Profiling In Action: Don't Taze Me Bro!
 

So I got up early this morning and drove into town to the local hardware store, (not Home Depot or Lowes, just a small local store), to get a bunch of supplies I need for some projects I have going on around here. But they weren't open yet. I didn't have any idea when they opened, so I just took a shot. Wanted to get this stuff early to make the most of my day.

When I got there, of course the doors were still locked because they weren't open yet. So I did the typical hand cup around the eyes thing and was peering through the glass to see if I could see any employees milling about, like maybe they were going to open soon. This store just happens to be next to the local Cop Shop.

All the sudden I hear the all too familiar sound of the single temp flick of the siren. Cop.

He comes over and asks me what I'm doing there. I told him I was just there to get some supplies, but they weren't open yet. He tells me I have to leave. I said, "I've done nothing wrong, they just aren't open yet. I think they're getting ready to open up, I see some people in there." He tells me again that I have to leave. So I asked him why? He says he knows I'm "up to no good" [because] "you tattooed freaks are always causing trouble around here" and if I don't leave I'd be arrested for trespassing.

I said, I'm not a freak, I'm 43 and I just need some hardware. At which point he puts his hand on his taser (he never actually took it out) and it's looking like things are about to go really bad. I step back a bit cuz I'm wiggin' out over how aggressive this guy is, and tell him, "Hey man, don't taze me bro!" half seriously and half joking, trying to inject some humor into the situation. And then like some miracle, this young girl clerk opens the door for business, says 'Good Morning!' to both of us, and the whole thing is instantly diffused. (this all happened in a matter of seconds? seems longer when typed out, but it went really fast)

Fuck.... cops jumpy much these days? I didn't do a fucking thing wrong. He saw tattoos and assumed I was trying to break in or something. Guess next time I need to wear long sleeves and a turtleneck to hide my skin colors. But it raises a question for me.... if I had gone out wearing plaid golf pants, a sweater and white old-man loafers, would he have even stopped at all? I doubt it. I should've gotten his badge number, but at that point I just wanted the asshole out of my life and to go in and buy my shit.

And so, once again I am given yet another reason to not trust the po-po. Trigger happy cowboys with a badge.

On a completely separate note, the cops tased a guy in Vallejo just last night, and he was killed by it. The guy in question actually was combative and resisting and all that, and had coke in the house (according to the police)?. but the point here is, these fucking tasers need to stop being pushed on the public as "Non-Lethal", because it's a lie. They are lethal in many instances. My advice is, if you're ever facing a potential tasering, treat it like a loaded gun. It might just kill you. A loaded gun is "Non-Lethal" too if you don't hit any vital organs. This bullshit taser PR campaign must end.

Jesus, cops must stop using it like toy, it kills god damn

Power Tripping ...

Fucking hate cops that try and pull that bullshit where you're guilty of something you don't even have any intent to commit...

That's why tazers should be replaced with bullwhips.

Make it more interesting for the audience. Dancing is a hell of a lot more amusing than twitching.

Is the tazer for their self defence or some sort of compliance tool?

I went to the cinema yesterday and saw "Clockwork Orange" for like the third time.

One of the thoughts that came to my mind is how silly and primitive people are with their prejudices and "judging" others.

They're so sheep, it's so easy to manipulate them just the way you look or talk - like last Sunday I was wearing a Toten Hosen t-shirt with a skeleton on it (german Punk Rock Band), a spiky hair (not that I'd use gel or something but it just happened that way once I left the shower in the morning), black trousers and went to a douchegay shopping center to buy flowers for my sister, of course I was turning metro heads, anyway I walked in, made them quite a deal and once I'm leaving I could only hear those two women mumbling bullshit about my appearance, like if they were seriously offended.

The fact is if I dressed sharp and walked into the same store an hour ago I'd be able to talk them to sign with the devil.

Some people are so square it's unbelievable.

Fucked up story man.

They tell the public it's to be used as self-defense for the officer, but that is not how they use them in practice.

Didn't the store have their hours posted on their window so you could at least show the cop that they were opening soon?

Yeah, they did. I told him there were people in there... all the lights were on, it was obvious they were about to open. Can't imagine why any cop would think I was going to attempt to break in to a store full of employees.

are u hispanic? thats fucked up shit! id file with his sargeant playa :helpme

I'm not hispanic, but it is a very hispanic area. I was wearing a sleeveless yellow shirt that had "Cabo San Lucas, Mexico" in big letters on the back. (a Corona beer shirt I got in Cabo)

I've been in restaurants and other public places many times and seen women "shielding" their children from me as I go by. Like I'm just going to snatch them up and run or something. It happens so often I've become indifferent to it.

go to the police department and see if they have pictures hanging of all the officers that work in the department (most departments have these in the lobby), figure out his name then go and ask to speak to a sergeant and file a formal complaint against him, don't make it a verbal complaint make sure they fill out paper work..

hehehe... I know that's probably the right thing to do, but there is no way in hell I'm walking into a police station of my own free will to accuse one of their own.

