Law Forum : Why Should Black Youths Take Training To Deal With Cops?

[Destee]

Why Should Black Youths Take Training To Deal With Cops?

by Darrell Dawsey

May 18th, 2012, 2:55 PM

The local NAACP appears to be set to take a more serious stance on the mass—and often racially disproportionate—incarcerations that have been devastating communities and families across the nation for decades.

On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to noon, "Stops and Cops: A Youth Survival Guide for Police Encounters" will bring together police officers, judges, defense attorneys and young people, ages 16 to 21. Cops and youths will act out real-life encounters, including traffic stops, street confrontations and the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

More than 200 young people will evaluate and discuss what they see. Everyone will get a wallet-sized card with 10 tips for handling police encounters.

"You can be respectful but also understand that you have some rights," Melvin Butch Hollowell, general counsel of the Detroit Branch NAACP, told me Wednesday. "We don't want our young people to make mistakes that stop their careers before they start."

Why should our children have to walk around with business cards containing 10-point programs on handling police encounters? Why can’t the same U.S. Constitution the covers everyone else be enough to ensure safety and fair treatment of young people in Detroit, too? Why can’t it be enough that these young men and women are American citizens, their parents taxpayers, all of them deserving of being “protected and served?” Why can’t police officers, the ones who are trained and paid to interact with these young people, be the ones held to the higher standard?


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Destee

 

[Kemetstry]

Because they have a badge which gives them the legal right to shoot the gun they carry




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[Shikamaru]

Why Should Black Youths Take Training To Deal With Cops?

by Darrell Dawsey

May 18th, 2012, 2:55 PM

The local NAACP appears to be set to take a more serious stance on the mass—and often racially disproportionate—incarcerations that have been devastating communities and families across the nation for decades.

Why should our children have to walk around with business cards containing 10-point programs on handling police encounters? Why can’t the same U.S. Constitution the covers everyone else be enough to ensure safety and fair treatment of young people in Detroit, too? Why can’t it be enough that these young men and women are American citizens, their parents taxpayers, all of them deserving of being “protected and served?” Why can’t police officers, the ones who are trained and paid to interact with these young people, be the ones held to the higher standard?


Click Here To Read Entire Article




Destee

Black youth, particularly black males, need not just learn the rules of engagement when handling law enforcement, but they need to go as far as learning criminal and civil procedure, booking procedures, and more.

Technically, the US Constitution doesn't cover people. It covers government in which primarily to limit its powers. An individual's rights come from the Creator, not a piece of paper.

You have no rights unless you can articulate, utilize, and ultimately defend them.

Police encounters have to be handled with a level head as well as adjusting to the various scenarios that could arise. Furthermore, the community needs to become educated as to the power of juries and jury nullification.
Ultimately, the community needs to begin leveraging the ballot box more for how they desire their community to be governed and not just to elect candidates for office.

I believe the electorate can propose legislation .

I keep harping to study law, but .... study law!! Start forming groups to begin studying and research.

 

[Shikamaru]

Some good rules of thumb are:

- Answer very few if any questions with a straight answer. I personally would only provide identification and give my name. That's it. The reason for this is the legal maxim "Admission trumps evidence".
- You have the right of inquiry. I like to answer questions with a question.
- You are always free to ask at anytime, "Am I free to go".
- You are free to decline a search of your vehicle or person when asked.
- Be courteous, but be firm in defending your rights.
- I like answering questions with, "I answer your question with silence".

Police encounter situations are much more complicated than this with various nuances.

It is worthy of study and role play.

Officer: "Identification, please."
Answer: <provides ID>

O: "What's your name?"
A: "Chuck Jones."

O: "What's your address?"
A: "It's there on the card."

O: "What's your birth date?"
A: "It's there on the card."

O: "How old are you?"
A: "I answer with silence." or <remain silent>

I, personally, know guys that won't provide identification and won't even give a name, but you need to know what you are doing and how to handle it all the way up through arrest, booking, and court IF it comes to that.

 

[Shikamaru]

O: "Do you know how fast you were going?"
A: "Am I being asked to make a legal determination, officer?"