So, who's been pulled over....?

[bliss_eternal]

...by five-o? Anyone lately?

Anyone know why, they NEVER tell you why(you're being pulled over)...? :shrug:
Dude, if you're bored and this is just for shits and giggles--say so. I understand. Krispy Kremes only go so far, and Starbucks closed hours ago.

But seriously, would it kill them to give a reason? :shrug:

[jmm]

1. The "best" is when they give you different reasons

like the time I was in a car with my mom and a few cops told us it was because I was dealing drugs to her. We showed them our ID's that had the same last name and address. Then my father, whose apartment I had just left, was a known big time drug dealer. I looked at the cops that said that to me and asked why a kingpin would have his TV on milk crates?

I feel sorry for my brother. I may have had to deal with some bad stuff but men get it so much worse. He once came very close to getting arrested and his car impounded because his green Pontiac was mistaken for a blue Buick which had been involved in a hit and run. Of course he fit the profile... That wasn't even the time a cop got suspended and sent to anger management for the way he treated him. I guess I should say in fairness I do know of some cases like that where they really came down on cops but each time it took having connections.

[Number23]

3. "why a kingpin would have his TV on milk crates?"

:spray:

his green Pontiac was mistaken for a blue Buick which had been involved in a hit and run. Of course he fit the profile...

Of course...:eyes:

[bliss_eternal]

7. the profile....

"brown person"
"black male"
"hispanic male"

:eyes:

[bliss_eternal]

6. 'men get it so much worse....'

Remember the outrage after Rodney King?
Well, some in the inner city knew that was par for the course for many black and hispanic men. The RK incident was just the first time anyone got it on tape.

A good friend in high school, routinely dressed her bf's wounds after he was assaulted by lapd. :(
(Yes--pre Rodney King).

His family owned a chain of restaurant/bakeries and he drove a sports car. Of course young men of color don't drive cars such nice cars(translation "expensive") in the 'hood, unless they are dealing drugs. :eyes: So he was constantly pulled over, harassed, frequently frisked, detained for ridiculous lenghts of time and if he dared to look like he's was upset....look out. Someone got a bit careless w/a club. :(

In contrast, my husband get's pulled over from time to time.
Our car is a frequently stolen model. AND at the moment, he's going through his periodic "shaggy from scooby doo" phase, but w/longer hair and more beard. So he kind of looks like he may have escaped from one of the neighboring "low rent areas" if you kwim? We're surrounded by cities w/well to do residents and dh doesn't fit area's look: 'driving a nice car, clean shaven white guy.'

*BUT* because he's "white" it's generally always the same drill (questions):

...is this your vehicle? ...how long have you had it? ...where do you live?
....id, please...i'll be right back...(they go to their car)...return w/his id and they bail....fast.
(his record is clean.)

and w/one exception they haven't asked him to "step outside of your vehicle, sir."

He laughs it off (vowing to shave, get a haircut and a new car).
As he's compared notes w/guys of color he works with who've had much worse. :scared:

[Number23]

9. Yep. I knew a guy in undergrad, the cutest little Kappa,

who went to law school because he was so sick of getting pulled over by cops for no damned reason that he wanted to know the law inside and out.

You know, in a way I wish that more black folks thought about The System in this way. Like Chuck D says in "Welcome to the Terrordome" in a game, a fool without the rules. Knowing the rules may not do much but it damn sure can't hurt.

[bliss_eternal]

10. dave chappelle...

...touched on this a bit in his show,"Killin' me softly."(performed in Washington D.C).
Even w/out the benefit of law school, many people of color learn the law...(survival)

"Every black dude is a qualified paralegal."

"If he even thinks about doing something illegal, an old black guy will pop out and say....'Brother--don't do that, that's five to ten!' "

"We know the laws, and the penalties."






removed clip due to inappropriate language. (thought it was bleeped--but wasn't).

[jmm]

13. Michael Moore did a segment on "TV Nation" about profiling

that I love. I have it on my computer but can't find it online. Here's a brief description-

http://www.dogeatdogfilms.com/tv/tvarchive.html

Most Wanted
Brian Anthony Harris is an African-American man living in Washington, D.C. To date, he has been picked up, brought in, and/or arrested over 20 times because he either "looks like a criminal" or because he closely resembles the description of an actual felon-at-large. It has gotten so bad that Harris is afraid to leave his house and drive to his job as Lighting Director at BET (Black Entertainment Television). TV Nation begins a campaign in Washington complete with billboards and radio ads to inform all police agencies that "Brian Anthony Harris is not wanted."

