Steven Locke is a professor at Mass. College of Art and Design. He's won awards for his work. And he's black. Yesterday, on his way to the school, he parked in the lot behind Bukhara on Centre Street in JP, and started to walk out towards the Purple Cactus to get a burrito. And briefly became a suspect for a break-in, detained by a number of Boston cops, at least one who took care to unsnap his gun holster. Locke recounts the incident, including the hug a black woman who stopped to witness it all, gave him as he stood there afterwards.
"Thank you," I said to her. "Thank you for staying."
"Are you ok?" She said. Her small beautiful face was lined with concern.
"Not really. I'm really shook up. And I have to get to work."
"I knew something was wrong. I was watching the whole thing. The way they are treating us now, you have to watch them. "
"I'm so grateful you were there. I kept thinking to myself, 'Don't leave, sister.' May I give you a hug?"
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Comments
Words have meaning
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 12:57pm
You might try thinking about that the next time you post something that sure reads like unhinged ravings. If you're trying to be sarcastic, remember that HTML has no <sarcasm> tags, so you have to work extra hard to make your meaning clear.
i figured speaking in metaphor
By Scumquistador
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 1:13pm
made that pretty clear, but in the future i will know to expect less from you.
Only a poor author blames his readers.
By anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 1:33pm
It's your responsibility to communicate your message in a coherent manner, chief. Do better.
well child
By Scumquistador
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 2:32pm
i have a history of farcical or bullshitty type posts here of which adam is fully aware. this is far from the first time we've had this discussion. he just likes to stir up the pot because he would prefer that i not post here, even though he would never admit it. he makes it a bit of a hobby to feign ignorance and outrage towards me now.
Apoclypse BPD
By Shauna Pauloma
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 4:01pm
"America is doomed. White, Black, Latino, Gay, Straight, it doesn't matter - we are doomed. That's what I've learned on the streets."
I'd take this officer off active duty due to stress-- racial and sexual preference related stress. He doesn't see citizens, he sees race and sexual preference.
To be honest, I think he's a sock puppet. Not who he says he is. I.E. not a BPS officer.
The problem is that "just
By tape
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 11:16am
The problem is that "just doing their job" consists of different things when cops are dealing with black people. A black person is never taken for their word by the police like a white person might be. "Oh you live in Dedham and are on your way to work. Very well, Mr. White Guy, have a nice day." Instead, here, the black man identified himself, where he lived and where he was going, and continued to be detained for 35 minutes.
"Fitting the description" is interpreted a little more broadly for black people - see the example we're talking about, where a Ralph Lauren blazer is interpreted by the police as a "puffy jacket" which is comical on its face.
This is a systemic problem in our country, where white people are given the benefit of the doubt by police, and black people are not. This leads to a deep ingrained distrust of the police by black people which is, frankly, deserved. You, as a Boston police officer, are part of this system and part of this problem. I say that not to disparage you personally but to simply point out the relationship.
I'm not sure about the
By anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 11:28am
I'm not sure about the original officer who posted, but I'm a minority cop in a major urban area.
As an officer, you're saying I'm part of the systemic problem, but as a minority, I'm also victimized by that system?
So I'm abusing my own rights?
No. I'm convinced a lot of you are being suffocated by so called "white guilt" and as a proud minority, I can tell you first hand, don't be. Growing up I always did the right thing, only had one police encounter, and that's because my friends, some of who were white, were smoking weed. That's it.
If this was Southie, they would've stopped the white guy who matched the description. If it was Chinatown, the Asian fellow would've been stopped who matched the description. If it was Eastie, the Latino or Italilan and so on and so forth.
Stop being so damn sensitive. You people are ruining your police departments. It's getting really, really bad for us out there. We need your support. It's getting to the point that good officers are giving up. Sadly, I'm on the verge myself.
UNTRUE
By anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 12:46pm
Your premise is false. I'm white, and have been stopped multiple times by police, some were professional, some not so professional. I believe the fact I usually don't dress is 'professional ' attire, because I don't have to, and am frequently in areas or near high crime urban areas, plays a big role. So I'd day d o called class, or perceived class, plays a role..
