"I DON'T KNOW YOU!!!"

[Dialectic]

Yesterday evening I was walking to dinner with an AF friend of mine (we'll call her Stella). I live right next to Chinatown in a formerly Jewish area that's turning increasingly Chinese and Caribbean, with a healthy dose of fruity/ vintage white people as well. So as we're strolling down the side walk, this huge Black dude (not in the muscular way, but in the girth way) about twenty feet in front of us starts shouting "I DON'T KNOW YOU!!!" and running like a madman our way. We naturally start crossing the street, at which point, we see that he's shouting at three big redneck-looking white guys, two young and one old, and I believe one in a car. They chase him down, get him up against the car, put his hands behind his back, and start talking to him and emptying his pockets. The whole time, this dude is going "I don't know you ... why are you doing this ... I don't know you ...."

By now everyone on the street, strollers, people on patios, everyone, is looking at this, most of whom are either Asian or Black (and I noticed that while the Asians were looking more out of curiosity, the Blacks had a very keen interest in the goings-on, as did I). For a while, Stella and I were considering interfering in some way, until I noticed that the old white dude picked up and spoke into a little receiver into his (I realized) unmarked car, so we at least knew they were plainclothes police (not that this particularly comforted me either way).

Things calmed down a little after that, they sat the guy down on some steps, and they chatted (I couldn't hear any of this), and Stella and I finally decided to continue on our way, as violence/ abuse was no longer a possibility (at least in public), and anyway, I had no desire to pick a fight with three huge redneck plainclothes cops on adrenaline.

One thing I remember, though, was that as the guy was babbling in his panicked state against the car, he said something about how the cops just pulled up to him and said "hey, wanna go for a ride?" at which point he ran like the wind (or tried to), and they chased and caught him. And I thought to myself, goddamn, if they were just fucking with this guy (who had nothing illegal on him, at least in the pocket search) and caught him because he was running (which is understandable when three rednecks roll up to you and ask you if you want to go for a ride), then that would be some sad, messed up shit. Of course, it could very well have been that he was a suspect in some sort of investigation, or that he was at least a sketched-out character who way overreacted to some other comment. I don't know.

I don't really have too many conclusions to draw, nor am I asking for your opinions on the matter, 'cause I just didn't know enough; I just wanted to tell the story and convey the really, really uneasy feeling I had coming out of that situation. Most beat cops are rednecks with no education who like power and a gun; I don't doubt that there are good and smart guys and gals out there, but given the number of good and smart people I see in general (in allegedly good and smart fields), I don't have a lot of faith in the abilities and morality of the average cop. And when three of them in plain clothes and an unmarked car want to gang up on you, it doesn't really matter who you are, what you do, how hard you work, does it? If you don't look like them, if they deal with the dregs of "your people" all day, and if you're coming to "take" "their" jobs and live in "their" neighbourhoods, well, you better be ready to feel really, really uneasy at random times for the rest of your life.

[ellencho]

I feel the same way about most cops. A lot of them get a bit over excited and over zealous and totally lose their cool about little things.

When I'm confronted with some sort of stressful situation I try my best to keep my cool and not get overly upset about it, and when I do make that conscious effort I find that I can think clearer and more rationally than when I'm full out panicking. If they don't already, something like this should be a part of police training. You'd think with all the psychological training that they put cops through, they'd be able to weed out the guys who can't handle the stress.

[Dialectic]

I get the feeling that their psychological and moral training may not be the most thorough, sophisticated, or even sincere system around. I also know that being a cop and constantly dealing with the worst kind of crap your whole life is going to seriously affect you, but I don't think many of them start off too good to begin with, and with a job like this, you'd ideally need to start off with some very solid and good people in the first place.

(And don't even get me started on teachers ....)

(edited to add: teachers in North America, specifically.)

[vsoy]

As a tax-paying home owner, I hate cops. They are worthless. Unless you are getting gang raped and your house is on fire, they never come to your house in a reasonable amount of time. Or if you're going 8 mph over the speed limit, they will find you and you will get a ticket. All the, "Gee, I'm sorry for speeding" doesn't do you any good if you are not a blonde wearing a cheerleading uniform or driving a super nice car.

I do feel that pay is commensurate with the quality of people in a job and we certainly do not pay cops and teachers enough money to deal with the unpleasant aspects of their jobs. If they paid cops more money, smarter people would take these jobs. I also feel that if you deal with the dregs of society, it's going to rub off on you. You see all these lowlifes getting away with so much, making so much money, one can not help but feel temptation or at least pick up some of the mannerisms.

I worked as a temp receptionist in the law firm that used to represent John Gotti. His lawyer was very nice to me, but he looked like a mob boss, had an aura of one too. I used to be scared of him, didn't want to make him mad.

[Dialectic]

Yes, I agree that it's a sort of vicious circle with these professions, where we have to make changes to both the system as well as foster individual growth before we can see any sort of significant improvement.