I broke in to my house once - maybe about a year ago

[Politicub]

We had left both sets of keys inside, and I had locked the door between the garage and the house. We have a security alarm, so when you get home and raise the overhead door to park the car you have so many seconds to disarm the system.

Well, since we forgot the keys we couldn't get inside to shut off the alarm. My partner's cell phone rang, as the alarm company calls to find out if there is a false alarm before the police are dispatched. We told them the situation and gave them our password, so the alarm company didn't contact the police.

So we wracked our brains on trying to figure out how to get inside since it was winter and all of the windows were locked tight. I remembered that the lock on the upstairs window was broken and hadn't been replaced, so we looked at each other and knew that would be the only way to get into our house.

We jumped our fence to get into the backyard and took an extension ladder out of the shed. After we put the ladder against the house and extended it to about 20 feet, I hauled my self up to the window, pushed it open and tumbled inside. Mind you, the alarm was blaring this whole time.

And as I was shimmying up the ladder, I had this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that someone was going to call the police and we would need to deal with the cops. Even though it was our own home, as a gay couple in Georgia I was extremely nervous about the prospect, which put me in an agitated state.

No one called the cops and they never came. But the reason I give Gates a pass is that I have a fear of the police from getting pulled over for a speeding ticket and them searching my car for no apparent reason. I had nothing on me, but for some reason they found my out of state license plate suspicious. One of them said, "you're not from around here," and some other things in a rude way and I clammed up as to not get them more upset. It was clear that the cops that pulled me over wielded their power like a sword, which, in my opinion, was based purely on ego.

I consented to the search because I knew I didn't have anything, but I kept my gaze lowered to the ground in fear. I had to keep my palms pressed on the hood of their squad car, and I did as I was told. Not from respect, but from fear.

They left the stuff they took out of the car and dumped out of my backpack on the ground, wrote the ticket and then left. Being treated like a criminal and experiencing fear changed my perception of the police. It is true that a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch.

For the DUers that have no empathy for Gates and him being in an agitated state, I think you have a rose colored view of authority. It only takes a few viewings of the TV show Cops to understand that while there are good cops out there, you never know when a hyper-testosterone fueled cop will pull you over and put you through hell for nothing more than from being out of state and driving through.

I know the right wing wants to view everything in binary terms and kill the value of a sense of empathy, but I reject thinking in purely black and white terms. If those cops had only tried to put themselves in Gates' shoes and worked to understand that people get protective of their own home, none of any of this drama would have happened.

Something like, "I know you're upset Mr. Gates, but we're doing our job. We'll be on our way," would have gone so much further than an escalating war of words.

Out in the field or on the street the cops will always win because they have the power to handcuff, arrest and intimidate.

[Frances]

1. Thanks for writing

You explain the situation very well IMO.

I grew up in Alabama and remember George Wallace's race baiting only too well.

I have also lived in Massachusetts.

I loved people in both states, but there is racism in both states.

I am so glad that Obama has invited Gates and Crowley to the White House.

I hope that there can be some peace between the two men. And I hope there can be more harmony between blue-collar people and blacks in Cambridge. The public school system there is horrible, yet both Harvard and MIT are there.

[Politicub]

12. I hope there can be peace, too

And everyone learns something from this.

[MADem]

2. Precisely. NT

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Thanks for sharing

Your traffic stop reminds me of something that happened to my husband back in the '70s. He was a hippie, and his van was pulled over. He was in the process of moving from one city to another, and everything he owned was in the van. The cop who stopped him threw it all into a muddy ditch, ruining several items. My husband wisely stayed silent. When the cop was finished, he cussed at my husband, saying he wanted to beat up a hippie that day but now didn't have the excuse to do so, and drove off.

[Politicub]

10. Wow - he must have been terrified

So much of how people are treated is driven by profiling or stereotyping. I wish it wasn't this way, but it is. I'm at a loss at how to change it, since it seems that it's only getting worse.

[CoffeeCat]

4. I would be scared shitless...

...if the police asked to search my car. In this day and age, we all know they've got tasers and we all know that
they sometimes "accidentally" shoot people. We also know they lie and sometimes accuse people of resisting arrest
when it never happened.

