Cops see all Black Baltimoreans as Criminals and treat them as such
Want proof? Here’s just one story of the thousands that are rarely held up for examination.
A few days ago two female officers were shot in East Baltimore while responding to a situation where young men were playing dice.
Of course, members of the Baltimore City Police Department swarmed on the area and immediately everyone in the neighborhood was a criminal. According to an article in “Who Got Shot Last Night” - also known as the Baltimore Sun; many innocent civilians were mistreated by officers who were hellbent on finding the perpetrator.
This from a sun article entitled “Outsiders blamed in neighborhood trying to rebound” (7/31/07)Â by Nicole Fuller: (emphasis mine)
…Johnson, however, was not pleased with the Police Department’s treatment of some residents in the hours after the shootings. He and several of his neighbors said they were handcuffed, thrown in a police wagon and interrogated by several city police detectives for hours without being charged with a crime.
They said the officers swore, shouted and threatened them. Johnson, who said he has complained to the department’s Internal Affairs Division, said they were released about 2:30 a.m.
“They really made us feel like we were suspects,” said Latonya Geathers, 24, a cashier at Burger King, who recounted being handcuffed on the street in full view of television and newspaper cameras. “They humiliated us in front of the whole neighborhood, like we were the culprits. It was terrible. We’re working people. We felt bad about the situation, too.”Antony Clayton, 43, was shown in a photograph published in yesterday’s Sun leaving his house with his hands in the air as officers pointed their guns.
“They were ready to retaliate,” Clayton said, relieved he was finally released, but unable to work yesterday as a laborer because he couldn’t get any sleep after the incident. “You know how cops get when somebody shoots a cop.”
I understand the zeal of the officers who were trying to locate the shooter and I even recognize that the department is operating under duress; however, that gives them no right to handcuff, threaten, detain for hours, humiliate, and swear at innocent civilians. They operate as if every person with brown skin is a suspect. This type of behavior will never result in a healthy relationship between the community and the police department.
I hope that residents in that neighborhood contact the Civilian Review Board and lodge a formal complaint. The African American community in Baltimore does not deserve such treatment. We don’t have to take it. We don’t have to continue to bow, wink, and swallow the unjust practices of the Baltimore City Police Department. Contact the Baltimore branch NAACP, Darren Muhmmad (WOLB 1010AM), and/or Solvivaz Nation (Reality Speaks). They will help to provide a wide platform for this issue in an effort to galvanize the masses.Â
WE DON’T HAVE TO TAKE THIS! WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO?
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:55 am
Thanks for sharing this.
If you want to go down to the neighborhood to talk with them, I’m down. They might not know the options they have, or what they can do (and they might not be reading this blog). They do need to know this, though.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:27 am
Thanks for your comment, Ben.
I am definitely down to go to that neighborhood and pass out brochures from the Civilian Review Board and the local branch of the NAACP has these nice “What to do when you’re stopped by the police cards” which would be useful.
I have some time this evening, tomorrow afternoon, and Saturday afternoon/evening to canvass the area with this information. Let me know what works for you.
Of course - I invite anyone else reading this to join in. The CRB and NAACP aren’t THEE answer, but hopefully it will get folks to realize that they do have options when these types of things occur.
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Update: Looks like they may have caught the guy that did it: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.arrest01aug01,0,6073334.story
August 2nd, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I’ve been talking to a few others about this issue and let me be clear.
I do not condone the shooting of police officers.
I join many others in decrying the shooting of the officers and the participation in illegal activities by a small group of people in that neighborhood. However, I also believe that even in aggressive zeal, police officers must be professional - something that can be extremely difficult at times, but to do otherwise exacerbates the situation and perpetuates the cycle of violence in Baltimore City. A partnership between the community and the police department will be impossible if officers engage all Black residents as if they are criminals. All crime fighting strategies will fail if this type of interaction is deemed socially acceptable.
Officers must resist the temptation to make everyone in the neighborhood a criminal while pursuing the real perpetrator(s).
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Well said. I cosign.