Dayton Police Officer Pulls Over Black Man for Making Eye Contact.

originally posted by: dreamingawake
More often then not in some places this scenario might be the case of following someone to wait until they make a mistake. Officer thought eye contact was suspicious, a nervous reaction. Seems like only in smaller towns or if you know police in your city that it's safe to wave, nod or give eye contact.

originally posted by: theyknowwhoyouare
What does his race have to do with it?

I am white and have been pulled over for looking directly at a cop. He said it was suspicious.

I think the problem is that police find all poor people suspicious. Wouldn't have pulled him if he was riding in a limo I bet.

Yeah poor in a low income neighborhood sadly no matter what skin color you're already a suspect.

This is very true.

If your poor your on watch.

a reply to: John_Rodger_Cornman

Oh...you don't have to be poor...or black...or anything really. You just have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. My daughter got a ticket last week for failing to change lanes on the highway, when the same cop had someone else pulled over. She did slow down, she said and went wide without changing lanes, because there was other traffic in the next lane. And she also told me she didn't even know that was a law.....it's a fairly recent one here. She's a 21 year old white girl with nothing really outstanding. She was driving her 12 year old Honda Element, with no stickers or anything subversive seeming.

At any rate, it 's just revenue generating. $125 bucks for nothing at all really. He just had a spare minute to impose his will upon someone. I told her it sucks. But, that it is just what happens to everyone once in a while. Chalk it up to experience. And I congratulated her on maintaining her cool, and just taking her ticket. I also gave her some money to cover about half of it, since she is a student. There are A$$Yps everywhere.

Aggravated mean muggin'

With felony enhancement for having a 'tan'

This happened to me about 5 years ago. I was sitting in a parking lot in my car with some friends in a busy area of the city (close to a famous baseball park). There was a cop sitting in a cruiser approximately 75 feet away. There was a strange looking thing on the top of the cruiser and I was looking at it. He drove over towards me and got out. He asked me why I was "staring him down", and asked for my license. I told him that I was wondering what was on the top of his car, and he said it was a directional light, like the ones you typically see on the doors.

Mind you, again, it's not like we were suspicious being in the parking lot. There were tons of people around, and we were out in the open.

Since when did looking at a cop become reasonable cause to stop someone and ask for identification? And just to clarify, I am not anti-cop in any way.

This is interesting. Would it be considered speech? The look that is? And aren't we allowed the freedom of speech? Verbal cues using body language? So, looking at a cop is a criminal offense, but we're allowed that freedom, right?
Here, a little something else.

nakedlaw.avvo.com...

We can legally flip off a cop, Supreme Court said it falls under freedom of speech. Although it's advised NOT to, but nothing illegal over doing it. In the link, the cop fabricated a story to pull over the person and cite them.
What happened to the days of dignity in LEO?

originally posted by: ladyvalkyrie
Aggravated mean muggin'

With felony enhancement for having a 'tan'

I legitimately laughed out loud at that. Maybe we have more power than we think?

When I got a promotion at an old workplace, everyone thought I had a more powerful role than I did. I used to get frustrated w/it because I didn't have the power they thought I did (or the pay, grrr...). Then one of the company higher ups told me "Enlightened, if people think you have the power, use it. If you go too far, we'll stop you".

So maybe we really have more power than we think; like the power to shatter self esteem or cause heart attacks with a long enough glare. I'd heard about the "evil eye" but I thought it was just a myth. LOL I'd test it out but I don't actually like hurting people. What to do, what to do?

a reply to: FraggleRock

I'm White. I've been ticketed for not putting my turn signal on when I was in a right turn only lane. I was under the impression that a lane that was only for right turns negated any need to turn my signal on as well. The Judge agreed with me in court.

Sometimes, some Cops, can just be pricks when issuing tickets. Doesn't matter the color of skin of either side involved.

originally posted by: rollanotherone
This is interesting. Would it be considered speech? The look that is? And aren't we allowed the freedom of speech? Verbal cues using body language? So, looking at a cop is a criminal offense, but we're allowed that freedom, right?
Here, a little something else.

nakedlaw.avvo.com...

We can legally flip off a cop, Supreme Court said it falls under freedom of speech. Although it's advised NOT to, but nothing illegal over doing it. In the link, the cop fabricated a story to pull over the person and cite them.
What happened to the days of dignity in LEO?

Good point. Even saying cuss words at a police officer isn't a crime. Though making a threat at them is a crime, as is touching them or making a big enough scene to be charged with disorderly conduct.

But a lot of the initial incident is up the police's discretion. You can fight the charge they issue in court though. As in, it's up to the judge and/or jury to determine if what you did was actually illegal.

That's what makes this all so nerve-racking. You can get killed by a police officer during a stop over something that a court may have ruled was legal behavior. They're not supposed to be judges, juries, and executioners. That's the whole reason we have a separation of powers. Legislators decide what's legal and illegal; law enforcement checks whether people are complying with the legislators' rules; and the judicial system determines if a suspect actually broke those rules or not (and what their punishment is if they're found guilty of breaking the rules/laws).

originally posted by: alienjuggalo
a reply to: FraggleRock

as bad as getting pulled over for having an air freshener.

I almost started a thread on this but it seems like a good thread to post it in..

you're driving while black....geez, pretty simple to me....

originally posted by: Woodcarver
a reply to: FraggleRock

Well, the cop says it plain as day. He tailed him for making direct eye contact, and then pulls the driver over for not turning his signal on 100ft before he made a turn. He literally followed the driver for several miles and waited on him to make any mistake to pull him over. When the driver doesn't make any mistakes, the cop gets frustrated and just makes some # up.