Fit the description
By Anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 2:03pm
I did, on numerous occasions. White guy driving down Geneva Ave late at night? Yep, he's definitely here to buy drugs, let's get him!
Well ...
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 11:14am
As I mentioned above, I once found myself in a somewhat similar situation. I understand the police stopped neither me nor him just for the hell of it, that in both cases somebody called 911 and reported a suspicious person and that the officers were doing their job. And in both cases, they were polite and informed the person why they were being detained. And this is not Chicago, where people can just disappear or get shot repeatedly while they're already lying on the ground. Bostonians should be proud of their professional police department.
At the same time, if you are a police officer, look at this sort of like one of those stories by a doctor who gets sick and learns what it's like to be a hospital patient.
It's completely different on the other side: Even if you are innocent, even if you are aware the police are doing their job, you are surrounded by grim looking people with guns (in his case; in my case it was just one trooper) and you are, possibly, one stutter or verbal tic away from being handcuffed and shoved into the back of a cruiser and, basically, ripped out of what you thought was a safe space (whether a beach or the yuppie end of Centre Street in JP). Now layer on top of that being a black man in a country that still has major racial issues.
So much political shitposting in this thread
By Angry Dan
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 12:40pm
Nice job summing up what probably should be obvious to anyone who took the time to read the professor's post.
I sure wouldn't want to be presented to a witness for ID, especially when you consider the reliability of eyewitnesses.
if you think this was good police work, you should resign
By Ron Newman
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 11:49am
and so should the officers who participated in this incident.
The paragraph is meant to shock you
By HenryAlan
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 12:24pm
Yes, the police were polite, yes, they no doubt felt they were just doing their job, and yet this law abiding citizen felt threatened because he knows how these interactions can play out for people who look like him. Until we as a society, and police in particular can understand life in this man's shoes, we aren't going to make much progress.
How many black folks have been unjustifiably shot in Boston?
By anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 12:50pm
And when did these unjustifiable shootings happen?
Crickets
By anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 2:58pm
Crickets
And nobody here is accusing Boston cops of that
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 6:48pm
But we don't live in a vacuum or on an island, and things that happen elsewhere do sometimes affect people here.
Where?
By Anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 8:02pm
Care to name a few where the alleged "victim" was shot for no reason whatsoever? You know, no gun, no knife, no assaulting the cop - just shot for living while black?
Wow, you're a Boston cop and
By bibliotequetress
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 2:08pm
Wow, you're a Boston cop and you dismiss a citizen being worried that he might die in police custody? Maybe it would be a good idea for a cop to think about it from his point of view, and consider his concern that being innocent has not guaranteed not being killed by police in America.
I wouldn't worry.
By Pete Nice
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 2:32pm
What are the odds you are going to die? 1 in a million? 1 in 10 million if you don't do anything like run away, commit a crime, resist arrest, etc?
no evidence
By Shauna Pauloma
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 4:37pm
Pete Nice isn't Steven Locke, and I've seen no evidence Pete Nice can empathize with Steven Locke's experience.
i can't emphasize with trump supporters either....
By Pete Nice
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 5:08pm
Who feel that we need more guns to protect this country from all these Muslims that are killing everyone.
Do they have legitimate fears because I'm not them?
exactly
By Shauna Pauloma
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 5:37pm
Exactly, it depends on who you identify with.
I don't identify with them.....
By Pete Nice
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 1:49am
Should I be concerned for their feelings about Muslims?
Reserving Comment
By JP Resident
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 2:45pm
I am reserving comment on this one because I believe the Professor's prose is clear, and how we take it is simply a reflection of our own biases and political attitudes.
That said, the only reason I can see for Adam to post this story is to drive traffic to his site to increase his advertising income, which surprisingly shows him to have Capitalist tendencies. If there is any other reason it is circumspect.
