WHO IS PROFILING WHO ?
I was having a friendly debate with a female coworker, who happens to be Black, and we were talking about police profiling and recent shootings of Black people. She is the kind of person that I love to talk to. Very intelligent and respectful of my views, regardless of how much we disagree. My point in our debate was that White cops are the least of the dangers facing Black people today. More Blacks are killed by other Blacks, such as the carnage going on in Chicago and other large cities. She countered with the point that this carnage has gone on for years and it has only gained national attention in recent years. This might be true but it doesn't change the fact that Blacks are more likely to die at the hands of other Blacks than White police officers. I also made the point that even in those rare cases where a White police officer is not justified in shooting a Black person it is non compliance that leads to a bad end. No matter if you are White, Black, yellow, brown or red you will not win your case on the street. The best approach is to comply and take any issues you have before a judge. Your chances of living, or not getting hurt, are much, much better. I have thought a lot about our conversation over the last few days. Working as a mall security officer these last seven years has changed my opinion on profiling. I had a Black supervisor at Bridgestone that was older than I was. He was from Louisiana and we had the same friendly debates from time to time. My supervisor was absolutely convinced that every time a cop pulled him over it was because he was Black. I was skeptical that it was always for that reason but I am not Black. Who was I to challenge him on this point?
As far as I am concerned I don't care what race you are. Or how many tattoos and piercings that you have on your body. Nor do I care what color your hair is or if you are homosexual, straight or transgender. If you misbehave in my mall, however; I will deal with you. I have been accused many times of profiling people for various reasons. Recently I walked out into the mall in order to give last minute instructions to one of my officers before I left for the day. A White man, who I didn't even notice was standing nearby. He accused me and the officer of profiling him because he was covered in tattoos. He believed that we were only there to prevent him from stealing from a nearby store. The officer I was talking to was Black and we looked at each other thinking, what in the heck is this dude talking about. On another occasion I noticed a young White girl about 12 or 13 walking past me wearing a tee shirt with the word f_ _ k on it. We enforce the malls dress code. Our mall has always tried to promote a family friendly atmosphere and clothing with obscenities printed on them are not allowed. She accused me and a police officer of profiling her because of her multicolored hair and appearance. Sadly, her parents were angry at us instead of her. They couldn't understand why she couldn't wear the shirt in the mall. Model parenting. Normally I don't say anything to a person if their shirt is controversial. As far as I am concerned they can wear a shirt that says I hate Jesus, Mohammad, Trump, Obama or whatever. They could also wear a KKK tee shirt or a Black Lives Matter shirt for all I care. It is not my job to act as a censor. As long as it is not obscene they can wear anything they want to. If their shirt or clothing, however; causes a disturbance, or a fight, they can't wear it in the mall.
In December 2012, just after the Sandy Hook Kindergarten shooting, a man was wearing a tee shirt that read "Has your gun killed a kindergartner today?" In this particular case I heard two women in a violent argument. When I tried to find out what was wrong a male customer stopped me and said that the women weren't the problem. The man with the kindergartner tee shirt had caused the argument. I told the man that he would have remove his shirt or leave the mall. Many people are under the mistaken impression that a mall is public property. It is private property. Once I tell someone to leave and they refuse they are guilty of criminal trespass. In the vast majority of cases the courts will always uphold private property rights. The man said that he wasn't leaving because it was his 1st Amendment right to wear any shirt that he wanted to. I called my supervisor and he asked him to leave. He refused again and we called the police. The man was arrested on several charges. Criminal trespass, lying to a police officer, and driving on a suspended license. We both appeared in court several times as witnesses for the prosecution. Needless to say the man lost his case.
As far as I am concerned I don't care what race you are. Or how many tattoos and piercings that you have on your body. Nor do I care what color your hair is or if you are homosexual, straight or transgender. If you misbehave in my mall, however; I will deal with you. I have been accused many times of profiling people for various reasons. Recently I walked out into the mall in order to give last minute instructions to one of my officers before I left for the day. A White man, who I didn't even notice was standing nearby. He accused me and the officer of profiling him because he was covered in tattoos. He believed that we were only there to prevent him from stealing from a nearby store. The officer I was talking to was Black and we looked at each other thinking, what in the heck is this dude talking about. On another occasion I noticed a young White girl about 12 or 13 walking past me wearing a tee shirt with the word f_ _ k on it. We enforce the malls dress code. Our mall has always tried to promote a family friendly atmosphere and clothing with obscenities printed on them are not allowed. She accused me and a police officer of profiling her because of her multicolored hair and appearance. Sadly, her parents were angry at us instead of her. They couldn't understand why she couldn't wear the shirt in the mall. Model parenting. Normally I don't say anything to a person if their shirt is controversial. As far as I am concerned they can wear a shirt that says I hate Jesus, Mohammad, Trump, Obama or whatever. They could also wear a KKK tee shirt or a Black Lives Matter shirt for all I care. It is not my job to act as a censor. As long as it is not obscene they can wear anything they want to. If their shirt or clothing, however; causes a disturbance, or a fight, they can't wear it in the mall.
