My Racist Cop Story...

"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures) 09/09/2014 at 16:43 • Filed to: None

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So, I know this isn't usually the kind of thing we do here, and I apologize, but after reading about Joshua Gilbert's !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , not to mention the recent incidents in the news involving police and people of color, I felt the need to mention a police encounter that I had in the spring that I'm still upset about (I think I've probably just been looking for an excuse to vent about this and am now taking it. Or perhaps I wanted an outside perspective).

[STAFF: DO NOT FRONT PAGE]

First, to set the stage. I live in Massachusetts, in a city of 150,000. This isn't the south, this isn't the country. I am half black on my father's side, as a result I'm not super dark but I am noticeably and definitively "not white." My grandfather (my father's father) started a funeral home here back in 1961. It is now one of the two largest "black" funeral homes in the area. We average 150 cases a year and regularly work with city police officers during house removals and police escorts for funerals. This same grandfather was also the city police commissioner in the early 1980s. We're on a first name basis with they mayor and the entirety of the city council. All this means my last name is one most of the police force knows and respects.

Our funeral home sits on the corner of a decently traveled intersection, and my house is on the cross street that runs along the side of the funeral home. It's 320 feet from the front door of the funeral home to the front door of my house, both doors are in direct line of sight to each other. So, one night in early spring around 1 AM I set off on the brief trek from the funeral home to the house. As I cross the street in front of the funeral home I see a police car approaching from the left, about 500 feet down the road. I pay it no mind because the funeral home is on the main route between police headquarters and the municipal fuel depot, and why would I need to concern myself with a cop car anyway? By the time the cop car passes behind me I'm a good 70 feet down my street and I've already forgotten about the car. Then I hear it's tires squeal as it turns down the next street over.

The car roars around the block, turns onto my street, and makes straight for me. I freeze, targeted by the headlights and the additional spotlight they aim at me. By now I'm in front of my own house. The two officers jump out of the car, hands on their sidearms. I can hear one of them undo the snap.

"Where are you going?" one asks gruffly.

"I'm going to my house, right here." I gesture at the house behind me.

"Where are you coming from?"

"I'm coming from the funeral home at the corner," I point to the large, well lit sign at the edge of the intersection bearing my last name in bright, white letters. "My name is Steven Harrell."

"Do you have I.D?"

I slowly pull out my wallet and hold out my license containing the same name as the big sign on the corner and the same address as the house behind me. Surely this will take care of whatever the hell is going on. One officer comes forward and takes it, the other keeps enough distance to react if I make any sudden movements. The officer with my license steps back to his partner, they have a quick, quiet exchange I can't make out. The one with my license steps forward again.

"You fit the description of someone we're looking for, except he has a baseball cap," the officer says.

Ah, so you cornered me in front of my house, ready to draw on me because you're "looking for a brown man in a hat," I think to myself. Makes perfect sense.

I wait for an apology. I wait for acknowledgement that this was ridiculous, that this was excessive, that I no longer need to stand outside freezing in the 45 degree air in a tee shirt and can finally go into the nice warm house directly behind me.

Instead I get "We'd like to search your backpack to make sure you didn't hide the hat in it."

What?

I feel convinced at this point they have no probable cause. I feel that between my explanation of why I'm out at this hour and the state-issued evidence tying me to these two buildings a football field apart should be sufficient to prove I'm not the person they're allegedly looking for. But it's late. And I'm cold. And I'm tired. And I just want this to be over. So I hand them my backpack. They search it, including the pockets that are far too small to hold a hat. I can see them visibly disappointed that they only found a laptop and a few pencils.

With nothing but a "Have a good night," they hand me back my bag, get in their car, and drive off. As they're climbing into the car I hear one of them say to the other "Well, it was worth a shot."

What?

