Apparently there are police going around in Washington D.C., the nation's capital, and temporarily putting people in public places in handcuffs - typically younger black men - to search them for drugs or weapons - based on very limited or no evidence. Read this article: Washington D.C. to settle lawsuit with black man subjected to repeated anal probes during search | Daily Mail Online , December 2018 This is almost unbelievable, and I personally find this outrageous. If this is indeed going on, and police are indeed routinely doing this based on minimal or no evidence, then it is entirely understandable why black men feel traumatized. Something that should be pointed out is that D.C. is a very Democrat area, and supposedly socially progressive. There is no way this could have been going on without Democrat leaders being aware of it and permitting it. Now, some will just brush this off and say there has to be more to the story in that article that we don't about. That black man must have done something to justify being put in handcuffs and searched. Well, I am not so sure that is the case. This is an excerpt from an article that appeared some years ago in The Economist magazine: Washington D.C.'s most dangerous neighborhood is only about a mile from the Supreme Court. On any given night, armed police roam the streets in the northeast part of the city in search of guns and drugs. So routine are these patrols that black men sitting on stoops or standing on corners will reflexively lift their T-shirts when the police approach, to show they have no pistol tucked into their waistbands. Often the police frisk them anyway, and search their cars as well. You might almost forget, in light of these encounters, that the fourth amendment to the constitution establishes the right of the American people to be 'secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. America's search for safety is relentlessly eroding the precious protections in the Bill of Rights." What I am thinking, a likely reason this is going on, is that because it is in the nations capitol there is a widespread feeling that different rules apply and that law enforcement should go to greater lengths to maintain public safety, even if it is at the cost of civil liberties and public freedom. It is well known there is a problem in certain cities, including as it happens Washington D.C., with younger black men illegally carrying around concealed handguns and being involved in illegal drug activity. I'm not sure that excuses the tactics that are being used here. And one does wonder if this is going on in any other cities in the country. Seems this might be a dirty little inconvenient Democrat secret, something that they see as necessary, despite all the endless rhetoric coming from Democrats about being against this type of thing.
Seems like a law enforcement decision? Also, I suspect different rules apply in "ghettos", which is what this article suggests that it is. Young unemployment men sitting around and drugs involved, etc.
Yes, I suspect there is some level of discrimination against those loitering around in public places, and against those who do not have cars and have to walk to get places. It might be another example societal classism, rather than racism specifically. somewhat related thread touching on that here: How an anti-prostitution law led to police harassing/arresting trans women
Stop and frisk is unconstitutional without due process. Simply standing for sitting is not enough to be detained.
Odd indeed, since the DC city council is hardly a hotbed of reactionary conservatism.....all Democrat with 2 "Independents" (defined as a Democrat pretending not to be).
I just talked to my neighbor who used to live in D.C. about 10 years ago and he confirmed that this type of thing did indeed happen all the time. He said there were many stories in the local news, and he even saw it happen one time. He described a 35-year-old white guy who was talking into his cell phone right outside a bar, telling the other person in the phone that he was going to take a cab, he was not going to drive home. He looked and sounded like he had probably been drinking. An officer went up to him, told him to put his hands behind his back. The man replied "What did I do wrong?" The officer then slammed him face down onto the ground and put him in handcuffs. My neighbor said it is more likely to happen the closer it is to the capitol area. He also said that that type of thing is a reason why some people choose to leave D.C. I did specifically ask him and he said he does not believe there is any racial bias going on, but he believes people who are loitering around in one place in a public area are much more likely to be targeted than people walking on the sidewalk.
"Read this article: Washington D.C. to settle lawsuit with black man subjected to repeated anal probes during search | Daily Mail Online , December 2018" I would call that rape if true
true, but the cop is never punished in most cases, but yes, the case most of the time would get tossed out - unless the defendant is stupid and plea bargains, which public defenders often suggest
In America there is no valid reason, no, not one, to deprive any person of his 4th amendment guarantees. If one maintains public safety at the cost of civil liberties and public freedom, one has neither liberty, freedom, or safety!
