Agreed. However, it could be also that a.) black and brown skinned people are not in the minority where the stops are made, b.) that they reek of marijuana or alcohol, or cannot provide identification, leading to c.) cause to investigate, during which d.) contraband is found on their person. Just not believing cops think “Hey, there’s a black guy. I think I’ll go put my life on the line to search his car, just to see what I find.”
> Just not believing cops think “Hey, there’s a black guy. I think I’ll go put my life on the line to search his car, just to see what I find.” <
It’s rare, but it does happen. And when it does, the victim tells his family. And they tell others. And so the public’s trust in the police is eroded even further.
A municipality near me made a habit of that. Their cops had an innocent-sounding code phrase they’d say on the police radio when a black driver was spotted in their jurisdiction.
And so the car was followed. Any minor infraction - real or imagined - would get the car pulled over. Then came the “I smell the odor of marijuana” and a search. All this came out only after one of the cops beat up one of the drivers.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about all cops. A few bad ones, however, can ruin the reputation of the entire profession.
“I smell marijuana”
‘course you do, the guy ahead of me was smoking it and the scent wafted in my car’
I got pulled over the other day for a minor license plate violation. The trooper told me he was recording me.
That’s OK, I was recording him too.
Always record the police.
Typically making the stop and then seeing the firearms or drugs sitting on the dashboard or some such. Not a "search" as such.