Oh, you know me so well
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 4:01pm
And it's working, isn't it? I'm becoming rich beyond your wildest imagination while playing you all for saps because you find yourself completely incapable of ignoring anything I post. Must. Click. That. Link. And. Comment! My red facade is just that; look behind the curtains and you'll see my basement full of coins that I dive into every morning before breakfast! And real coins, not those stupid bitcoins you libertarians are always blathering on about. Twice a week, I go down to the bank, the big bank with the giant columns downtown that is only open to people with giant accounts like mine and trade in all those Benjamins that flood my mail slot for more coins with which to fill my basement, the one I have to dig an extension for to fit them all in.
Clearly, I never post anything I find interesting or illuminating about a facet of life in Boston I myself have never experienced, who would do something lame like that when I can post things that will get Moar Clicks.
Note to self: Start looking at how boston.com does listicles. They're killer.
please keep your listicles to yourself
By Shauna Pauloma
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 4:40pm
Some people think we shouldn't talk about race in society because the conversations become too divisive.
I think we should and for the same reason. More than that, I think we must. And I try to prove the conclusion wrong.
Hmm ...
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 4:56pm
I should've followed my own advice about not trying to try sarcasm online ...
I kid.
By Shauna Pauloma
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 5:40pm
Listicles rhymes with articles. :-)
Wow
By JP Resident
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 5:06pm
You totally mesmerized me with your Jedi mind games Adam. Are you saying you're not a left leaning facilitator of public comment hosting a conversation in which you set the articles of debate? And restrict the postings that are part of the debate?
Let's be clear. I wasn't actually accusing you of profiting off of this story. I was questioning your motivation in posting it.
I actually do hope you make a happy living off of this if you are able. It is worth that. We have not met, but I think we could have a reasonable conversation and part on friendly terms if we did. I am not the libertarian stereotype you would portray me as.
That said, I do question the Government. I remember many others having that as a bumper sticker before they covered it with Obama/Biden or Liz Warren. We should not question them.
This story
By cw in boston
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 5:36pm
is all over the internet. I have FB friends from out-of-state sharing the story. It would be inconceivable to think that UHub wouldn't have a post on a local story that has already gone national.
Compare this post about a guy who is detained
By Shauna Pauloma
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 5:50pm
Compare this post about a guy who is detained, with the one from this summer where two guys from Boston laid in wait and beat-up a homeless Mexican guy.
Both raise as an element of what transpired, race as a factor. Only one had violence. The other had a situation where the man felt unsafe in the presence of a Boston police officer.
Why are you suspect of Adam's motivation in posting either?
These things happen right here where we live so let's talk about them.
Pro tip
By erik g
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 5:33pm
Pro tip: if you want minorities to stop thinking they are going to die every time they have an interaction with a police officer, you should stop shooting minorities unprovoked. Or at least call your fellow officers out for same, rather than this "thin blue line" crap.
Unprovoked?
By Anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 8:12pm
Name me one case where it was unprovoked. And no, unarmed crack dealers with known mile-long illegal weapons arrest records who reached into their pocket when told to put their hands up don't count, even if they were only reaching for their cell phone.
I ask again.
By anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 8:41pm
When is the last time there was an unjustified police shooting in Boston? Only a fool or an intellectually dishonest person would attribute the actions of someone in South Carolina or Illinois to our city.
So events elsewhere never affect you?
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 11:01pm
You weren't startled/horrified by what happened in Paris or San Bernardino? Nothing that has ever happened outside of 128 has ever made you think or changed the way you think about something? Props to you and your steely provincialism, I guess, but most people aren't like that.
question
By Missy C
Tue, 12/08/2015 - 9:43pm
As a Boston, cop, can you tell me if this is routine, having the victim brought to the scene to ID the suspect? Wouldn't this endanger the victim?
The suspect does not see the victim when the show up happens.
By Pete Nice
Wed, 12/09/2015 - 12:53pm
And the suspect isn't going to know any more about the victim if he/she didn't go to the scene.
It can be traumatic sure, but it is a routine procedure for identification purposes.
