Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/12/black-versace-executive-stopped-by-police-outside-of-beverly-hills-branch.html
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I believe that this clip from 1980 is sadly relevant:
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No question he was profiled. Why else would two other patrol units need to show up to help write the misdemeanor citation? I suspect his clothing contributed (very casual), but his skin color absolutely was the primary reason.
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“Aw, hey, buddy. You mind if we just search you, you know…? It’s totally up to you, pal, but you know, my man, if you don’t have any weapons you have nothing to worry about. Yeah, yeah, I’m not putting you in cuffs. We’re all cool, bro.”
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Fucking pigs.
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What creeps me out after watching this (in addition to the obvious) is that I was pulled over by a jumpy police officer years ago for forgetting to turn my headlights on and pulling out of a driveway and at that time I was given the same line about my phone when I was texting to say I’ll be late while pulled over and parked waiting for the officer to run a background check. He was like “We can’t know you aren’t calling for backup!” And he was ready to pounce in an instant.
Scared the shit out of me because at that moment I knew I was facing an armed delusional man. Where is this single incident all cops across the country are referring to where they pulled some one over for a minor thing and then were ambushed by that person’s personal army three seconds after touching their phone? It’s a myth.
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Why is jaywalking even considered a crime?
If there’s nothing there, you walk! Why is this even a problem?
What are you supposed to do when you’re in a rural area that has no established crosswalk sign? Wait there until you die?
If there was any law that seemed so petty and stupid it shouldn’t have existed in the first place, its this one
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It’s probably something the Killology guy tells them in their scary shoot first seminars. I’m sure he has a whole grimm’s fairy tales book full of unlikely scenarios to frighten jumpy cops with.
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The problem is when people walk and there is something there causing issues. Or there wasn’t something there, but suddenly there is.
Crosswalks help reduce pedestrian accidents. VS going diagonal across streets. With lights you know you have a safety window.
In small towns with no lights, at least the drivers expect you to cross at a corner and will be more alert for you.
So it is, IMO, a prudent safety law.
It shouldn’t be enforced. Most jaywalking instances are just like failure to signal or an out tail light. They are an excuse to stop someone and fish for more serious violations, like drugs or weapons.
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These Beverly Hills cops appear to have a hard-on for POC in or around Rodeo Drive.
There’s a guy who calls himself Mr. Checkpoint who records many b.s. stops of POC in Beverly Hills.
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Like many laws under the guise of “public safety,” jaywalking is a legal way for police to initiate contact with you. They don’t care about the jaywalking charge. That’s nothing but a ticket if that… They use “jaywalking” and “failure to signal” to open dialogue. Where were you going in such a rush? Got ID? What’s in your bag? Mind if we search you? Why are you nervous? Are you doing something you should be nervous about? Keep your hands where I can see them.
I don’t believe ACAB, but the system of policing has been developed and shaped over time by the worst Bs of all the Bs. Unfortunately, like any system built on a power hierarchy (strong v. weak, armed v unarmed, haves v. have nots), it’s become corrupt by those who have the power and don’t want to ever let it go.
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I feel the same way about red lights when I’m driving.
Right. Except in very unusual circumstances.
“Sir, do you realize you were jaywalking? And do I smell marijuana on you?”
If you have to ask, Officer, the answer is clearly no.
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Probably the only time it should come up is when it causes an accident and is noted in the report.
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Racial profiling at buildings with security is profoundly obvious. When I was a bike messenger in NYC, I would walk right up to the front desk and say who I was there to see. 75% of the time they let me go up the primary elevator bank without so much as a “Visitor” sticker (spoiler alert; I’m a white male!). This saved me significant amounts of time vs. going into the receiving dock where you would be made to wait for some intern to be tasked with coming down 25 floors to pick up the delivery. I was even allowed to linger in the lobby of one building because I wanted to look at the massive Thomas Hart Benton mural.
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There are people, maybe occasionally including me in my younger days, who run across four lanes against the light to try to catch the bus. I’m pretty ok with at ticket in that situation, or any where someone is likely to wind up a hood ornament.
But that is not this situation.
This is what @CaillouSexyThing says: an excuse to initiate contact.
And if cops are going to abuse these laws, we have to either get rid of the laws or get rid of the cops.
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Yeah- except a 270 pound man can’t accelerate to 125 miles an hour as he walks, nor can he create the ridiculous amount of kinetic force in doing so a multi thousand pound vehicle can.
Imagine for a second all vehicles are reduced to walking pedestrians. No danger.
Now go back to your idea- there’s incredibly large amounts of actual kinetic force, potentially destructive, that could go out of control if someone hits you.
The angle with jaywalking should only matter as a secondary thing, when it diverts the path of your rolling potential bomb. In THAT instance, it makes sense.
When crossing the road, if nothing is there, and its clear nothing is there, it shouldn’t matter.
Yes, the thought that s vehicle can come out of nowhere isn’t lost on me- see above.
I argue the difference for ignoring signs when you are the one in control of a massive destructive force- it should be on you, not someone risking becoming hamburger if you hit them. Laws already exist to handle that.
Citing the person who actually triggers the instance of being hit is kinda like arresting someone for trying to commit suicide- the person is already hurt and suffering by their own hand- throwing them in jail is not going to fix the problem
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Ok, this is derailing a bit, but I wasn’t being totally sarcastic: If I’m stopped at a red light at an intersection with good visibility and no one is around, I occasionally treat it like a stop sign.
On the other hand, while cars have greater kinetic energy, they are also more predictable than pedestrians, as they generally only go in one of two directions on a road, stay in their lane, and enter or cross roads at specific locations.
Turning someone to hamburger would kinda ruin my day. If a law stops a person from walking out in front my car, I appreciate it.
It’s meant to be a deterrent, but doesn’t work all the time. There’s a stretch of road nearby that’s suburban but has four lanes, with a median. When I was still commuting, I sometimes went 45 mph down that road, because if I wasn’t paying attention, the ol’ brain encoded this is as “open highway.” So did everyone else. Even knowing this, people would cross the road just about anywhere, rather than at crosswalks. People were killed. Finally they put in speed cameras, and drivers slowed down.
Basically it was a street that never should have become a highway, but in a congested area, I suppose it was the best traffic managers could do.
You’ve obviously never lived with an alcoholic- I have.
My father pulled up to a military funeral yesterday for my uncle in a bright red Mercedes with a spitoon in one cup holder and a tall boy beer in the other.
Shit like this was why I disowned him.
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For thousands of years, the road was common space, for people walking, for wheeled carriages, for pack animals, etc…
It took just a few decades to turn this upside down, where only people in cars get to use these publicly funded works… to the point where today there are a lot of restaurants where -with covid- only those in cars can get service at all.
I suppose as long as one embraces automobile culture as normal and natural, none of this should raise any red flags. To anyone else, there is a deep stench of corruption to all of this.
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