I saw the cops twice yesterday:
1. At a dunkin donuts. An employee had called them regarding people who kept coming in asking for free stuff -- as her manager had said if anyone gave out any free stuff, they'd be terminated. I am fairly sure this was regarding two mean homeless folk. I walked away, figuring she had it in hand.
2. Observed a DWB-- a driver waiting for a passenger. Took video of the incident, visibly observed with my white eyes figuring that'd reduce the chance of escalation.
That's a lot more than I normally see the cops. Like two times more than usual.
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What is a DBW?
ReplyDeleteSub for the explanation for DBW. A neigbour of mine got his bycicle checked by three policemen the other day, but I usually do not have contact with our friend and helper much more than that.
ReplyDeleteMo Jave a typo for DWB, which is "Driving while Black". I am hopeful I do not need to explain that?
ReplyDeleteAh, of course. I thought there was new lingo.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols Yeah, I kinda guessed that. Did you see my post about waiting for friends in Starbucks while black?
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of cops every day, but then I live in the Bronx and work in Manhattan. There's a gang of them in the East 180 train station most mornings, sometimes with a table and a sign about backpacks being searched. Despite my fitting the profile for shooters and bombers for the last decade or so (white guy traveling alone with a big, obviously heavy bag), I never get stopped.
ReplyDeleteStopping and watching/filming the police with POC, and with white homeless people (whom they also abuse with impunity) can be a way to reduce brutality in your vicinity, or to provide a witness if it still occurs.
ReplyDeleteNot say that you need to help homeless people if they're being mean! I've seen plenty of that too, especially with service workers who are POC. It might still be worth filming to make sure that they aren't getting tazed or shot over verbal abuse, though; it's better to witness until it de-escalates, if you can.
But one of the risk factors of being murdered by police is mental illness or disability, particularly deafness (deaf people are shot for "failure to comply" all of the time, when really it's just inability to hear the orders and threats issued by the police) so another thing to watch for is someone who is being harmless but expressing an illness (like walking around shouting) having that be escalated by the police into a shooting. White homeless people are not necessarily mentally ill or disabled, but there's a higher chance that they will be than if they were housed, and the police are almost as quick to reach for violence with visibly poor white people as with POC.