I understand that one more opinion on Ferguson, MO will make no difference but I can actually speak from experience unlike most chiming in. I walked that neighborhood a hundred times plus as a meter reader for the local gas utility. As a middle aged white guy I walked the streets, yards and sidewalks of that town on a monthly basis. I can honestly say that never once was I in fear for my safety. I was greeted and accepted the same as even the most affluent areas in the St. Louis County area. I was never threatened, yelled at, intimidated or frowned at. I was in a unique situation where on my monthly routes I could observe life and how it went about its business. What I did see in this and other predominantly African American neighborhoods was the difference in police response to situations. Domestic situations were always handled in a much more heavy handed way in the black neighborhoods. Young black men were often questioned while handcuffed while their white suburban counterparts in similar situations were not. The number of officers responding was generally much heavier when dealing with situations in black neighborhoods as compared to white neighborhoods. Groups of black teens hanging out were often met with a sudden increase of slow rolling patrol cars going by. Rarely was this the case in white neighborhoods. These are simply my observations as a visitor to every neighborhood in St. Louis. I share these observations due to the unfair characterizations I see by some of the Ferguson area. I feel the people protesting in a peaceful way have every right to vent about what they see as unfairly weighted police response in most situations in their neighborhood. This is their community and they have every right to question things that have to do with that community. That being said, ask anyone in St. Louis if they were going to be pulled over who they would prefer it be and 90 percent of the time they will say St. Louis County Police (Which is different than the Ferguson police force which the original incident involved). They are even handed, respectful and in most cases do live up to the motto Protect and Serve. This situation has been a strain on all parties involved and it has shown in the images of police clad in SWAT gear pointing guns at reporters and peaceful protesters. Those calling for a de-escalation are right. We need to walk this back to keep anyone else from getting hurt. The point has been made and a complete investigation into the shooting death will occur. Time for a peaceful period so that cooler heads can prevail and come up with solutions. Soapbox dismounted.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 00:39:38 +0000
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