505Turbeaux > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:47

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I cannot like this nor share it to Oppositeblog for fear it gets picked up by FP against your wishes. Terrible

Dusty Ventures > 505Turbeaux 09/09/2014 at 16:49

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Liking it shouldn't be an issue. I can just text Raph if it gets FP'd and he'll pull it (happened once before when I forgot to include "no share")

Brian Silvestro > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:50

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Not gonna lie, I lol'd. Just because that's ridiculous.

dogisbadob > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:50

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Sorry you don't want it shared on the troll page, but it absolutely needs to be. This racist cop shit NEEDS TO STOP

Everybody that has a story like that should share it and everybody that sees it should share it, and everybody that knows cop should call them out and tell them that racism is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Cops and their friends, TAKE A STAND

505Turbeaux > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:51

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ha I lost his number when I got a new phone, and of course that week I see the goddamn Baja at the New Hampshire toll booths on the random going in my direction. He only checked FB messages later when he was at the rally. D'oh

RedEyeNinja > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:51

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Almost sounded like they were looking to score off some "brown dude's" stash for a night cap...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:53

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The racism comes down to two things, whether or not the guy-with-cap existed (pretty likely), and their presumption that they could just roll you for a search. The first case, well, it's fuckin' hard to ID people at night, and if "suspicious guy with cap", they have to go with what they have. Very often, that means skin tone, and you might need to ask the originator of the "suspicious guy" claim to pin down whether good ol' paranoia was involved.

The second case, could be virtually any measure of overbearing cop and profiling in any combination. OTOH, 1AM pedestrianism is very, very suspicious. However, graduation to searching you for the lulz is when they can go horsefuck.

DanZman > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:54

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Wow, that is very unfortunate. I'm sorry that you had to go through that. Its really sad that this is not an uncommon thing and that it really only takes a few officers to make it a problem.

cazzyodo > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:55

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Dammit, man.

I have nothing more thought provoking than that.

Oh wait...really?

Tell your dad I said "hi" by the way haha. He's a righteous dude.

Dusty Ventures > dogisbadob 09/09/2014 at 16:57

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If my actual identity weren't so closely tied to my username here I might allow it, but I've been so thoroughly doxxed, between the stories of racing, the stories of the funeral home, etc, that there's no anonymity left, really. I'd be concerned about this story getting back to people in the area and having a negative effect on the city/funeral home/family. I suppose I could edit it to be more vague and create a burner account to post it with, but there's no way I'd want it FP'd when my real identity can be established so easily. (Hell, I included my name in the write-up of the story because it felt moot to try and hide it at this point).

CRider > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 16:57

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This should get FP'd, after you remove your personal info. They'll eat this up.

Dusty Ventures > CRider 09/09/2014 at 16:59

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Like I told Dog, my real identity is so thorougly tied to my account here I wouldn't want it FP'd even if I did remove my info. I've been doxxed a thousand times over by now. Only way I'd allow it FP'd is if I posted it from a burner account.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:00

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You are right, just from what I know about you, I'm about 90% sure I could pull a home address if I release my google-fu skills.

EDIT: I unleashed the google fu. My estimate is now 99.99%

Dusty Ventures > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/09/2014 at 17:02

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1AM pedestrianism isn't that suspicious around here, we've got that whole "sleepless city" thing going on. I leave the FH at 1 most nights and I'd say 3 out of every 4 nights I encounter at least one other pedestrian in my 300 foot walk to my house.

mcseanerson > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:04

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Cops can get weird when they're looking for someone. My wife and I got pulled over when we first moved to Chillicothe, Ohio when the cops were out looking for a murder suspect. We still had our Florida plates on the car so we suspected that was the original reason for pulling us over. He said we didn't have a light on the license plate and that's why he pulled us over. Honestly with all the lights on cop cars I've always felt that's a pretty BS reason to pull someone over.

He started questioning us and acted very serious. We were both young and naive so we were nearly laughing the entire time that someone thought we could be a murder suspect. He asked what we were doing out and we told him we were doing laundry. He got really suspicious when we said that and we didn't understand. He shined his flashlight in the back seat and saw our laundry basket and told us we could be on our way. Later we found out why he was so suspicious. Chillicothe only had one 24 hour laundromat and nobody used it because it was in the roughest part of town.

The reason I describe this as hostile is Chillicothe has actually some of the friendliest cops I've ever dealt with. Although most other cops I've dealt with are from Florida and those guys are straight up assholes.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > dogisbadob 09/09/2014 at 17:05

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It seems like it is an issue from the top down, like they are taught and trained to profile like this.

Dusty Ventures > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 09/09/2014 at 17:05

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I mean honestly, someone could manage my name, address, probably age, and possibly even phone number just from a side shot of one of the rally cars and five minutes of internetting. It's that easy. Which is kinda terrifying.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:06

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Fair enough. As much as Atlanta is a booming city, I used to engage in 1AM pedestrianism near North Avenue, and on weekdays go whole blocks without seeing any foot traffic.