Visceral
By handmaid999
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 12:40pm
Why can't we read this powerful 1st person reportage and let ourselves, for the time it takes to read it, walk in Professor Locke's puffy black jacket, without commenting on what you think about cops, or black men and cops, or anything, and just feel it. I felt it, physically as I read. Others here have commented on the same phenomenon. Many are so quick to take sides when in fact this is Locke's blog, describing his own experience, in his own words. Truth telling is a political act. The interaction with the cops, all three cruisers and one unmarked detective's car is reported, almost transcript like. Time slowed down, he knew one wrong move or word might put him in the back seat of one of those four cars. Whether you think you know what happened, this is what Locke experienced and the woman in the red coat witnessed.
If it helps, read it as fiction and let yourselves feel it.
Fiction
By Anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 8:13pm
That's exactly what it is.
Fiction
By itchy
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 10:15pm
Is what you worship.
Second time this year on that stretch of Centre Street
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 12:52pm
Let's also not forget the UMass professor at Blanchards.
So here's a question.
By Sally
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 11:50pm
Why do we only seem to collectively flip out when this happens to a college professor? I understand to a degree the outrage and frustration--a respectable, educated, well-dressed guy still getting hassled by cops or misidentified as a burglar or a cognac thief. But even though I understand the anxiety and the anger--am I going to end up in the back of a cop car or disappeared?--none of these things happened. The cops in this case, aside from an initial ID that seemed like a bit of a stretch, seemed to have acted just as they should have. The ones in the Blanchard's case were responding to employees who felt convinced enough that this was their guy that they photographed his plates. But still--I've read posts here and elsewhere that act as if the police had acted outrageously and I can only think it's because of this class issue--if either of these guys had been a project kid would anyone blink an eye? The darkly hilarious element of the Blanchard's story was the tacit assumption that because the guy was a professor, he was obviously innocent--because you know, rich, educated people of any color never steal stuff, only lowly hood rats.
Lack of Perspective
By Stomps
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 3:55pm
The issue with a lot of these comments here is a lack of perspective. I've always abided by Chris Rock's political stance of "JUST BE A PERSON. LISTEN. LET [a topic of discussion] SWIRL AROUND YOUR HEAD. THEN FORM YOUR OPINION, Anyone who makes up their mind before they hear the issue is a f-cking fool".
And I feel like most folks here had their opinion formed before reading Mr. Locke's story.
The cops didn't do anything wrong.
They were polite and were following clear protocol. But that DOES NOT MEAN STEVEN LOCKE IS EXEMPT FROM BEING SCARED FOR HIS LIFE. If you can't grasp or merely accept his perspective, then you abide by a foolish and selfish mentality: Thoughts and opinions processed as if everyone has the same life experience!!!
(said life experience has been basic, uneventful, and resoundingly unappreciative of thy white privilege)
Unfortunately, an inability to self-reflect is a mutually-associated characteristic of these people. (the phase "you know who you are" is essentially a waste of breath)
To the folks who side with Mr. Locke and are still all sorts of butthurt: It's not that these people mean to be racist or goading. It's that their naive core beliefs are hardwired, which naturally triggers defense mechanisms to default to selfishness. Its an absence of complexity. And I'm more contrite than anything. You should be too (it will help you sleep at night!).
Welcome
By anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 4:49pm
WELOME to what Millennials and Generation X deal with on a daily basis when you live in an urban community. that's just another day in the jungle for me.
Dealing with police from the black perspective
By O-FISH-L
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 6:41pm
Interesting how many of those "fearing for their lives" at the hands of police are black academics. Skippy Gates of Harvard, the Emerson professor with no driver's license, this guy and others. I tend to agree with a different black man, Steven Hildreth Jr. whose October Facebook post follows:
-----
So, I'm driving to my office to turn in my weekly paperwork. A headlight is out. I see a Tucson Police Department squad vehicle turn around and follow me. I'm already preparing for the stop.
The lights go on and I pull over. The officer asks me how I'm doing, and then asks if I have any weapons.
"Yes, sir. I'm a concealed carry permit holder and my weapon is located on my right hip. My wallet is in my back-right pocket."
The officer explains for his safety and mine, he needs to disarm me for the stop. I understand, and I unlock the vehicle. I explain that I'm running a 7TS ALS holster but from the angle, the second officer can't unholster it. Lead officer asks me to step out, and I do so slowly. Officer relieves me of my Glock and compliments the X300U I'm running on it. He also sees my military ID and I tell him I'm with the National Guard.
