DWB ( Driving While Black)

[Aurielius]

OK first off this story is anecdotal so for anyone who objects to that premise...might as well move along. Summary as follows:

I live in Montgomery County an adjacent wealthy upper middle class area to Philadelphia and was driving on a local state highway in an obvious sports car (Mitsubishi 3000) and passed am elderly black gentleman in a late model Mercedes on a two lane road at a fairly good rate of speed. A minute or so later I saw in my rear view mirror the unpleasant sight of flashing red and blue lights, assuming (correctly IMO) that I was his intended target I pulled over and the Mercedes proceeded on (he must have assumed the same thing), to my surprise the police whizzed past me and proceeded to chase down the Mercedes, I pulled back on the road and by the time I was at the point where they cop car and the black gentleman were pulled over, he was approaching the Mercedes with a drawn pistol, to which I slowed and inquired of the officer why he past me up and was stopping the other vehicle. I was told to mind my own business and move along which I reluctantly did (quietly fuming), but after a mile or so I decided that this was too outrageous and turned around. By the time I re arrived at the incident site the cop was pulling away but none the less I pulled over and walked up the the older gentleman ( who was well dressed in a suit) and inquired as to what transpired, after being told he was pulled over for 'suspicious' behavior I offered my name and phone number if he would like to contest this in court ( I may regret this later as no good deed ever goes unpunished).

 

Ok if you got through all that my question is: In you local area, is this still something that goes on? For a northern urban / suburban environment I was appalled to see this and I was stationed in the south during during the post segregation era so was not unfamiliar with the conceptual pretext for harassment of minorities of DWB.

[marharth]

Pretty sure you don't see my posts but I will reply anyways.

 

I understand this situation and I have seen it happen when I was living an upper class town in North Carolina.

 

I personally don't trust anecdotal evidence alone, but I am almost positive that there are statistics and other types of evidence behind these things that can be found. If anything there is certainly news stories. I trust your story obviously since I know this happens quite.

 

This is something that definitely happens and It makes me wonder why people think racism is gone.

Edited December 12, 2011 by marharth

[Lisnpuppy]

Well...I am ashamed to say that yes..it is something that goes on where I live. That being below the Mason-Dixon line in the Great State of West Virginia. We have a place in the city I live, Charleston which is the capitol, called the West Side. It is the West Side of the town but is a lower priced housing and has had more than its share of violence and the name has become West Side in capital letters.. It is mostly a minority neighborhood but a good bit of others live there and it has several bars so gets it share of all kinds of traffic.

 

However I hear all the time...whenever a crime happens that the police will be looking for an African-American initially as a suspect (my retired neighbor has a nephew that works as the dispatcher and likes to listen in on her scanner) when in fact it comes out that it was someone white that doesn't even live in the area at the time involved.

 

There is a fast growing meth problem in my area of the State that is becoming more and more involved in this stuff. Though I am sure there are people of all types it is mostly poor white people making it and poor white folk using it around here.

 

In fact my Father once was in court involving (this was 25 years ago but still it proves the point) where a African-American was given more time for transporting cigarettes over State lines than a white man did for armed robbery. Hmmm.

 

Despite this long held prejudices still remain. Saying that it is better than in was in my Mother's time (who did not meet an African American until she was 22) holds no sense of accomplishment to me. There is still a small but present Clan presence here and I have no doubt living in smaller and more out the woods towns it would be even worse. The police departments are underfunded so I do not think the best of the best are always groomed to be police officers. Not to say an extremely high paid department is without prejudice but it certainly helps when you can be more choosy.

 

I think one of the things that would help is to fund police officers and departments better. I never understood that people think underfunding the police is a good idea. Corruption and poor employees rise much more when the money is low, not vice versa. The process for becoming, for example, A West Virginia State Trooper has been minimized to get people in. Once a proud force known and respected in the country it has fallen far and accusations of racism and corruption have risen.

 

Its sad to know that as far as we think we have come...still there is so much further to go.

[marharth]

However I hear all the time...whenever a crime happens that the police will be looking for an African-American initially as a suspect (my retired neighbor has a nephew that works as the dispatcher and likes to listen in on her scanner) when in fact it comes out that it was someone white that doesn't even live in the area at the time involved.

Does that happen only in your area to your knowledge? How would they keep that on record? I could see that happening but I am a bit confused about that if there was never a news story or anything about such a thing.

