Quote:
Originally Posted by mlmpetert
Ive reported suspicious persons once before in my life. A old girlfriend had about 5 or so homeless people set up camp in an alley directly behind her house. She lived in a kind of bad section of Richmond, but this was pretty unusually even for this neighborhood. Several girls lived in the house and they were all pretty terrified by the idea of homeless people creeping around their house and where the park their cars so I called the non-emergency police number to report the issue for the girls.
When I spoke to the dispatcher I told them that there was about 5 homeless people setting up camp in the alley behind 311 S. Laurel St. The person asked me what they looked like, I said “like your typical indigent persons”. No other fitting description crossed my mind at the time, as its pretty easy to identify a 5 band homeless camp in an alley. But they said something like no we need a description of their race, sex and build. I told the dispatcher that there was 1 female, and about 4 males, everyone was white except for one black guy, and that they were all average build.
My point is the police want to know the race of people you call to report for whatever reason. Zimmerman likely knew this considering the 40+ calls he made to police over the last year. It just so happens race is one of the most physically descriptive unchangeable characteristics a person posses, and police find it particularly helpful in identifying people.
And honestly you’ve never seen a 7-9 year old acting “suspicious”. If I see a young kid that’s not playing, not riding a bike, that’s just wondering around by himself/herself, or out at night im going to be concerned. And its pretty easy to tell when little kids are up to no good, as most have no skills hiding it.
If I see a little kid ive never seen before doing something “suspicious” around a neighbor’s property, with no other little kids or parents in sight, im probably gonna make my presence known or call the police. And although saying a little kid acting suspicious or a group of 5 homeless people in an alley is the only identifier guys like me and you need to pinpoint the person(s) in questions, guess what the police are going to ask no matter what the circumstance….. race, sex and build.
Ill let you guys know im not Black. Maybe its impossible for me to understand why there are people saying this is a clear case of racial profiling. Is it just a gut feeling some of us have about this guy? Or is there something im just completely missing? If someone thinks someone of a different race is acting suspicious, is it always racial profiling in this country?
Rush to judgment in Trayvon Martin case - CNN.com
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I'm on my phone so I can't bold your question but in regards to "If someone thinks someone of a different race is acting suspicious is it always racial profiling" yes, but that's due to the stereotypes that are prevalent in this country. Baggy pants = thug, skinny jeans = queer, weed smoker = loser. Stuff like that.
I remembered a few years ago I got profiled. I was walking from the gym to my car on Connecticut Ave and Porter st, aka the Cleveland Park metro stop. It was cold so I had my sweatshirt on and my cap on and my hood up. Just walking. About 8pm or so. There was this white guy walking in front of me, he looked behind his shoulder at me... started walking faster then broke out into a full blown sprint. By time I got to my car and drove down to where he ran to, he had stopped running and was walking again. This was in 2006.
Lucky I didn't get shot, eh?
p.s. for people that don't know Cleveland Park... really nice area in DC. Not too many black people that live there, its a more expensive area.