I've gotten a gun to the back of my head, not once, but twice in the past 3 months in my city... Each time, because I apparently "matched the description" of a suspect. Both times within a block of my house... I try to have respect for police... but when they try so hard not to do their jobs, and spend time hassling people like me, doing their own thing... It becomes a test.

Thats why they invented certified mail :winkwink:

maybe u look like a tweeker to him (meth)

wow thats kinda fucked up

you have to remember, most of these badge wearing fruits are programmed to see tattoos, piercings or anything out of the norm as danger.

sounds like he didn't have his daily allotment of donuts

http://www3.sympatico.ca/ron666/mininodonut.jpg

http://rlv.zcache.com/bad_cop_no_don...03t5tr_400.jpg

i see it this way its your life thats on the line. Thats what happens cops relax then they end up dead. id have my gun in my hand at all time fuck a taser.

Well, I don't think I do.... you be the judge. Do I look like a tweaker? I snapped this pic 5 minutes ago:

http://brokenzombie.com/junk_bin/gfy/amp001.jpg

never was a fan of half assed tattoos :) nice work

That's nuts,

Fortunately, police here is pretty much laid down

Seriously I've never ever had any serious incident with them, always very cool and professional, expats living here only confirm that

thats sum kool tats! im sure he asked if you were on probation or parole. :helpme aryan brotherhood perhaps :1orglaugh

nice tats

So am I...as he looks like an ex con. And maybe he is.

I am not an ex-con, I am not now nor have ever been on parole, I have never been a tweaker, and I most certainly have never been a part of the Aryan Brohood, the KKK, or any other hate group. I have no criminal record of any kind, aside from being arrested a few times for brawling. (EDIT: a very long time ago)

well no shit you are a scary looking / troublemaker type

no offense but you do look like a criminal/drug user/pusher/thief

i can't blame the cop. you do draw attention

not saying you get in trouble but when u wear tats like that they carry stereotypes. just like saying all blacks eat watermelon. or people with wall tats have done prison time.

Alright, but if I was gonna rob a store, I wouldn't do it in the morning light 5 minutes before they're going to open up for business, across the street from the Cop Shop. Maybe he also thought I was retarded.

I didn't think you were an ex con...but you fit the stereotype...so I can understand why you would draw the attention of a cop. They are trained through experience to "profile".

q f t

man someone that needs that fix bad would. he doesn't know you. ive seen some crazy shit. ive seen a liquor store get robbed from a drive thru :1orglaugh wasn't funny at the time tho. :helpme

This is the life my son gets to go through as well. I tried to warn him off when he was young, but he didn't listen. He's actually got more tattoo work than me now. And he's already found out... mainstream society will forever see him differently because of it.

Thanks Carlos :)

I still have a ways to go... need some blending in places and some second coat filler on about 3 inches of the inside of my left arm and knuckles.

None of this is true. If you find someone like amp scary looking, you're doing something wrong.

He doesn't look like a criminal/drug user/pusher or thief. He looks like a guy with tattoo's. Many people have tattoo's. Some are more elaborate than others, and this "omg he has a tattoo he is a criminal" mindset means you are stuck in 1930.

I do blame the cop. Profiling someone based on their looks is a terrible way to do things, because most "bad looking" people aren't bad. Where I live, "criminal/drug user/pusher/thief" would mean he would weigh 50 pounds, have toothpick limbs, and be dressed in ripped and torn up clothes. He would also probably be mumbling, stumbling around, and have no teeth.

Amp is to well fed/inked to be a user. Tattoo's and food aren't cheap. He also wouldn't walk around looking like that if he was in fact a pusher or a thief. Those kinds of people around here tend to blend in and not stand out.

wow, check out the stereotyping in here.

Prejudice sucks.

I seriously dont know how I would have reacted. Probably in a similar way "I'm just waiting for them to open, officer, thanks." But I dont have tatoo's or whatever, so would they even have cared? Who the hell knows, I bet they wouldnt.

Just like if you drive a red sportscar on a highway, you ARE going to be pulled over. It's pretty much in cops dna to pull over red sports cars. Shouldnt matter.. does matter.

This is bullshit. Amp doesn't look any more like an ex con than I do. None of his tattoos look like shitty jailhouse tats or have any Aryan Brotherhood markings. They look like well-done body art and he looks like a regular guy.

It's pretty pathetic that people who happen to look different than the "norm" but act like responsible citizens get harassed but real crooks like Bernie Madoff and Enron execs don't get a sideways glance while they're robbing people blind.