General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: COPS COMPLAIN ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE WASTING POLICE TIME CALLING 911 WITH IRRATIONAL FEARS OF BLACKS [View all]Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)You seem to believe that the police have the authority to double question the manager to judge if she was enforcing a policy fairly.
They dont.
They could have asked those questions, but even if she said I dont always enforce it the same it wouldnt matter one bit. That doesnt negate the facts at hand there. They could have said they made up and implemented the no buy no sit rule on the spot right then and it wouldnt have changed the elements of the crime.
You seem to think that if the police question the motives of the manager or anything else that changes the elements of the crime, or allows them to not enforce the law as written. It doesnt.
To fit with my previous analogy, if someone called for a suspicious person and when I got there they said those people are fishing in my pond and trespassing it wasnt my place to say well do you let other people fish there? Do you only call when black people fish there? What are your rules for fishing in the pond and do you enforce them fairly?. It wouldnt be my job to ask that because the answers would not matter, the law said I had to act on the trespass. Even if that person only called on black people fishing and never called on white people. Even if there was a white guy right there fishing too.
Could they have handled asking them to leave better? Probably. I would still love if there was body cam footage to show the entire interaction. But it doesnt matter how nicely or rudely you tell someone they must leave, if they refuse to leave its the same.
The store manager totally jacked up. The charges didnt get followed trough on because the comparing victim, Starbucks, decided that they were not going to follow through on the complaint and withdrew. That wasnt a reflection on if the cops made the right decision in the moment. I have made shoplifting arrests and domestic violence arrests and all other kinds before where the complainant later decideded not to follow up on the charges so they were not prosecuted. That doesnt mean my arrests were wrong.
Was the call wrong? Yes.
Was the managers claim discriminatory and racially biased? Absolutely
Despite all that, did the offense of trespassing still occur when the men were asked to leave and did not? Yes.
What happened was the law was abused. And the police were put in a position where they were stuck having to enforce the law for a racist person, because the law is still the law even when abused.
Does it suck that the law can be abused like that? Absolutely. People manipulate and use the law in manners that are despicable all the time.
But that doesnt allow the officers on the scene to refuse to enforce the law as written. You seem to think the police are allowed to say I think your a racist so Im not bothering to act on your complaint. They cant. I think thats your Hangul here. No matter what amount of questions they asked the manager, no matter if they thought her actions were bigoted, no matter if they thought her enforcement of rules was arbitrary or unfair they still had to act on the complaint. The elements of the crime, remaining on the premises after being asked to leave, are not changed by any of that.
Now, there are absolutely other remidies under the law for the persons who are discriminated against like this can have under the law? Absolutely! But those would be the same had they left when asked or if they had refused and forced the issue to an arrest.4