PatBateman > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:11

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Complete and utter bullshit. Sorry you had to go through that. I would have personally raised hell with a supervisor (as I have before when I've seen a couple of flagrant lapses by the police department in my area).

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:15

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It took me 30 seconds. Want me to post your pic?

Dusty Ventures > mcseanerson 09/09/2014 at 17:15

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My bag has pockets the approximate size of a pill bottle, and flatter inner pockets for things like small notepads and pencils. They searched those while supposedly "looking for a baseball cap." Also, when the police are looking for a higher risk target you can tell, because there are units everywhere (this has happened a few times over the past couple decades, and when it does I'll usually see upwards of 15 cars in a matter of minutes, including units from the nearby state barracks). I saw no other cars during my encounter, even on the main road in front of the funeral home. If they were really on the lookout for someone it was something along the lines of a low-risk thief or vandal. The kind of person where it's not so much a manhunt as it is a "oh, hey, if you happen to see this guy on your routine patrol..."

Dusty Ventures > PatBateman 09/09/2014 at 17:17

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If it weren't for the need to have a healthy working relationship between the business and the police force I probably would have.

Dusty Ventures > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 09/09/2014 at 17:18

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Ideally not in this thread, just because, but overall I wouldn't care.

mcseanerson > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:20

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Damn. That's messed up.

Leadbull > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:20

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If you could kindly give me Raphael's number... that would be fun.

Dusty Ventures > Leadbull 09/09/2014 at 17:21

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Sorry, you need to get it the same way I did: through heavy bribery.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:24

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I would, but I just realized that the way I did it would also reveal my personal info to you as well, not that I care, but...what is Speigel found out who we are IRL.

Leadbull > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:24

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[Types "the samba" into Google]

Dusty Ventures > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 09/09/2014 at 17:26

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Actually that could explain why I've felt like I'm being watched lately...

crowmolly > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/09/2014 at 17:29

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. decided against it

It's a "Porch-uh" > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:34

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So let me start off by saying that I'm a white man who grew up in white bread, middle-class suburbia so take what I'm about to say as you will.

I can't say that you were not the target of racism by those officers and I can't say that you were. There's no evidence to say that they really weren't looking for somebody who, vaguely or not, matched your description. The whole, "_____ people all look the same" is actually a real thing when you don't grow up in a diverse community. The structural differences in faces is something we learn from a young age so if you are not exposed to a certain group you will have trouble seeing the differences that you would see between faces that you're used to seeing.

Being stopped by the police when you have not done anything wrong is an extremely frustrating experience. It has happened to me on multiple accounts, both when I was younger ("They are just picking on me because I'm young and in a lowered car") or riding a sportbike ("They don't pick on the Harley guys for their much louder exhaust"). Every time I'm pissed afterwards and feel disrespected when there's no apology for detaining me for "no reason." Yes, it's never been racism, but each time I felt like I was treated unfairly due to some prejudice the officer had.

Some officers, I'm sorry to say, are just dicks. They don't empathize with the people they're detaining and don't know what it feels like to be in that situation. Some officers are good people who try, but there could be something going on that made it difficult for them to not seem like a dick. Maybe those guys who stopped you had been looking for somebody all night, who was maybe a really bad person, and were very frustrated that they can't bring this person to justice so they didn't stop to consider your feelings and try and make things right with you. Some officers are really good and don't let their power over people go to their heads (good cop story to follow). And some officers could be racist scum (a subsection of the "dicks") who suspect all people that aren't their idea of "right" and use their positions of power as they see fit.

So my main point is that the police have a tough, often thankless job (a cop friend dislikes firefighters since they seem to get all the love), and we should try an empathize with them and give them the benefit of the doubt, even when they slight us. While they should be better about empathizing with us, that's tough for most people to do, but we should expect that out of our protectors. Again, some people are racist assholes, but unless they are blatant about it (using slurs or letting the white person go while you are detained), it's tough to argue that they are.