In December 2012, just after the Sandy Hook Kindergarten shooting, a man was wearing a tee shirt that read "Has your gun killed a kindergartner today?" In this particular case I heard two women in a violent argument. When I tried to find out what was wrong a male customer stopped me and said that the women weren't the problem. The man with the kindergartner tee shirt had caused the argument. I told the man that he would have remove his shirt or leave the mall. Many people are under the mistaken impression that a mall is public property. It is private property. Once I tell someone to leave and they refuse they are guilty of criminal trespass. In the vast majority of cases the courts will always uphold private property rights. The man said that he wasn't leaving because it was his 1st Amendment right to wear any shirt that he wanted to. I called my supervisor and he asked him to leave. He refused again and we called the police. The man was arrested on several charges. Criminal trespass, lying to a police officer, and driving on a suspended license. We both appeared in court several times as witnesses for the prosecution. Needless to say the man lost his case.
One day I saw a Black man walking into the mall with a shirt that read "I hate f_ _cking everybody". He was with a girl that was walking ahead and she walked into the mall. I stopped the man and politely told him about our mall policy. We give the offender several options. They can go into the nearest restroom and turn the tee shirt inside out. Or they can put on a jacket or sweater in order to hide the offensive shirt. Either of these options are what we prefer because we don't want to lose a potential customer. The third option is leaving the mall. The man said something like "You've got to be kidding me." Then he called me a racist. About this time his girlfriend walked up and wanted to know what was going on. When the man told her she looked at me and said, "Your a mother f_ _king racist. This is like Trayvon Martin." I am not the only White officer that has been called a racist at the mall. Most of the time it is the Black shoplifters that call us racists. Remember the Titans is one of my favorite movies. One of my favorite lines in the movie is when Denzel Washington's character tells his assistant White coach "I don't dance unless I hear music". Nor do I. If I am called to a store it is because someone was seen shoplifting or their behavior is suspicious. Much of the time it is a Black manager, or clerk, requesting our assistance. The suspects many times will confront me and ask why I am following them. I tell them that I am doing my regular patrols. Then they will say that the only reason that I am following them is because they are Black.
A few years ago a group of Black shoplifters confronted me and my supervisor who was also Black. They called me a racist. My boss was called a sellout and an Uncle Tom. He was very angry about that. They were so brazen that they called the police on us. The police questioned us and after explaining the situation to them they got a good chuckle out of it.. They had stolen from several stores already and before leaving they stole from several more stores. How can someone, who is obviously guilty of shoplifting, level the charge of racism? I believe that it is a ploy to put security on the defensive. They are angry at the fact that they are being watched, or followed. They can't steal when being watched. The purpose is to get security to back off. Nobody wants to be called a racist. It would be easy for me to be a bigot because bigotry is intellectual laziness.
On the surface it would seem that most shoplifters are black. It depends on the store, however. In some stores the shoplifters are predominately black females. In others they are white. Then there are the stores that have a combination of white, black and Hispanic shoplifters. I know that there are bad cops and bad security guards. I have met a few of both. But I believe that most cops are good people trying to do an extremely tough job. It is my belief that the real profiling being done is from those Blacks who see a White man in a uniform and they have already judged a book by it's cover. Not all blacks are this way but far too many are. Maybe there could be a program where police officers go into the high schools and teach kids how to react during traffic stops. So as to make things safer for them and the police officer. Or to have police ride-along programs for high school students. Parents play the greatest part. Respect for authority begins at home.
A few years ago a group of Black shoplifters confronted me and my supervisor who was also Black. They called me a racist. My boss was called a sellout and an Uncle Tom. He was very angry about that. They were so brazen that they called the police on us. The police questioned us and after explaining the situation to them they got a good chuckle out of it.. They had stolen from several stores already and before leaving they stole from several more stores. How can someone, who is obviously guilty of shoplifting, level the charge of racism? I believe that it is a ploy to put security on the defensive. They are angry at the fact that they are being watched, or followed. They can't steal when being watched. The purpose is to get security to back off. Nobody wants to be called a racist. It would be easy for me to be a bigot because bigotry is intellectual laziness.
On the surface it would seem that most shoplifters are black. It depends on the store, however. In some stores the shoplifters are predominately black females. In others they are white. Then there are the stores that have a combination of white, black and Hispanic shoplifters. I know that there are bad cops and bad security guards. I have met a few of both. But I believe that most cops are good people trying to do an extremely tough job. It is my belief that the real profiling being done is from those Blacks who see a White man in a uniform and they have already judged a book by it's cover. Not all blacks are this way but far too many are. Maybe there could be a program where police officers go into the high schools and teach kids how to react during traffic stops. So as to make things safer for them and the police officer. Or to have police ride-along programs for high school students. Parents play the greatest part. Respect for authority begins at home.
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