Massachusetts Court Rules Black Men May Have Good Reason To Flee Police

a reply to: JDeLattre89

So from a law enforcement perspective this is really no big deal. Haven't had many encounters with the police myself, and just was assuming that running from police was enough. I know in my area if someone runs, the officer usually chases them. Do you think this might affect how resisting charges are given?

To most officers it is not going to affect them, although you do have the few 'cowboy cops' who live for that type of thing. But even those tend to eventually grow out of it.

But the vast majority of cops you see chasing someone has a reason, such as the three I listed prior. If you run, and I don't have another reason to chase you, then I am not going to.

As for criminals being able to run and nobody chase them? I did not interpret it that way. If a cop witnesses a crime or has a warrant and the suspect runs, then yes the chase is on and there will be resistance charges.

a reply to: JDHellraiser


"The Boston Police Department’s record of bias against black men means that innocent black men may have legitimate reasons to flee from officers, according to a Tuesday ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. "

I don't understand why some members are attempting to twist and spin this issue. There is no permission to flee police, but there is good reason to. There is proven bias against black men. Period.


Here's an article from VOX last month from another large US city.

Baltimore cops stopped an innocent mid-50s black man 30 times in less than 4 years
•Aug 10, 2016, 9:01a

African Americans accounted for 95 percent of the 410 individuals stopped at least ten times by BPD officers from 2010–2015. During this period, BPD stopped 34 African Americans at least 20 times and seven other African Americans at least 30 times. No person of any other race was stopped more than 12 times. One African-American man in his mid-fifties was stopped 30 times in less than four years. The only reasons provided for these stops were officers’ suspicion that the man was “loitering” or “trespassing,” or as part of a “CDS investigation.” On at least 15 occasions, officers detained the man while they checked to see if he had outstanding warrants. Despite these repeated intrusions, none of the 30 stops resulted in a citation or criminal charge.

www.vox.com...

There IS a problem in many cities and that's a FACT.