Lead officer points out my registration card is out of date but he knows my registration is up to date. He goes back to run my license. I know he's got me on at least two infractions. I'm thinking of how to pay them.
Officers return with my Glock in an evidence back, locked and cleared. "Because you were cool with us and didn't give us grief, I'm just going to leave it at a verbal warning. Get that headlight fixed as soon as possible."
I smile. "Thank you, sir."
I'm a black man wearing a hoodie and strapped. According to certain social movements, I shouldn't be alive right now because the police are allegedly out to kill minorities.
Maybe...just maybe...that notion is bunk.
Maybe if you treat police officers with respect, they will do the same to you.
Police officers are people, too. By far and large, most are good people and they're not out to get you.
I'd like to thank those two officers and TPD in general for another professional contact.
We talk so much about the bad apples who shouldn't be wearing a badge. I'd like to spread the word about an example of men who earned their badges and exemplify what that badge stands for.
#BlueLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter
[EDIT: In my rush to post, I accidentally omitted that my wallet was in the back-right pocket, near my firearm. This was the primary motivation for temporary disarmament. The post has been modified to reflect that.
Again, I'd like to thank the TPD and their officers for their consistent professionalism, courtesy, and the good work that they do, both in this particular contact and every day.
That's nice
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 7:01pm
So not every cop, even in Arpaioland, is horrible. Why don't you now Google the article by the black corporate vice president about how her neighbor managed to sic most of her California town's police force on her.
Why professors? Maybe because they're just not as afraid to speak out anymore.
Tucson is in Pima County
By anon
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 5:01am
Arpaio is Sheriff of Maricopa County.
Saved you the trouble
By adamg
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 7:03pm
My white neighbor thought I was breaking into my own apartment.
No
By itchy
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 7:12pm
That's your white cop perspective.
Period.
Dear Whitesplainers
By itchy
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 6:57pm
If you put even a tenth of the effort you take to "whitesplain" away incidents like this into thinking about what it must be like to live them day in and day out and put that effort toward making the world a more just place, you wouldn't need to put so much effort into elaborate denial that it happens or it matters.
Just. saying.
Dear "KOSsack"
By Anon
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 8:20pm
Put away that footstool, rope and soap, there's no need to off yourself. It's OK to be white, no need to hate yourself every single second of your miserable existence. I know you wish you were a different color, but you don't get to choose your parents. Heck, you'll get to inherit their big expensive house and their seven figure bank account when they finally kick the bucket, what's not to like?
No need to hate everyone else
By itchy
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 10:09pm
It isn't "hating yourself" to notice that other people get treated like shit in our society.
Grow up and get over yourself. Being white doesn't make you special - even if you are a snowflake.
Dear Anon
By SwirlyGrrl
Sat, 12/05/2015 - 10:22pm
Since when does having basic empathy have anything to do with footstools, ropes, soap, suicide, self-hate, wanting to be black, expensive houses, and million-dollar bank accounts?
Last I checked, this sort of thing was covered quite well in the new testament and is pretty much heavily recommended by all major religions.
You might want to consider some therapy yourself if you don't understand any of this.
Basic empathy
By Anon
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 1:01am
Applies to all, not just a certain skin color. You can't laugh and point fingers when some white trash moron somehow falls on a cop's nightstick 100 or so times in a row for no good reason and shit enough bricks to build another co-op city when same thing happens to someone of a darker skin tone.
Once again
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 12:24pm
What does an exhortation to empathy have to do with self-hate, wanting to be black, suicide, trust funds, etc.?
