and obviously enjoying a nice workout by running in a different direction from the police?
Black lives matter!
Is just the facts ma'am.
One other fact...just three weeks prior to FG's arrest Marilyn Mosby had ordered the cops to step up the arrests in that particular high crime and drug infested area.
My nephew when he was 16 was running down the street and the police pulled a gun on him (this incident is the one that made me get involved and engaged with our local law enforcement).
Cops should not be arresting or pulling guns on people because they are running. Lots of people run/jog for exercise. Black men do too and shouldn't have to be fearful of being arrested, tackled, or shot by police for doing so.
As has been pointed out, without knowing the context of any situation, we cannot come to any conclusion as to what is justified action by the cops, and what is not. There is more you could have told us about the situation where you nephew had a cop pull a gun on him. Was there a crime committed by someone similar to him minutes before ? Did he have a police record as long as your arm ? Was he wearing gang colors ? I'm not saying anything like this is true....but we have no idea.
The reason I bring this up is because I've had a cop pull a gun on me too once....and it was justified in the context I and the cop found ourselves in. My parents cabin had been broken into. My dad told me to go fix the lock and the door which had both been damaged by the burglars. I was 19 years old and drove my dirtbike down to the cabin on the lake (just a few miles from our regular home), drove my motorcycle around the gate, and was by the front door with tools in my hand messing around with the door. Apparently some one saw me doing some part of this and called the cops. Cop walks around the cabin, sees me jimmying the door and pulls his gun on me and tells me "hands up". He proceeds to ask me some very logical questions as to who I was, why I was there, and what I was doing. I answered honestly and after proving who I was, things were fine. I actually thanked him for doing what he did....and joked with him that I wish he'd have been there the day or two before when the burglars had actually been there. We shared a laugh, and both went our separate ways.
Context is the key. I could just as easily tell this story as, I was minding my own business, which I certainly was in my situation, and this freaking cop pulls a gun on me. Damn him ! I wasn't doing anything wrong. However, while all that is factually true, it's at the same time a gross misrepresentation of the truth.
"As soon as I stepped out, they slammed me to the ground, put their knee and forearm in the back of my neck and the knee in my back," Duran said.
Duran said his arms and legs were strapped to a gurney and he was taken into a guarded room to sober up. He said when he began feeling pain in his neck, officers ignored his cries for help for hours.
"It was so excruciating," Duran said. "I was begging and begging for someone to help me."
When doctors attended to him, Duran was paralyzed from the waist down and did not have use of his hands. He was flown to University Hospital in Aurora for treatment.
Cops arrested the Army vet, who had a history of mental illness, at a Marriott hotel on Oct. 21, 2011. Hotel staff called the cops after Williams, who was with his parents, appeared to have a mental breakdown in the lobby. At the time, his only alleged crime was misdemeanor obstruction.
But he paid with his life.
“This guy went almost six days and never got taken to the hospital with a broken neck,” Daniel Smolen, an attorney for Williams’s family, told The Daily Beast. “They’re throwing food at him and making fun of him in the cell while he’s going through a horrific death. You wouldn’t do that to an animal or any living thing.”
As has been pointed out, without knowing the context of any situation, we cannot come to any conclusion as to what is justified action by the cops, and what is not. There is more you could have told us about the situation where you nephew had a cop pull a gun on him. Was there a crime committed by someone similar to him minutes before ? Did he have a police record as long as your arm ? Was he wearing gang colors ? I'm not saying anything like this is true....but we have no idea.
The reason I bring this up is because I've had a cop pull a gun on me too once....and it was justified in the context I and the cop found ourselves in. My parents cabin had been broken into. My dad told me to go fix the lock and the door which had both been damaged by the burglars. I was 19 years old and drove my dirtbike down to the cabin on the lake (just a few miles from our regular home), drove my motorcycle around the gate, and was by the front door with tools in my hand messing around with the door. Apparently some one saw me doing some part of this and called the cops. Cop walks around the cabin, sees me jimmying the door and pulls his gun on me and tells me "hands up". He proceeds to ask me some very logical questions as to who I was, why I was there, and what I was doing. I answered honestly and after proving who I was, things were fine. I actually thanked him for doing what he did....and joked with him that I wish he'd have been there the day or two before when the burglars had actually been there. We shared a laugh, and both went our separate ways.
Context is the key. I could just as easily tell this story as, I was minding my own business, which I certainly was in my situation, and this freaking cop pulls a gun on me. Damn him ! I wasn't doing anything wrong. However, while all that is factually true, it's at the same time a gross misrepresentation of the truth.
LOL on the bold. I already said he was outside jogging for exercise. He was dressed with sweat pants and a t-shirt. My nephew at the time was (and still is) a rather nerdy kid. He was a Catholic school student. He had never had any run-ins with the law and does not have a criminal record. He is now a full time college student and works 2 jobs while in school. He's a really nice, decent young man.
He has no affiliation with any gangs.
Your response IMO is typical to people who just don't know what "profiling" really is. The police in both his instance and in the last one with my own son which I described, admitted that they were not looking for anyone in particular. My husband has also had a gun pulled on him by police, of which I was a witness to and it freaked me out (one of the Atlanta incidents I mentioned as to why I never really wanted to contact them about anything, they are VERY aggressive and outrageous at times).
In the case of my nephew and my son we made complaints to police and they apologized for their actions. I understand that police officers have very stressful jobs too BTW. I actually have a few relatives who are police officers. And in general, I like the department where we live now as they are responsive and don't overreact as much as they did when I lived in metro Atlanta. However, as stated, there is no reason to just think a black kid jogging down the street is involved in a gang or is in anyway involved in a crime when there has been no report of a crime in the vicinity. There is no reason to pull a gun out on a teens face. As stated, my nephew is a good kid. All the kids in my family are good kids. Contrary to what many believe, the majority of people who live in poor black neighborhoods are not bad people, nor are they criminals. My nephew actually has a story that many news programs would LOVE to feature on TV because he and his mom have dealt with homelessness and periods of desolation in regards to finances, however both he and his younger brother have overcome many odds stacked agains them. Both are hardworking young men (his brother is 15 an honors student also at a private school) and they are excellent students and just all around wonderful young people. The kind of kids that people would like to see a nice story about. That is why everyone in our family was so upset about that incident. Oddly enough my nephew wanted to be a police detective prior to that incident. He has since changed his mind as he still doesn't trust police after that happened to him.
Strike Four for the Prosecution. They should make the DA pay for all the Bogus prosecutions.
Quote:
A judge acquitted a Baltimore police officer of manslaughter and other charges Monday in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who was critically injured in a police transport van.
It was the fourth straight trial prosecutors have failed to win in the case.
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How dare they arrest this gentle, harmless fitness nut who was merely and obviously enjoying a nice workout by running in a different direction from the police? 