Here's my "dick cop turns into nice cop" story: I'm on my Yamaha R6, turning from a light onto my street right before my apartment complex. I gun it a "little" (that's subjective) from the intersection but not for long as my driveway is half a block from the intersection. Coming down the hill from the opposite direction was a cop on a motorcycle, which I thought nothing of since I wasn't speeding. As I'm decellerating for the turn into the driveway he turns on his lights and pulls across the street to block me. I pull over and he comes over yelling at me to take my helmet off. He then proceeds to yell at me about this being a neighborhood and not a racetrack, going on (loudly, for a few minutes). Once he stopped I let him know that first, I wasn't speeding. Two, I should have shifted to keep the noise down so I'm sorry and I'll be more considerate to my neighbors in the future. And three, my apartment complex is right here (we are 20ft from the driveway) and I wouldn't have been "racing up the street" as he projected I would. After that his mood completely changed. He apologized and said that he lives up the street and seeing people race through here drives him crazy. I said that I understand and then we started talking motorcycles for 10 minutes. One of the best parts was waving to my wife as she drove by, looking very irritated that I was getting a ticket, then the officer waved to her as we both smiled.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:36

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Nah, that's just paranoia. It's natural for us hoons!

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > crowmolly 09/09/2014 at 17:37

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The checking pockets "for a hat" that could not have contained a hat strikes me, actually, as an indication panic had set in. "Shit, it doesn't look like this guy has a hat. Quick! Find something, anything!" Disguise of overreach - it's what's for dinner.

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:47

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That's fucked up. Sorry that it happened to you, and I absolutely understand why you don't want this more publicized than it is here. That said, the logic behind why you don't want this publicized is just more depressing.

We really need to find some point in time where we are both in the same part of the country...

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:48

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Oh, here's an article you may find interesting. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archi…

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 17:56

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Dude, that is bullshit. Doesn't your family have enough pull in the town to at least force the officers to apologize or would that just make it worse?

Dusty Ventures > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. 09/09/2014 at 18:14

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No way of identifying the officers. I didn't get their badge numbers and I doubt they filed any trackable paperwork. And like I've said in other comments, sadly it's more important that the business maintain a good working relationship with the city/police force than it is that I get an apology or any form of "justice" from this.

Basically: it happened, it was thoroughly fucked up, I've vented about it, and that's where it has to end. Going beyond that will just make things worse for all parties. And that right there is probably an excellent summary of why this kind of shit keeps happening around the country.

EL_ULY > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 18:25

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damn dude :'(

Dusty Ventures > It's a "Porch-uh" 09/09/2014 at 18:27

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I know not all cops are dicks/not all cops are racist/etc. I have a cousin on my mom's side of the family (the white side) who is a state trooper in New York and he is a million kinds of awesome. There are cops on the force here that I get along great with, and even a few who regularly work the escort details that I'm happy to see because we'll chat about music and stuff while waiting for the funeral to end. I'm generally very pro-cop. But for the two who stopped me, I'm just not buying it. First off, coming at me (me in a tee and jeans, hands clearly visible) with their guns already unsnapped. Then, after me providing very solid evidence that I'm not who they're supposedly looking for, insisting upon searching my bag for "a hat." And, while searching for this hat, taking time to look in pockets the size of a medicine bottle. Once they did that it seemed pretty clear to me that they were no longer trying to identify me as a particular suspect but instead were looking for anything to get me on.

PatBateman > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 18:29

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The fact that your family's business has a relationship with the police puts you at an advantageous position. In reality, the police supervisors don't want to piss off people that they have relationships with as much as you don't want to upset them.

Dusty Ventures > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 09/09/2014 at 18:42

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The one bit of positive about my relatively high profile is that doing a Google image search for "Steven Harrell rally" makes me feel good about my life choices.

Dusty Ventures > Gamecat235 09/09/2014 at 18:51

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My plan for the inevitable day when I get fed up with all the depressing news/experiences here in the states is to move to Sweden and spend my days rallying Volvo 240's. It's only a matter of time...

Might be down Arizona way next spring

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 19:01

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That sounds like an excellent plan.

Coming out west for a rally (they are all on the northern end of the state when we have them)? Or for other purposes? When you know / have firm dates or ideas, let me know.

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 19:18

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Yeah, now this story sounds straight out whack. Obvious profiling here.

As a pasty white guy, it's hard for me to know what those of a darker skin tone goes through. I can't imagine some of the stuff people have seen. I try to keep my nose down and stay out of trouble, but sometimes it appears that is not enough when you aren't the right (white) shade.