[Lisnpuppy]

IT does at times make it to the news...but I have known my neighbor for 10 years and if you ever want to know what is going on with the cops you talk to the dispatcher. :thumbsup:

 

The fact is that the police often go down the wrong road in the beginning of a seach because of their assumptions. It doesn't make it news as they will (usually) eventually find their person but not after the community taking another does of suspicion at the least from a force that is supposed to be helping not hindering.

[HeyYou]

When I was working in Ypsilanti, (in michigan... WELL north of the M-D line....) I gave a co-worker a ride home, he was black (and I would imagine still is....) and lived in the 'interesting' part of town. I took him to his home, dropped him off, and then left. As I was pulling out of his apartment complex....... officer friendly showed up RIGHT behind me, and turned on his lights. I wasn't doing anything illegal, I hadn't even gotten to the speed limit yet.... but, I pulled over, and waited for the cop to come up.

 

Officer friendly was black.... (I am white....) and was almighty curious what I was doing in 'this neighborhood'...... He wanted to search my car, but I told him he had no probable cause, I didn't feel like wasting the time, and didn't need someone tossing all the stuff around in my car. (not that there was much.....) He suggested that he could hold me there while he had the dogs brought in...... Resigned to my fate, I told him to Go for it. I then rolled up the window, turned on the radio, and lit up a cigarette prepared to wait..... He went back to his car, was on the radio for a few minutes...... then pulled out, and left.......

 

Not entirely sure what happened there.... but, I suspect that he called the state boys, as they were the only ones with a K-9 unit at the time, but, the state boys knew EXACTLY who I was, as most of them had been in to see me at least twice. The dealership I worked at got all of the state police posts cars. (which at the time, were caprice's, and camaro's.)

[Lisnpuppy]

Can't say it doesn't occasionally go both ways.

[Marxist ßastard]

He wanted to search my car, but I told him he had no probable cause... He suggested that he could hold me there while he had the dogs brought in... I told him to Go for it

Okay, first off, congratulations. This is exactly what you should do in this situation.

 

If an officer asks you to incriminate yourself ("Do you know why I pulled you over?"), say nothing. If an officer wants to search you (even just your pockets),

. If that officer threatens you for refusing to waive your constitutional rights, ask,

.

 

He went back to his car... then pulled out, and left

 

Not entirely sure what happened there... but, I suspect that he called the state boys... the state boys knew EXACTLY who I was

I wouldn't count on it. He probably wasn't ever prepared to actually bring dogs in – he just figured that maybe if he threatened you with that, you'd agree to waive your constitutional rights. He could've just as easily said that you matched the description of a bombing suspect and that the FBI were on the way – if it would've led to an easy search.

 

Why did he leave you to wait in your car while he "called in the dogs"? Well, why do you keep ups in a room while you "clear it with the desk"? It's all about mind games and maintaining control.

[grannywils]

HeyYou, I would have no way of knowing this for sure; but coming from New York City, and being of an age that enables me to remember "back in the day", I am guessing that the officer might have suspected that you were in "his" neighborhood to purchase illegal substances, and when he went back to his car he ran your license. Since he probably found nothing, he just decided not to bother, due to paperwork, etc. This is profiling, just in reverse.

 

To get back to Aurielius' original question; again based on my age and having lived almost everywhere (lol), yes I have and still do see this sort of thing much more often than there is any excuse for. From my experience it seems to exist in just about every sector of the Nation.

 

I agree with LP when she says (I am paraphrasing) that simply saying that "well it is improving" does not mean diddly to those who are still living with the constant possibility of being stopped for "driving while black" or any similar infraction.

[Beriallord]

I don't see this problem in my area, and that is only because there aren't many minorities around. But what I have noticed is cops do target particular looking vehicles, like people with tinted windows + shiny rims playing loud music, and large 4x4 trucks with loud exhaust. If someone chooses to drive a vehicle that stands out like a sore thumb, then you are more likely to get pulled over for a routine traffic stop. One could argue that if someone is driving a car with tinted windows, how could someone be racially profiling seeing as how the officer can't see the person driving?

 

And I got pulled over one time and the officer told me he smelled marijuana? Of course that was ********!!! I don't even do that. I told the officer I don't do that, and he was mistaken. Then he smiled and said he was just trying to see what kind of reaction I would make. Did I get trolled by a police officer? Anyway I was just glad I got out of that without a ticket, and didn't feel the need to complain seeing as how I didn't get written a ticket.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Beriallord