I quote the author: <i>Not long ago, I was walking with a friend to a crowded restaurant when I spotted two cops in line and froze. I tried to figure out how to get around them without having to walk past them. I no longer wanted to eat there, but I didn’t want to ruin my friend’s evening. As we stood in line, 10 or so people back, my eyes stayed on them. I’ve always gone out of my way to avoid generalizations. I imagined that perhaps these two cops were good people, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what the Santa Monica police had done to me. I found a lump in my throat as I tried to separate them from the system that had terrified me. I realized that if I needed help, I didn’t think I could ask them for it.</i><p>I'm not sure what she intended to say with this closing paragraph but it seems like she has come to realize why some people get uneasy around certain other people. If you have had bad experiences with some members of a particular group (cops, PoC, lawyers, etc) you might have reservations about future interactions with other members of that group. Even if she doesn't like that she has those thoughts, she is admitting to trying to avoid some people just based on her past experience. This is exactly what other people get called racist for feeling. Something to think about.
When I was in HS I forgot my keys, I tried climbing in thru the second floor, neighbors called the cops, cops showed up and asked for ID, showed it to them and incident over.<p>I didn't get mad at my neighbors. I'm rather grateful they were looking out for neighbors' property, even if they didn't take the time out to determine if it was me or a burglar. I don't expect them to call out to me to confirm I was the person who lived there. Another occasion, my friend lost keys to a chained up scooter. So we took a cutter, it was not easy to break the lock, neighbors seeing us also called the cops. We looked suspicious. Breaking into my house looked suspicious and I'm glad the cops came to investigate. They're supposed to.<p>Now, it's true, they didn't point guns at me/us in either occasion, but my friends who had similar incidents did have five cops with guns show up in a different instance, maybe because it was night.<p>I should also point out, I do believe the police have overmilitarized over the last decade(s) and overly aggro, but that does not mean I want them to stop from doing good policing (investigating suspicious activity)
I once accidentally mistook my white neighbor as a burglar, as he tried to break into his front door with a plastic snow shovel at 3 in the morning. At least a dozen cops showed up - six police cars, including a K-9 unit. Needless to say I was embarrassed and felt bad, but my neighbor was too drunk to remember. This is in Michigan, so it really does seem to be common practice to send half the force to a burglary in progress. The cops handled it well.<p>On the flip side of that, cops in Ohio illegally entered my brothers apartment with guns drawn while he was at work, terrifying his wife who called him saying people were breaking in, causing him to race home at very unsafe speeds while trying to contact the local police. When entering they didn't identify themselves, laughed at my sister-in-law, and didn't apologize for having the wrong address. Despite checking with a few lawyers, they were told there's nothing to be done other than file a complaint with the police.
>> I demanded all of their names and was given few. Some officers simply ignored me when I asked, boldly turning and walking away. Afterward, I saw them talking to neighbors, but they ignored me when I approached them again.<p>Protect and serve...
Absolute trash article.<p>"I would be dead in the stairwell outside my apartment, because something about me — a 5-foot-7, 125-pound black woman — frightened this man with a gun."<p>Nice narrative there. Edit:
Pigs will be pigs by the way, so I'm not surprised at some of them walking away without giving their names and badge numbers.
Another way of looking at it: Someone's visual attributes combined with their behavior caused a concerned neighbor to call the police.<p>Yes, profiling does work, statistically speaking. Yes, it sucks to be profiled, but yes, (potential) victims are also very thankful when profiling does stop a crime.<p>My advice: if she is really concerned about this, she should work on reducing crime perp stats for black people.