You did the right thing---being submissive. However, isn't that just AWFUL that this is how we must be to survive???
It's exactly the goal of a police-state. However, if your goal is to survive--situation be damned--keeping your head
down and cooperating means you get out of this situation unscathed. So, being submissive is self preservation.

They had no right to search your car. You weren't doing anything wrong. But it seems that we must cooperate these
days--or else.

Anyone else think that ego-driven cops like this would have reacted positively if the driver had
refused the search and began reiterating his constitutional rights? Those cops probably would have gotten rude, and would
have provoked a situation, tased the OP and then charged him with disorderly duct or some other violation.

That's the new normal we face.

There are many, many good cops out there. I live in an area where most of them are absolutely wonderful. However, the psychopath cops
out there, combined with our police state and those damn tasers--has caused a lot of abuse by police.

[Politicub]

7. I've heard if you assert your right to not be searched w/o a warrant

That the cops would make you stay there until they obtain one. I didn't want to take that chance and just wanted to get the whole thing over with.

[LiberalFighter]

13. Probably a good idea in today's cell phone age to have an attorney

or someone reliable on speed dial so they can listen in on what is happening.

Not having a cell phone I don't know if there is the capability of video or audio recording or any other features that would provide protection. Setting the phone on the dashboard or somewhere to record when there might be a problem.

How about sending a pre-programmed emergency message automatically? And making sure that anyone that receives the message either has access to GPS or contacts appropriate law enforcement.

Might be a good idea if someone could pull something together that travelers could utilize in situations.

[Politicub]

19. Those are great ideas

I would have never thought of those things. One of the many reasons I love DU! :)

[NutmegYankee]

14. Still need probable cause for a search warrant.

Most judges won't issue one without good cause.

[Honeycombe8]

5. I'm a woman. Cops rape women every day, probably. That has nothing to do with

cops showing up to check out a possible burglary, if I'm breaking into my house.

I've had bad experiences with traffic cops. That, too, has nothing to do with a burglary investigation.

It is a GOOD thing when neighbors are keeping an eye out on your property for you. That means they care.

It is a GOOD thing when cops follow up on call-ins about possible burglaries. That means they are doing their job.

Cops are the only thing standing in the way of all of us being totally ripped off and burglarized, or not. (unless you happen to have an arsenal of weapons and some grenades handy)

Remember that whatever you do for a living, someone somewhere has had a bad experience with someone else who does that for a living. What if they were to start off an interaction with you and everyone else who does that job by being billigerant and calling you names, because of their past history?

I've had bad experiences with Af. American toll booth workers, where they would smile and chat a long time with the Af. American in the car ahead of me, and then be openly rude and dismissive to me (a white woman), when I drove up. Even when I would smile & say "hi." That happened to me a number of times. But not once when I drove up to another black toll booth worker did I start to be belligerant to him or her and call him/her a racist. That's passing the sins of another black person onto someone totally innocent.

[noiretextatique]

6. yeah...rude toll booth workers

are pretty much the same as rude cops :eyes:

[Politicub]

8. Toll booth workers...

don't have the degree of control over people that the police do. And I believe with the amount of authority as a cop has comes a tremendous amount of responsibility. But it seems that many forget about the protect and SERVE part of being a police officer and give them a pass when they are out of line. Why is that?

[Honeycombe8]

24. You miss the bigger pt. Visiting the sins of another onto the sins of an innocent person.

Kinda hard for you to argue that one, I guess. All you can do is say ," Yeah, well, that job is not exactly like this job."

But the point is valid.

You know it.

[csziggy]

17. Yes, right when I was away from my parents' home for the first time

There was a cop charged with pulling over women alone in their cars and raping them. Then he would threaten to charge them with prostitution if they turned him in. Usually he chose women in older, cheaper cares and the women did not have the power or confidence to push back. But he got caught because he picked a young woman who was related to a county judge.

But when I was driving by myself in my older car, I was very wary of cops and my Dad warned me to never unlock my car doors even if pulled over. One night I WAS pulled, by a lone cop in an unmarked car. I made sure my doors were locked and the windows rolled up except for a slit in the driver's side window, then passed him my DL, insurance, and registration through the slit.

I was lucky - he was nice about things, asked why I was so paranoid, and was understanding when I told him where I came from since the cop rapist case had made big news. It probably helped that I told him if he needed me to get out of the car, I would be happy to once a regular cruiser with uniformed cops was on the scene.

