I was just in an altercation with the police. A couple of - TopicsExpress



          

I was just in an altercation with the police. A couple of images caught my attention and being the photographer I am, I went to shoot them. It was in Georgetown at the railroad tracks by Albro Place. Now I knew it was a danger going on to the live tracks and that it would also pose confusion and concern to any oporator if I were in the center of the area, so I hung off on the side of the tracks. All of a sudden, a shot that I have been after for months presents itself, a moving train. So, I walked alongside the tracks to put myself into position between two bridges for lighting and perspective. Then as the train pulls into focus a cop jumps out on my and starts screaming. Knowing that I am neither breaking any law nor am I posing any danger to anyone, I continued shooting my shot until he crept up behind me and I had finished. The cop commenced to yelling at me because I was in my headphones. As I took off my headphones I told him that I could hear him and that he no longer needed to yell. He continued to yell so, I told him that he needef to speak to me in a calm and respectable manner. He again, yelled at me claiming that he was not yelling at me. Thus, I calmly repeated my statement, but with more conviction. He then attempted to quiet his tone as he began to recognize that I was not just some ignorant black kid, as he commanded me to give him my identification. I think this was a violation of my civil liberties, but I am not as clear on those laws yet. However, even if I was trespassing, which was not posted anywhere, it still did not warrent the treatment I received. Anyhow, not knowing the laws (a weakness on my part) I let him run my name. That was the end of it. Yet, now and especially given my research into the School-to-Prison Pipeline, I wonder would this altercation have even occurred had I not been a person of color? And had I been any closer to my juvenile record, how much so would that have escalated the situation? The cop jumped out of his vehicle with preconceived notions of who I was and coupled with the training he has received he commenced to treat me like a piece of trash; this is wrong?
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 19:11:48 +0000

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