Apparently, sitting in the car while black is just as much a crime as driving while black:
NEW YORK (AP) — A white police officer was disciplined for acting "in a discourteous manner" when he confronted a black motorist who turned out to be one of the highest-ranking commanders in the New York City Police Department, an agency spokesman said Saturday.
Chief Douglas Zeigler, the head of the NYPD's Community Affairs Bureau and the highest uniformed black officer on the force, was off duty and sitting in his department-issued sport utility vehicle on a street in the borough of Queens on May 2 when two white police officers approached.
The encounter turned testy, and one of the officers tried to wrest open Zeigler's door, even after the three-star chief had identified himself, police spokesman Paul Browne said.
The story goes on to to quote a police spokesman, who said that the officer dealt with the chief "in a discourteous manner, which is unacceptable." And not too bright, either, not even for hard-working, white-American policemen.
Comments
At least I KNOW what I did (wrong) when I say "Oops"...
;)
B.G.
Seems to me that dealing with ANYONE in a discourteous manner is unacceptable.
A couple of decades ago, they replaced the military-style uniforms of campus police at an Ohio university with slacks and blazers, with a badge on the pocket. Undoubtedly, there was a change in management which resulted in the change of uniform, but a year later, the campus newspaper surveyed students, and the students thought the campus police were more courteous and helpful.
The local daily saw that survey, and decided to follow up, by surveying the cops. Turns out the cops thought that the civilian professional uniform was a good idea, too. Students were more cooperative, and the cops felt a lot less stressed.
Like I said, it didn't happen in a vacuum - but I'd like to see what would happen if all cops, not just detectives, dressed like professionals rather than like storm-troopers.
You're always going to have bad cops. There was a teenaged girl in the general Fort Wayne area who was raped and killed in November 1960, the victim of a deputy sheriff. The sheriff knew, but the deputy was never charged with a crime; he never even had to deal with public humiliation. Cops protect bad cops, which is bad enough in itself, but that discourages good men from entering the field, which is even worse.
Having worked in NYC, I can honestly say that I cannot recall meeting a "New Yawker" who knew what "courteous" meant.
The feminization of American society continues ...