This is the billboard they drove around DC with-



After it was ticketed while they were trying to talk to the cops they even had a guy with a sandwich board try handing out fliers to officers. When they interviewed people who had watched the commercial they aired during Ricki Lake they got such enlightened comments as he looks scary and he looks like Rodney King. At the end of the segment they invited black men to call in and have their names added to a not wanted billboard that would be parked in front of the FBI headquarters.

[Number23]

15. I'm dying with laughter and feel like crying real tears of sadness at the same time

That billboard is the most hilarious and heartbreaking thing I've seen in a looong time...

[bliss_eternal]

17. I wish I could find this on-line...

...as I'd love to have it, too. :(

Michael Moore get's a :thumbsup: :rofl:

[jmm]

14. Sounds like an uncle of mine

One of my uncles was beaten by some cops while he was an undergrad and got a six figure settlement out of court. It was the type of situation where it was hard for them to defend their actions plus due to some family connections they couldn't turn they situation around on him. He used some of that money to go to law school.

[bliss_eternal]

18. wow...

...i'm sorry he experienced such a thing. i can only how badly he was beaten if it warranted a settlement. :scared::( :cry:

But i'm thrilled to hear that he was able to obtain a settlement(and such a large one, at that). the settlemen paying for some of his law school is just a bonus!

[Number23]

2. Reminds me of this post from noire

I think she kind of became one of my DU heroes after I saw this - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=258&topic_id=5371#5413

[bliss_eternal]

5. omg...

:scared: poor noiret. i would have been terrified. i'm thankful she insisted on staying in the lights.

[Raineyb]

4. Not recently

I remember once having a cop roll his window down a ta stop light to scold me for passing him on the right. (Which I did because he was crawling at 15 miles an hour like he was trolling for hookers.) I was thinking at the time "Are you going to give me a ticket or lecture at me because it's late and I'm trying to get home." (This was at nearly midnight during the days when I worked 2nd shift.) I guess he couldn't be bothered to get out of his car to give me the ticket. When the light changed he made a left turn from the right lane cutting me off in the process.

Yet another asshole cop interaction.

[bliss_eternal]

8. (sigh)

I hate the way they drive SOOOOOO slow, especially when it seems they are trying to decide "who to mess with." Glad you haven't had any recent interactions.

Just pulled over the other night (with my husband--he was driving).
On the way home, we saw a police helicopter circling the area and figured someone did "something."

The guy was tailing us (slow) for over a block--so we guessed he was running the description.
Thankfully, he was cool (for a cop)in that he was polite, made conversation and didn't hold us long.

Coming from LA I'm always prepared for anything. I damn near exit the car and assume the position. But he only asked for my id. lol.

We saw one yesterday, trying to get speeders. :eyes:
But the way he did it seemed so unethical.

A motorcycle cop, completely hidden from view. He literally was lurking in the shadows. We spotted him, as we exited the lot where he lurked. Of course, it didn't take him long to scan a speeder. Just seems like that shouldn't be legal...for cops to be able to hide while attempting to catch speeders. :thumbsdown:

[firedupdem]

11. My husband and my oldest son have been pulled over so much

it's ridiculous. It really makes me angry and my son handles it like it's just a normal thing. Recently, he admitted that he never told me how many times he'd been pulled over because I would have stopped him from driving. Last summer he drove from Detroit back to Tuskegee. He was pulled over 3 different times and asked if he had drugs, guns, or bootleg copies of movies! This kid is in an older model SUV packed with Dorm stuff! Needless to say I was a wreck when he told me that. He's never had a ticket, so after the harassment they let him go. I worry for my boys. As much as I speed around, I have never been pulled over nor have I gotten a ticket.

[bliss_eternal]

12. that makes me so sad....

...and angry.

that your son has just accepted this, as life as a man of color. it's great that he takes it in stride and doesn't let it alter how he lives, or the choices he makes in travel. but it is sickening that a black male HAS TO just accept such a thing.

:grr::mad:


on edit--and thanks for sharing firedupdem.
:hug: i'm so sorry.

[Number23]

16. "and my son handles it like it's just a normal thing"

In a way, isn't that the hardest part about all of this? The way so many of us have come to ACCEPT being treated like shit??

Like it's just par for the course. Which it is...

[bliss_eternal]

19. totally...

...the point of my post above is, my husband knows the drill (as a caucasian male). But it's *quite* different from what I've seen, experienced personally and heard from other people of color.

frequent for my husband is once every six months, or so (if that). and that's primarily because we have a car that's frequently stolen (and he looks a tad scruffy).

he's talked with his co-workers of color who shared,"...man, it's like doing my laundry--every week, without fail."