I was also lucky - he did not charge me with going 85 in a 30 mph zone. He actually believed it when I told him I was worried about being followed on the lonely country road when I saw his car coming up behind me.

[Butch350]

23. People just don't understand your point.

[quakerboy]

26. Actually, no they are not

The only thing standing in the way of total ripoffage and burglarization is social mores. Cops don't really do all that much to prevent theft/burglary. Most people stop themselves from doing such things. And its usualy civillian provided information and paperwork that catches the few the few that are caught. The frequency with which cops actually stop such a crime are minimal. And to be totally honest, my experience is that its pretty rare that they can do anything other than provide paperwork for the insurance company afterward either.

Not to say the police are useless or bad. But the existance of police never stopped anyone from stealing a bike. I would say that our current state has predisposed them towards a certain level of fear of people, and a matching level of power trip towards people which is not conducive towards really helping us. As a non drug user, I tend to blame that and the economy for the bulk of the problem. If pot wasn't an issue, and there was a realistic oportunity for people to meet their needs productively, I tend to think that the tension between police and citizens would be much reduced, and we would have a better chance at working together to prevent/stop/bring justice for the distructive crimes/problems that face us.

[bahrbearian]

9. Can you tell me your address?

Sounds like your house is all set up for easy pickings.

[Politicub]

11. Most homes are

Probably yours is, too. It's a wonder that more homes don't get broken into.

But maybe I just don't see the point of your reply.

[Cha]

15. You wrote that so well...

I feel like we were there with you in your experiences..thanks!

[PurityOfEssence]

16. This really is the crux of the issue: frustration

Gates was probably pissed off that getting into the house was such a hassle, and probably annoyed with the property management people and whatever. Then, there's this damned cop bugging me and who knows what the first look was from Crowley, but he was a career officer, so most likely in quasi combat mode, prepared for violence if it actually WAS a break-in.

It's interesting in the police report how not only do we hear the accusations of racism, we hear "you don't know who (sic) you're dealing with". To any sensible cop, he's now worried for his career and pissed off for having to hear this kind of crap.

Crowley says he gave his name and badge number repeatedly, but couldn't be heard over the shouting. It's easy to see how both men could have seen this differently.

What comes through more than anything else at this point is this: Gates wanted some kind of satisfaction, and Crowley obviously didn't give it to him. Perhaps Gates feels Crowley should have apologized for the mistake, but after having been raged at for being a racist when simply doing his job, maybe Crowley had had enough of the guy. Whatever.

One is left with the question of what would have satisfied Gates. Regardless of any supposition, Crowley left the residence and Gates pursued him. There would have been no arrest had this not happened; Crowley had already left.

People want to read what they want to read into this. I, being in a leadership position in my profession, have a tough time with people with authority problems. We agree, as members of this society, to obey the police, and the world is FULL of people who consider themselves "special".

There's bad behavior enough to go around, but I boil it down to this: Gates amped it up by accusing racism and intimating that he was going to cause Crowley personal, professional trouble by dint of being someone special.

Quite frankly, I hope we hear EVERYTHING, in detail, about this instance. Was Crowley overly combative? Was he derisive? He WAS in a presumed break-in situation, though, so if he wasn't Tom Hanks about it, that's not too surprising. Gates says that the "your mama" line is completely made up. I'd like to hear more about that.

Still, the incident was over and Crowley had left. That's when the confrontation that actually IS a crime took place.

Here's the real disconnect, though: if it really IS an incredibly racist society, what makes people think that flatly accusing someone of this repeatedly isn't going to cause trouble?

Neither behaved particularly well, but I don't think that accusing a peace officer of racism, then doing it in front of one of his fellow officer, then pursuing him outside to rage even more is somehow the act of an innocent victim.

As for expecting understanding for one's emotional state, there's no way Crowley could have known about the long flight, the frustration with the door or anything like that. Gates SHOULD have known that he was dealing with a police officer who thinks he's in a crime situation, though. People who expect great understanding for their own precious emotional state but who not only have none for that of an other person's are one thing, but when they have that insensitivity and ALSO pour fire onto the situation by making accusations of racism, it looks like there's more going on.

[Politicub]

21. If the officer became that "pissed off," then he has the wrong job

The burden of calm, rational and empathetic behavior sits in the hands of the person who holds the power. And in this case, it was the police officer. There are responsibilities to being a public servant that are often brushed under the rug in defense of bad behavior.

