You better believe this I'm white and have been pulled over 0 times. When I've been riding with my black friend, we've been stopped by the police at least 7 times. "rolling stop" "ashing a cigar out the window" "having the high beams on in the city" I've heard them all, and yes it is blatant racism. AND EVERY SINGLE TIME the police had asked if they can search the car. One time they even searched us down too and another of my black friends ended up in handcuffs. Not all the cops are like this, but you better believe they'd rather pull over a brother in a 79 caddy with the license plate light out instead of a housewife in a Dodge Caravan who runs a stop sign. It's discrimination and the sick part is they are trained to use it.
I'm white (female, about the least criminal looking person out there) and I've been pulled over for a lane violation. I wasn't given a ticket or anything, and the cop (also white) admitted to me that he was just pulling people over whenever he had an excuse to see if there were any drugs or open containers in their vehicles. That's what it was really about. I guess if you acted suspicious, he could search the car. Sadly, I know there is a lot of discrimination out there, but it's still no excuse not to cooperate. I wonder if Ty Law had something to hide (something in the car he was afraid they would find) and that's why he ran.
Yes it does happen and when it does it is racism. To say that is what happened in this case with Ty Law, there is no way we can come to this conclusion. A hypothetical question though ... If it is known that a certain type of car driven through certain areas at a specific time is known to be the choice car, time, etc of drug dealers, is it OK for police to nitpick and pull someone over? I do, and if the person is doing nothing wrong then it should be fine. Pulling someone over purely because of race is just stupid and I am sure it happens because there are all kinds of cops out there, but I believe some profiling(not racial) is legitimate police work. I read in some poll shortly after 9/11 that the majority of Americans wanted the airports to check more thoroughly Arab people flying on our airlines and we should all remember that this is no different than just pulling someone over for DWB which makes them both wrong.
pgabs, the police forces that instituted profiling agree with me. Are you here to say that you know more about law enforcement than a police force? I don't believe you do. Were it not for action groups causing a ruckus over the policy, we would still have it. Demagoguery killed an otherwise sound policy. Profiling is used in virtually every business on earth. It's common sense. You target people who have a history of performance. Very very simple.
I got pulled over for a lane violation this year and I'm brown too. But the cop seemed to be pulling over a lot of people just to get some cash for the department.... or so I thought.
Who has a history of what perfromance TJ? What are you trying to say, and prove that with statistics, wheather its drug dealers, murderers, or any other crime. Just prove what you are saying.
I am sure glad he pulled out the "Do you know who I am?" card. Some people aren't too bright, they pull over and then drive off. They have your plate number, color and make of the car, you will get caught. I guess have a new name for him "Above the" Ty Law.
Both side of this argument are using common sense. The arguments are logical. Which is why the law has so much trouble with the problem.
Happily! As you very well know, there exists an abundance of data proving my point. Here is one such source: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm On a percentage basis, these numbers are truly overwhelming. Those who break the law impose a very serious cost on our society. This cost is measured in lives lost, families torn apart, businesses destroyed and dollars spent to incarcerate the offenders. As I correctly stated, profiling the most likely offenders early can help avoid the unfortunate consequences to these people's irresponsibility. There is a reason it was implemented. There is a reason policemen thought of it. Very very simple.
I was pulled over before and I think it was for a lane violation. I had pink hair at the time and when the cop was telling me why he pulled me over he asked if I was gay and if my friend was my boyfriend. I said no. He didn't search the car but he did glance in the back seat where we had all of our camping gear. (we were going camping) He asked where we were heading and we told him "camping at the Guadalupe River " . He asked again if we were gay. My friend asked him why he thinks we are gay and the officer said something about my pink hair and the both of us going camping together. My friend then asked him if he goes camping or to a ball game with a friend, does that mean you're gay. The cop said I TAKE MY WIFE WHERE EVER I GO!!.
See, that's the problem. Unprofessional conduct, like the example above, is tolerated in law enforcement, and it shouldn't be. You couldn't get away with asking such rude (and irrelevant) personal questions to a client or customer in any other business. In a civil society, you shouldn't, no matter what the business is. The real problem here is with a lot of the police (subculture?), where often grown men will be boys and racism, sexism, etc. are tolerated and expected. Is this making sense?
so you have no problem with cops pulling black folx over just because they are black and in a nice car? Rocket RIver
What has that got to do with anything? I mean, if the police raid your house, because you painted your door red, and they said "Well, we did it because we saw a couple of drug dealers had red doors", you'd be OK with that, right? Because you have nothing to hide. Profiling is the law enforcement equivalent of trawler fishing. Sure, you'll catch some fish, but a ton of innocent dolphins, and other fauna from the sea you weren't looking for.
So how many of those laws are broken inside a car. Besides drunk driving, what percent of those crimes are actually commited in a car. The racial make up of DUI felons is about the same as the racial make up of the country as a whole, but maybe you can enlighten us on the rampant crime wave going on in the cars of young black males. That's the stupidity of saying profiling is necessary. I don't know anyone who's has had there house robbed in a young black male's car. Maybe you do Trader.
Do black people really commit more crimes than whites, or are more of them caught simply because more of them are pulled over? Maybe there is an equal number of white crooks who are getting away scott free because they are white.
