How should the officers have handled this?
More to the point, is this protesting the inappropriate way he was detained, or the atmosphere of fear for black Americans?
More to the point, is this protesting the inappropriate way he was detained, or the atmosphere of fear for black Americans?
At that point, you might as well just admit that it's an excuse to stop-and-frisk anyone you like, fishing for anything you can find.
I'd hope (but not expect) police to be looking for something a bit firmer, and maybe follow him, but as soon as you're effectively being detained in a public place, you're really messing with folks.
Is it really a "stop-and-frisk anyone you like"?
My daughter's ex-boyfriend, who is Ojibwe and a pretty big guy (6'1" and muscular) got stop-and-frisked all the time, for all sorts of petty made-up crap. This is a kid that I expect will wind up with a PhD on interfacing nervous systems with computers, a kid in college on a Gates Millenium scholarship. They just see a big brown guy and start harassing.
To some, that may mean it seems appropriate to just stop and question everyone. But, in reality, being questioned by the police appears to passers-by to be an indication of guilt, and that's not something you want colleagues and students seeing.
So, again, if you see a guy matching a vague description, see if there's another reason why you'd suspect him.
Have a rock-solid, specific description? Maybe that's a different story. But I'd like to err on the side of caution and respect – there are consequences even if you don't charge the guy.
Given some lady saw the person through a window on the screet, do you think that description at all rules out someone who is 5'9" and 145 lbs from being frisked? Or 6'1" and 180 pounds?
That description becomes "stop and frisk the majority of black males". Once you can frisk a group of 3+ people based on the description of one matching then you will statistically have carte blanche.
Regardless, operating solely on evidence as broad and vague as appearances should warrant some skepticism on the part of the investigating officer, and therefore seems ripe for abuse.
Extending the conversation a bit to the intersection of technology, sur|sousveillance[0]:
">[...]creepy stalker[...]
Which are attributes usually assigned to human beings, no? Or do you enjoy being trailed by officers/staff when you shop because of the color of your skin, or do you not have to face nor think about such things when you shop or in other interactions in your life? Because I don't particularly enjoy that either, and I'm doing what I can to address it among other issues assuming that if others could leverage information that is already out there about me, maybe, just maybe I won't have to be treated as subhuman by some on initial interactions, or at least while I patronize a store on occasion. What are you doing to address the problems you have surrounding the use of technology in such ways beyond vocalizing your displeasure? Do you still use social networking, webmail, play apps via smartphone, purchase via credit cards online/offline, etc…? If so, your behaviors are telling others otherwise.
I'm just stating that's the direction things are going in now, and for anyone to avoid such realities means that they shall continue to be suspended in a state of cognitive dissonance. Hardly just my "scheme", I'm just a piece in the puzzle that was already being built before I was even born."
I would just expect some Bayesian reasoning, and "has a home at a reasonably expensive address" and "has a car" and "has MIT ID" would presumably rank quite highly as factors? Unless "is black" ranks so high that it dwarfs all other factors.
Back to this story: you have to check out whomever matches the description and is nearby. The only thing that the police needed to do in this situation was to not make it a situation. Reaching for that gun was The Wrong Thing To Do because this guy was cooperating.
That is exactly what I am saying. If he has a solid address, it is unlikely that he is a small time burglar.
Not sure how IDs work in the US. In Germany you have to register with the police when you move and you are supposed to carry your ID at all times. Of course there is no guarantee that people keep their ID up to date. Then again, I suppose if mail to the old address would be failing it could be marked in the computer, easy to check for the police.
I think you need to multiply P(is a criminal) with <severity of the crime>. If they suspect somebody of being a serial killer, more scrutiny seems appropriate than if they suspect a small time burglar.
I don't see "Serial Killer" levels of scrutiny in this story. I see the right amount of scrutiny, but with a precursor of a cop getting his gun hand ready in a situation that doesn't call for it.
And this thread seems to have defied his expectations on that as well
1. He wasn't wearing a puffy jacket.
2. His build wasn't a close match for the person they were looking for (the police admitted this themselves).
3. It sounds like he was driving towards the scene of the crime.
Bearing all these things in mind, why would they investigate him?
They all look alike?
Would they have asked a successful white person to get in their cruiser and transported to the victim for identification? Hell no.
Would they have asked a successful white person to sit and wait for an hour while the victim is brought to them? Hell no.
If the description matched that of a successful white person the cops would have stopped the man, spoken to him for 2 minutes, recorded his identification, and moved on. If he was in fact the culprit then great. They have his ID. That's the important part. Once you know who a bad guy is you can always catch them later.
> Would they have asked a successful white person to sit and wait for an hour while the victim is brought to them? Hell no.
I have no experience with US police, but as a successful white person, this is exactly what I would expect police officers to do to me. Why the hell wouldn't US police do it?
> "I was not going to let them take me anywhere because if they did, the chance I was going to be accused of something I did not do rose exponentially."
Would you feel the same way if you were being stopped by the police in, say, Sudan, where the race of those running the system is not the same as your own?