[PurityOfEssence]

25. Neither of us was there

Civilians need to take responsibility for not being derisive, too. Cops have the RIGHT to stop you, to question you, to ask for ID when a crime is suspected, and people should have a bit of respect for them.

Cops should be thick-skinned and able to take a lot of abuse without reacting badly, but people don't have the right to use them as whipping-boys and rage as they please. You are aware that calling someone a racist is a HUGE bit of inflammatory rhetoric, right?

It's a two-way street, and people with authority problems need to join the party and get over themselves a bit.

You don't follow a cop outside yelling at him after accusing him of racism in front of his fellow officers. Sure, you have the "right" to do it, but you're playing with fire. Cops have a VERY stressful job, and hectoring them is rather selfish and foolhardy.

The REAL issue here is raging at a peace officer in public. This sounds like a situation that doesn't rise to that level, but once again, I wasn't there. If someone rages at a police officer in public and in front of other citizens and refuses to back off, he/she SHOULD be arrested. I don't want to live in a society of snotty scofflaws who feel they're superior to everyone else. I don't think we should be paying cops to be therapy victims for people with ego problems.

From a purely causal stance, Gates needs to take some responsibility for this, too. He was committing a crime, he was warned that he would be arrested if he didn't stop, the cop even brandished the handcuffs to show that he meant it, and still Gates didn't stop. Perhaps Crowley should have simply backed off, but maybe it matters a bit if people see that this kind of performance won't be tolerated. We owe some respect to society and its officers.

The threshold of what kind of crap a person will take before making good on the warning of arrest in a clearly unlawful incident sounds a bit high here; are there enough human beings with that kind of personality to provide the manpower needed to staff police departments nationwide? A simple reading of this board would certainly suggest not; people here feel entitled to shrieking rage even when only in possession of partial information. Somehow it's the civilian's right to be a derisive so-and-so because they've been persecuted and their lives made continual horrors, but cops must be other-worldly in their ability to be above it all. Even if they could attain this beatific state, it sounds like they'd still be roundly hated here.

This is a complex situation, yet people DEMAND that it be seen as ultra-simple. Far too many who consider themselves downtrodden feel the right to dismiss inconvenient facts and lift the standard of righteous revenge on high and scream down anyone who might point out the nagging mitigations to the situation.

It wasn't profiling; Crowley was sent to look for a black man in or near the house and he found one.

In Gates' accounts, he was a paragon of sweetness, merely asking for a name and badge number. By Crowley's and Figueroa's accounts, he was calling Crowley a "racist" and blustering "you don't know who you're dealing with". Crowley left the premises after determining that there had been no crime, and was followed outside to be berated more. When warned, Gates didn't stop. When warned about arrest, Gates didn't stop.

If cops are such assholes and horrible racist fiends, isn't it a good idea to not badger them? I suppose such action would be subservience, but this whole thing reeks of grandstanding martyrdom, complete with Gates' statement afterward that he'd been "chosen" for this incident so he could use his "considerable resources" to right this wrong. That kind of arrogance screams from the page at me, but that's just me: I have a bit of a problem with celebrities and academics demanding special treatment from the world, and that's one of my own personal biases.

In the end, this incident is basically like 9-11: it doesn't change anyone's opinion, it merely reinforces prejudices.

[Starry Messenger]

28. Interesting.

You are aware that calling someone a racist is a HUGE bit of inflammatory rhetoric, right?

Why is "inflammatory rhetoric" such a huge injury and yet you use over a hundred words to explain away why Gates is wrong, even though he was the injured party in this incident? Cops don't have to be "other worldly in their ability to be above it all", but they do need to be sensitive and professional since they are the person with the power in this circumstance.

[PurityOfEssence]

29. You state that he's THE injured party as if it's fact

How would you like being called a racist in public? How would you like being yelled at and threatened by a professor of a major university that you haven't heard the last of it?

As more information comes out about Crowley, he seems to be rather commendable on the subject of race relations. He's probably a bit touchy about it. We know that he labored hard in public to revive a dying black basketball player and that he was accused of not having tried hard enough. How would you like being called a racist with this memory in your head? Is there no mutual responsibility in the universe you see? What about causality? I see mistakes on both sides of this, but that's simply not good enough for the vast majority of partisans here; it MUST be seen as a fiendish act of lynching of a completely innocent old disabled man.