‘‘There is, in fact, no white
By handmaid999
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 5:33am
‘‘There is, in fact, no white community. Whiteness is not who you are. Which is why it is entirely possible to despise whiteness without disliking yourself." James Baldwin
hope this has died down by now
By Malcolm Tucker
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 1:01am
I don't have any desire to fan any of the various flame wars happening here, which all seem unnecessary: Locke wrote about being stopped by the police, fearing for his life (as is, frankly, all too easy to understand), and eventually being let go. That's the point. That's the gist. But anyway, I have a story:
Some time ago, I lived with two of my cousins. One night, at about 12:30 a.m. - just when I was starting to get ready for bed, a couple of hours after my cousins had gone to bed - the doorbell started ringing like crazy. I assumed it was just some tweaker, and I knew for sure I wasn't going to go downstairs to check, so I ignored it as best as I could. However, when I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth, I heard pounding on the door. One of my cousins had woken up, and I could hear her asking who it was. All she heard was a command to open the door, and she said no. She told me to stay where I was - but I wasn't about to let my cousin go up against what I assumed was a rapist or burglar by herself. By then, she'd gone to the back door - to see if anyone was there - and I was at the front door. Someone behind it was commanding me to open up, claiming he was with the police. As a young woman who's heard of rapists pretending to be authority figures, I yelled, "Get a warrant, fucker!" They kept yelling to open up - but then they finally explained that they were police looking for my cousins' brother. Our address was the last one he had listed, and he'd been mixed up in an attempted armed robbery. (Long story. He didn't actually do anything, but it was a mess.)
Anyway, once the police identified themselves correctly, and explained what they were doing and who they were looking for and why, we let them in. (Our ferocious pit bull didn't so much as growl until the last of the seven police came in, and even then it was more of a "hey, there are too many humans in here! I don't like it!" After that, she promptly went up to all the cops - who were all having a good laugh at my would-be shield-maiden stunt - and waited for pats and cuddles.)
I can't help thinking, however, that I would have been in bad trouble if I hadn't sounded white. Would those police have tried to reason with me? Would they have explained themselves more fully? Or would they have stormed in (the door wasn't that thick, they could have easily), pinned me down (or worse), and taken me away in a patrol car (or worse)? I was pretty mouthy - because I assumed that our idiot downstairs neighbor had, for some reason, let in a gang of rapists - but that probably would have gotten me in deep, deep shit if I'd been something other than a white woman.
A Slow Cop Day?
By Daan
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 1:02am
I know Steve Locke. I've also encountered more than enough petty theives for my pleasure. A 1 minute conversation with Steve Locke would tell any cop who was using what sense God gave them that he is not someone who would do a B&E. Steal fancy maps perhaps. Committ white collar crime maybe. Hell Steve could pull off the thievery of Bernie Madoff. In other words Steve is not a gang banger
or strung out junkie looking for a easy grab and go.
This was probably a case of being stopped simply because these cops needed to report to their superiors that they stopped someone. Did the police stop every black man fitting the profile on Centre Street? Or did they just need to find one so that the could say they tried?
I suspect that once the first cops stopped Steve that they set up a sequence of events that turned Steve into an object for their procedural machinery. A machinery that requries various steps to be completed no mattter how obviously wrong they were or how much disruption they cause.
On a Friday afternoon I imagine there were plenty of men fitting the general description of the burglarer. The clothing could be changed and so only the physical descrpition would be definitive (though not all criminals have the sense to change their clothes after attempting a burglary). Were these cops stopping every black man in JP? If they didn't - and again there is nothing in Steve's demeanor that could even suggest a person who is wary that he would be questioned for a B&E - why just stop one but not everyone who could fit the description? And why hold a man who could easily demonstrate that he was niether a gang banger or junkie? These police were slaves to procedure, ignoring common sense and what is obvious; discarding reality in favor of proving that these police did their job for the day. Boring, banal reasons having less to do with whether a man was black or white and more to do with police just acting with small limited minds where they forget that they are dealing with human beings, not just things.
I was involved in a situation far graver than a B&&E. It was an explosion. The police had to determine whether it was due to crystal meth. The interview with the detective took only a couple of minutes for him to realize that the cause was not a lab explosion. I wasn't surrounded by police, no cop unsnapped his holster. The very young detective could make the determination quickly. Why couldn't the plain clothes cops use their sense to grasp that they were wasting time and money (paid by real esate taxes) so that they could do a better job of finding the criminal?