Sorry that happened to you.

Dusty Ventures > Gamecat235 09/09/2014 at 20:00

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Road trip with a friend. Whereabouts in the state are you?

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 20:02

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Southern AZ, down in Tucson, but I'll drive if I need to. =)

Dusty Ventures > Gamecat235 09/09/2014 at 20:29

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That should actually work better for me, east-to-west along I-10/I-8 was pretty much our plan

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 22:56

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Then we are literally right on the path. I know this is months out, and tentative, but I'll PM you my phone number. You planning on a coast to coast trip or are you lapping the States? (Down, across, up, across)

It's a "Porch-uh" > Dusty Ventures 09/09/2014 at 23:41

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Did you get your cousin's take on the situation?

Dusty Ventures > Gamecat235 09/10/2014 at 01:18

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One full lap of America.

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures 09/10/2014 at 01:20

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oooooohhh, I am jealous. I've always wanted to do this, but having kids put a damper on it. That'll be amazing. Take bazillions of pictures. Are you guys already mapping out routes and waypoints?

Dusty Ventures > It's a "Porch-uh" 09/10/2014 at 01:22

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I didn't. He was on some special assignment in the Adirondacks at the time, and by the time he finished with that I'd pretty much forgotten. It was Joshua's posts and the recent national media attention that brought the incident back to the forefront of my memory.

Also, we don't get to hang out/talk all that often. He's a good 200+ miles away, and we're both super busy (there's a reason I leave the funeral home at 1 AM every night). Pretty much the only time we get to talk anymore are at annual family gatherings.

Dusty Ventures > Gamecat235 09/10/2014 at 01:25

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We've each done some preliminary mapping and listing of desired stops, but haven't been able to compare notes. She's in her second year of teaching over in Korea, so coordinating is kinda hard. The trip will be our way of celebrating being back in the same hemisphere.

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures 09/10/2014 at 01:31

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You don't mess around with your celebrations. No half measures for you guys.

Dusty Ventures > Gamecat235 09/10/2014 at 02:19

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Fun celebrations are serious business, yo

It's a "Porch-uh" > Dusty Ventures 09/10/2014 at 12:28

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Again, not saying that these guys weren't racists dicks, but also saying that there could be things you're not aware of that made it seem like you were targeted and unfairly searched. There could be procedures that dictate that they do a throughout search once they start. I don't know that, just throwing things out there. At the end of this, a simple, "Sorry about that sir, but we need to do a thorough search once we start and we've been looking all night for this guy. I apologize for stopping you and hope you have a good rest of your night," might have made you feel differently about the whole thing. Sometimes emotions on both sides cloud the situation.

G man > Dusty Ventures 09/10/2014 at 17:21

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Cops love to bother people. I live in a very strange little area where we have four distinct groups of people living in very close proximity. We have orthodox Jews, Dominicans, Jamaicans and a few Puerto Ricans. If you are white on our side of the city after dark the cops will pull you over and try everything to search your car. There isnt even a drug culture in this area of the city and this isnt even an area used to access other parts of the city. I was driving behind my friend who is white and the cop followed behind me for a few blocks and then turned on his lights. My assumption was he was after me but it was my friend he wanted when he swerved around me. They brought out the dogs and everything but had no success because there were no drugs. They used the dog as a reason to search when they said the dog "hit" on something. Based on that they now had the right to go through his car. Some cops are just dicks and will do all manner of shady things to get a promotion. Somehow they have managed to take away the rights of the people they are supposed to protect.

450X_FTW > Dusty Ventures 09/11/2014 at 10:05

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Police: You perfectly match the description of a suspect we are looking for

You: what was the description?

Police: black

ggg > Dusty Ventures 10/18/2014 at 10:00

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more than likely they were not racist, you're assuming they were. If you looked like a suspect, that is why they pulled you over. blame the thug that committed the crime. No matter the color, we've all been pulled over before, sometimes by nice policemen, sometimes by jerks.

ggg > Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! 10/18/2014 at 10:02

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well certainly you've been discriminated against. People discriminate because of color, height, weight, religion, hair length, attractiveness, wealth etc. I'm sure you just aren't aware of it, and that's fine, we shouldn't go around looking to be offended.