just curious, my friends,

[roxy]

How many times have you been stopped by the police--without doing anything to give them a reason to stop you, like speeding, or weaving all over the road, or throwing stuff out the window?

Comments

[dawnybee.livejournal.com]

Not myself but I've been with people who have.
1) With four older work acquaintances. Think "The Golden Girls" but chain smokers. We were driving one night in a neighborhood that has joyriders. The driver had a black Escalade so we're driving along, and police sirens light up. She's questioning us if she ran a light, if she did something wrong. We told her she didn't. I'm directly behind her, so the cop pull us over. She rolls down her window and the look on his face that the driver of this Escalade wasn't young black men, but a fifty-plus woman was hilarious. He stammered and said that he thought her light was out. She flicked them. Said, "no, seems fine to me." He thanked her and walked away. She rolled up the window and cussed a blue streak knowing full well he didn't think she had a light out. He just wanted to harass.

2) With my sister. I was a teen and I was running late and asked her for a ride. She ran out the house in a robe, no shoes on just thinking it'd be quick. She got pulled over and she may not have signaled. But the officer just went in on her because she left the house w/out her license and yes, that's bad but he was over-the-top. Threatened to make her lie down on the highway or arrest her, was yelling at her. I was sad to see my big sister pleading and asking why he wouldn't let her have a say or just write her a ticket to let her go. So demoralizing.

3) Friend, a brother-- former military, big activist, eloquent Renaissance man. Walking with his headphones and two cops stop him. Hem him up for 30 minutes because there was a robbery in the neighborhood and he fit the description. He pointed out that he only had his iPod so if he robbed anything, where was it? And he heard over their radio the description and it didn't fit him but they still kept him detained. He was so shaken by it that he refused to go to New York for his brother's college graduation because of NY's stop and frisk laws. He didn't want to experience it again.

And a few others, sadly.

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

1)Yep--though I would have loved to have been in that Escalade with you guys.

2) that right there? Is enough to make you wake up at night in a cold sweat.

We all have these experiences, but no one believes us. Now they do--folks are dying and it's making the news. The operative words being 'making the news'. Just looking at the responses here is educational.