"Home invasions" aren't always done by gangbangers or junkies.
By Pete Nice
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 7:59am
In fact, most of the time it is some sort of domestic situation (abusive husband, drunk son or family member causing a problem, ex roomate who breaks back in to get their things, etc)
So no, there is no "profile" of what your home invader looks like, and the police never know what the exact circumstances are on the initial call.
Cops have seen professors beat up their spouses, they have seen doctors break into their ex girlfriends house in order see who they are now sleeping with, they have seen other cops not let them inside when their wife is beaten up inside the bathroom. When you know all these situations exist, it becomes hard to just not stop someone just because they have a lanyard and aren't wearing a "puffy coat"
Okay
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 12:28pm
So listening to the actual description isn't important?
So stopping every person of a particular ethnicity is effective policing?
Pissing people off in an area where you need community cooperation, and wasting time hassling someone who does not fit a description is an effective means of controlling crime?
it is important swirly.
By Pete Nice
Mon, 12/07/2015 - 8:07am
But actual descriptions are wrong all the time., and they didn't stop every person of a particular ethnicity, where did you make that up?
You too, should go for some ridealongs and see how descriptions play out after crimes occur.
Then why not stop everyone?
By Daan
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 1:01pm
If the victim could only provide a general description of the criminal why wasn't each individual in the area, who fit the general description, stopped and detained? Are there no other black men fitting the physical description in the Centre Street area during the afternoon?
Are there reports that support the claim that most home invasions are domestic in their nature? That is important information if the statement is true. If the statement is false then it diverts attention from the problems of this incident.
Why was the gun uhholstered? Knowing Mr. Locke I have no question in my mind that he would NOT present any indication of being physically threatening. Unholstering the gun was an attempt at intimidation, to frighten and to communicate that the cop was ready and willing to shoot and at least maim, if not kill.
If Mr. Locke was white would the cop also have automatically unholstered his gun? Do Boston cops as a matter procedure unholster their gun every time they stop someone?
Either these cops concluded on way too little evidence that Mr. Locke was a suspect (which questions the judgement of these cops) or simply wanted to stop someone so that they could satisfy a statistical demand.
In any case these police just did a good job of proving that they are not to be trusted.
If you go back and read his
By Rob
Sun, 12/06/2015 - 10:36pm
If you go back and read his account, you'll see he didn't claim the cop unholstered his gun. He unsnapped the top strap.
Not saying that is or isn't still a problem, but exaggerating and making stuff up contributes nothing to an intelligent conversation.
youre not wrong
By Scumquistador
Mon, 12/07/2015 - 2:42am
but in this case its mainly irrelevant, since unstrapping or removing your gun from its holster both adequately tell a person you're willing to murder them
Murder?
By Anon
Mon, 12/07/2015 - 9:38am
Why are all the clowns here referring to justified shootings as murder?
You don't stop everyone.
By Pete Nice
Mon, 12/07/2015 - 8:05am
And no, there probably weren't other black men fitting the description at that time. I'd say about less than 25% of black males were wearing knit caps at any given time this time of the year, and of that 25% there may be other clothing descriptions that would eliminate even more of that. Age is also a factor, the very young and very old usually don't commit crimes like this.
Actual home invasions are not domestic, but yes, when people are assaulted in their own home, it is rarely someone they don't know (someone who breaks in).
You may know Mr. Locke, but the cops don't. When cops get a call for a break in, and they have a suspect they don't know, they don't know if that suspect is armed. I've been assaulted plenty of times by guys I don't know who didn't fit the desctiption from the original call.
If a white person was suspected of committing a felony like this you better believe a gun may have been unholstered, and depending on the crime, no, the police do not unholster their gun every time they stop someone.
It is clear from this statement that you have no idea what you are talking about. I suggest you call up your local PD and go for some ridealongs. In fact, I wish most people would do that and I actually think it should be required for some sort of civil duty. No, there are not statistical demands that would even matter for a stop like this, the cops lose valuable time actually stopping someone that had nothing to do with the crime.
If you don't have trust in the police, you justify others not having trust in black people, which is sad.
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