I Was a Racial Profiler: Ex-Cop Says He Used Skin Color to Make Arrests

It’s true, but by the same token, I’m not going to complain about it, because it’s good police work to cast a suspicious eye toward young whites cruising around black neighborhoods. Someone I know has been pulled over by the St. Louis cops several times in his own neighborhood, his neighborhood was formerly white but has changed to almost all black recently. His suspicion is that the cops think that since he’s white in a black neighborhood, he was there to buy drugs. His drivers license showed that he lived in the neighborhood. End of story, no whining about profiling needed.

He didn’t use ‘skin colour’ to profile, he used race. It would indeed be stupid to think that having darker skin in itself lead you to commit more crime.

If police are looking for a rapist they look for a man. Headline-

“Police use chest-hair to profile rapist”

I’m white. I believe I was profiled, and I didn’t like it one bit. I pulled out behind a red truck that was driving way over the speed limit. A cop was driving in the opposite direction, passed both the truck and me, turned around, and pulled me over. He claimed I was going too fast, but he also asked what I was doing in the area, and where I was staying. He gave me a warning for a cracked windshield, which I had to pay 200 dollars to have fixed. The area I was in was popular with camping tourists, who also drink, party, and generally tick off the locals. Despite the possibility that a cop might catch a drunk driver, pulling someone over for the purpose of finding out what they are doing in the area (and using a traffic violation for justification) is an abuse of authority, and a violation of my rights.

To Anonymous (#3):

The stop was not an abuse of authority or a violation of your rights. By your own admission, your car has a cracked windshield; that alone is a legal and sufficient reason to stop you.

Driving is a privelege granted to qualified citizens by their state legislature; it is not enumerated as a right in the United States Constitution - one’s “right to drive” does not exist and cannot be violated.

It’s completely possible that the cracked windshield was a “fishing expedition” on the officer’s part. However, it’s lawful to use a traffic violation (however minor, including a cracked windshield) as a means of gaining access to a motorist to ask them other questions. It’s called a “Whren Stop,” and is permissible under the Supreme Court’s “Whren v. U.S.” 517 U.S. 806 (1996).

I’m a police officer, and I mention these things because I hate hearing citizens say they felt bullied or abused by a cop. There’s never a reason to accept unprofessional behavior from a police officer.

I don’t want to sound combative, but step one is to know your rights. You don’t have to be a lawyer, but know where you stand as a U.S. citizen - because that way you can make sure to keep inappropriately nosy cops in their place.

If the stop is about a cracked windshield, your destination is only marginally relevant (i.e. are you close to home, or do you have so far to go that the crack creates too much of an obstruction). As for your business or plans, that has nothing to do with it all. Don’t be combative, but you can be dismissive: “I’m not sure officer. I’ll make up my mind when I get there.” Be polite, and say it with a smile.

The cracked windshield puts you in a no-win situation: it’s cracked, you’re driving it…you have to take what comes with it. As for anything else, know you rights…so you can assert them.