Endless understanding for Professor Gates is granted for his terribly long flight, frustration at the door and his needing a cane to walk. Did Crowley know ANY of this? 58 is hardly decrepitude, after all. Yet people have agendas that they feel grant them the right to pick and choose as they please with facts of the situation, vilifying anyone who breathes the slightest mitigation about the events as they're known.

If he hadn't followed Crowley out of the house to get some sort of satisfaction or if the first few rages and insults had slaked his need for dominance, he never would have been arrested. He was warned. He didn't grant Crowley any satisfaction, he didn't take back the stinging accusations of racism. He continued threatening that he was going to take some sort of administrative action even though Crowley had ended the investigation and left the premises. This is a guy supporting a wife and three kids, and now he's hearing the raging of a guy he now knows to be a very powerful full professor at one of the town's major universities about how he hasn't heard the last of this. He's fed up. Yet through all this I hear precious little understanding for a working guy in the line of duty being berated by a celebrity. If he didn't apologize sufficiently, it sounds like he had simply had enough. How much abuse is an officer supposed to take? Apparently, for many on this board, he should cancel all his appointments for the day and just take it on a public street in front of civilians and fellow officers for as long as the frail victim can manage to rage. Presumably, when the professor keels over from exhaustion after his invective-fest Crowley would be liable for charges of physical violence. (A little humor is helpful in times like these, dammit.)

Both sides should have backed off. I can see more or less how they both got themselves all wound up, but I'm disgusted by those who refuse to have the least bit of understanding for Crowley in this situation. I'm very annoyed by the "fuck the cops" chorusing I hear here, but mercifully there are enough people with some communal respect and understanding to take them to task a bit.

I believe in truth and fairness, and if my assumptions are shown to be false or the evidence I've seen to be faulty, I'll admit it in public, but I feel that far too many who have fed the flames in defense of the innocent lamb of sweetness itself WON'T. Reading Gates' accounts of the incident makes him sound as if he did nothing but gently ask for a name and badge number. This doesn't jibe with Figueroa's or Crowley's reports, and I have yet to see statements from the witnesses.

Don't read too much into the volume of words wrought here; I type and compose very fast.

Demanding that things be seen as purely good or bad, with NO causality, mitigation or responsibility is a VERY BAD THING. Do you agree with this or not? The tenor of your post is that Gates is THE victim in this situation, with presumably NO personal responsibility in the situation AT ALL.

It's very simple: had he not gone outside to give yet some more pieces of his highly-acclaimed mind to this man, or at least not continued after warned, he wouldn't have been arrested. Period. Crowley was done. How much right does one have to be pissed off? The answer is simple: as much as one wants; the problem is that making a public disturbance IS against the law, and hectoring someone who's already in a bad mood isn't particularly brilliant regardless of one's advanced degrees, celebrity status, publications or tenure.

[Starry Messenger]

30. There is a subtext to your writing here that I really dislike.

You have built up a narrative fully in support of the officer. Your right to do so, certainly. However, you are creating a caricature of Dr. Gates and his "raging" that sounds pretty hinky to me, actually. I have seen the PBS specials that the Dr. has done, and his tone has always been gentle and yes, he limps noticeably. He would not seem a threat to a young and able bodied cop.

However, you seem to have convinced yourself otherwise, so I'm not sure how much time I want to spend on this.

To answer the first question you asked, yes, I have been called a racist before. I have also had to deal with the police. I disliked both situations immensely, but only one had the power to take away my freedom. I'll end it here.

[PurityOfEssence]

32. Chalk it up to being a contrarian

George Patton said that "when everyone's thinking the same thing, someone's not thinking", and Mark Twain said "whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

Yes, I'm forming a narrative that seems more apologetic to the cop, but there are a few reasons for this, and I did read the police reports and Gates' interviews.

Arrogance on my part is one, choosing to play the role of "voice of reason" or dissident, but there was simply something that smelled fishy about the whole thing at the start, and the EXTREME vehemence here that it couldn't be anything than some kind of home-invasion lynching of a meek and disabled paragon of virtue just reeked.