I hope the cop gets fired. But he won't. Business as usual.


I think a lot of people are scared to death when they are in the proximity of a black person.

Well, since we are making ignorant, blanket statements, maybe people should be scared to death in the proximity of a black person

a reply to: FraggleRock

I don't know how many times this has happened to me. And I'm white as hell!
I've heard all the petty excuses for being pulled over.

a reply to: FraggleRock

Wow, so now making eye contact with a police officer is
a probable cause to be pulled over?

That is even IF he made eye contact, the guy seemed shocked
and even said, "What-- I never even saw you"

Great post

Rebel 5

a reply to: FraggleRock

Would it be a possibility that if we were to ignore the Media about this stuff the officers would completely ignore it as well? Officers scan this type of stuff and I bet they laugh and ^5 each other

More cop bashing...huh? If I was driving and saw someone looking me in the eyes for what seemed like too long, I would wonder what that was all about. Were they worried about me? Were they pissed off at me for some reason? And I guess if I were a cop, I just might look for a reason to check them out.

You people are getting ridiculous. Now a cop can't stop you if you act suspicious even if he finds a reason?

a reply to: WeAreAWAKE

No, but making up reasons to find a reason is wrong.

Some cops are just ar**holes. Power hungry and love using that power over others.

I had an experience with a cop that was totally wrong. Id finished work, rode my motorbike to the athletics track, ran a few laps, went over to the nearby corner store, bought a coke and headed over to my spot off the side of the road under a few trees to relax. This is the ritual I'd been doing for the past year.
This particular day a highway patol cop noticed me and pulled over. He called me over to his car and started asking what I was doing. After explaining I'm just relaxing, he demanded my license and did a check on my rego. He then checked my bike for any faults, upon finding nothing wrong he then started commenting that he knows I must be up to something, he just can't figure it out. This went on for 10-15 minutes before he finally gave up.

Some cops are just natural born wa*kers.

originally posted by: WeAreAWAKE
More cop bashing...huh? If I was driving and saw someone looking me in the eyes for what seemed like too long, I would wonder what that was all about. Were they worried about me? Were they pissed off at me for some reason? And I guess if I were a cop, I just might look for a reason to check them out.

You people are getting ridiculous. Now a cop can't stop you if you act suspicious even if he finds a reason?

Then I'm glad you're not a cop. Looking someone in the eye isn't a crime or criminal behavior. Would you also start bothering them if they were scratching their foot "suspiciously"? Or eating their food "suspiciously"?

Sounds like controlling and power hungry actions, not good policing.

originally posted by: WeAreAWAKE
More cop bashing...huh? If I was driving and saw someone looking me in the eyes for what seemed like too long, I would wonder what that was all about. Were they worried about me? Were they pissed off at me for some reason? And I guess if I were a cop, I just might look for a reason to check them out.

You people are getting ridiculous. Now a cop can't stop you if you act suspicious even if he finds a reason?

Cop bashing?

For the officer to know how long eye contact was made, he himself would have to have made direct eye contact. Why is that suspicious behavior from the civilian but not the officer? If eye contact is suspicious behavior at all then it would be from everyone. Or course most of us don't believe eye contact is suspicious behavior and even believe the suggestion otherwise is quite ridiculous.

So no, this isn't cop bashing.

originally posted by: odzeandennz

originally posted by: Kangaruex4Ewe

originally posted by: odzeandennz

originally posted by: Kangaruex4Ewe
a reply to: odzeandennz

It's not just black people. Did you not read above? I have been harassed and I am a white female. They don't like anyone who is different, they especially don't like anyone who questions the status quo or challenges their authority.

Concentrating on one specific group of people might fix problems (eventually) for that group but the problems need to be fixed for EVERYONE.

yea, I'm sure statistically, your struggle is real.
take away your tats and piercing, your struggle is still real.... right? or wrong?

/....yea right

So I deserve it? Odd how we can pick and choose whose "struggle" is real, whose isn't, who deserves to struggle, who doesn't, etc.

I don't think I equated myself with any minority in the mistreatment department, but I have been mistreated. I suppose as long as there are varying degrees of mistreatment it's ok. While you are ok'ing some mistreatment based on other things, then the mistreatment does what it's doing now.

It spreads like the plague.

So wear your sarcasm like a badge of honor and when the mistreatment reaches your front door it will be because it was condoned for others regardless of the reason.

Come to think of it, I think this line of thinking may be exactly why the police are so out of control now.

You know there was a time not long ago where no one thought that black people's "struggle" was real either. Go figure.

a) don't put words in my mouth

b) don't compare your mistreatment for an 'emo appearance' with mistreatment associated with one's melatonin ( no control over that)

c) there is nothing that guy can do to change the way he looks

d) yes there are varying degrees of police mistreatment, yours pale in comparison. how is this man going live like, psychologically, what is he going to teach his children, or what sort of morality is he going to spread etc...


I'm sure your struggle is real...

your points fail .

its like saying a person with tats and piercings get odd looks at a parents teacher meeting, vs a person who gets a ticket while going to a parents teacher meeting for being black....
-you have piercing and tats you'll get odd looks, certain countries even frown upon them. but you wont get pulled over or a ticket....

They have pretty valid points I don't see as a "fail". In fact brings up a pretty good argument that if mistreatment due to such things is ignored it will continue and grow. Spread into other cultural indicators or even just to people who don't follow the norm, etc., as it's done with those who have certain stickers on their cars for example being pegged as needing to be investigated. "First they came for... and I didn't care..."

Not sure why their claim is doubted about being pulled for not looking "vanilla".
ps., not all piercings and tats on people mean Emo.

a reply to: FraggleRock
He probably has resting b!tch face.