Once again, repeatedly, I see mistakes on both sides. Somehow, this is not enough; anything short of complete, lock-step party-line outrage is proof positive of deep villainy.

I deal regularly with celebrities, and they're often not a pleasant sort, ESPECIALLY when they have to be troubled with the inconvenience of mere mortals. That's a bigotry on my part, and I feel that by volunteering one's prejudices a bit, one should get a fair airing of one's views. This does not sit well with extremists, and whereas I (in my grand virtue) admit my own fallibility, I have to accept that I live in a world filled with superiors who are never wrong. To me, it's a highly complex world, and things tend to happen for a combination of reasons. Perhaps this is why I don't fit in in many ways; this is certainly why religion annoys me as much as it does.

Along the way, I've also had plenty of dealings with academics, and many of them haven't lived up to their self-image when it comes to basic tolerance of inferiors. Another bias, and certainly one I've admitted.

We learn nothing by demanding that the world obey our strict and simplistic pronouncements, and we need to learn how to get along with each other. That is my chief problem with all this. When I hear how very cool it is for the crowd here to just spew venomous hatred at cops, I'm embarrassed for us as liberals. It is precisely the kind of childishness that conservatives use against us, and if we want to have our voices heard in other than our own echo-chambers, we need to be grown-up members of society.

You took umbrage with me and made a pronouncement that Gates was, without even any need to elucidate further, the complete and total victim of the situation. It just isn't so.

As for the subtext of my cantankerousness, I'll take it with politeness that the unwillingness to rise above passive-aggressive insinuation is a version of giving me the benefit of the doubt.

Our president seems to understand that hasty conclusions and nasty accusations ("stupidly" is NOT a mild rebuke) are not only not good for the situation but not accurate. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail here, but far too many people are so sadly ego-frenzied and loathe to EVER admit being even slightly incorrect that the cold definition of this as a racist home-invasion and persecution of an innocent disabled old man will persist.

If we play the race card in marginal situations that are subsequently shown to be marginal situations, and people insist that they weren't, then it's effectively crying wolf. The right wing would love to have more ammunition to that effect, and this may help them. I doubt they're going to get a poster child out of this like so many here KNOW FOR CERTAIN, though; Crowley doesn't fit the mold.

[Politicub]

31. I wouldn't like to be called racist in public

But I'm not an officer of the law, and I'm not regularly putting myself into situations where people have heightened emotions that I have some culpability for provoking. I still stand by what I originally said - the one who hold the most power has the most responsibility.

And while you're crying foul about me not knowing all of the facts, you are presupposing that:

"If he hadn't followed Crowley out of the house to get some sort of satisfaction or if the first few rages and insults had slaked his need for dominance, he never would have been arrested."

It's clear that we don't agree from either a philosophical or moral standpoint about this issue, so this post will be my last to you on this subject. After you made the assertion that Gates was somehow seeking "satisfaction," you revealed your agenda for all to see.

[Number23]

18. As someone born and raised in Atlanta, I know EXACTLY what you're talking about

Even though it was our own home, as a gay couple in Georgia I was extremely nervous about the prospect, which put me in an agitated state.

Summed up beautifully. Even when you have done nothing wrong and the law SHOULD be on your side, you still have to worry and wonder.

Happy to rec

[AllentownJake]

20. There are good cops and there are bad cops

is all I will say.

[Politicub]

22. And there are likely legions of good cops compared to bad cops

But it only takes one unjust, negative experience to color your perception of the system.

It's too bad that there isn't more perceived self policing of the profession. Perhaps there is, but most of the stories I hear in re: to that are along the lines of one officer covering for the bad behavior of another. A common example of this is the police officer who gives his coworker or another officer's family a pass for a speeding ticket based solely on the fact that they are connected to the profession. We've all heard this story.

The act of covering for someone taken to the extreme is how so much bad behavior gets overlooked, which can lead to the perception that this kind of stuff happens probably more than it actually does.

[Leo The Cleo]

27. This Is Beautiful

Well thought out.

My father is a retired firefighter. I grew up with firefighters and cops growing up. Black and White. The cops were nice guys to me. However, I was a fire lieutenants son. However, none of them were shrinking violets. They'd let you know who was boss. And I know some of the nicest ones would bully some of the black kids. My father knew that a bunch of them did too. He'd tell me to keep my distance from those cops. Power like that has to have checks.