Following the incident detailed below, I wrote this to share with friends. I realized, though, that other people might want to hear it and that it’s really quite relevant as a testimony to racial profiling in Hartford (and in general). So, here it is, in its unedited glory:
Last night, around 10 pm, Opton and I left Hartford for Queens. We passed a West Hartford PD car parked in the Deangelo’s parking lot on the way to the highway and he turned out on to the street behind us and followed us on to 84. About 15 seconds later, he pulled us over. Obviously Opton was going the speed limit; he’s Mr. Safety First. We both had our seatbelts on. He’d used his signals correctly. I couldn’t think of a legitimate reason for them to pull us over, and as my anxiety was building I looked over and saw a sort of resigned, knew-this-would-happen look on his face. The cop came up to the car and shined a flashlight directly into the car – on Opton’s lap, on his face, on mine, and told him that… you ready? The plastic frame around his license plate was obscuring the “Constitution State” on the bottom.
Yup. That plastic frame that nearly everyone has on their rear license plates. Go look at yours. Is it obscuring a bit of the bottom half of your license plate? Of course it is. It does that on nearly everyone’s vehicles. Other than that, the lights above his license plate were working and properly illuminating it, and the license number was completely visible.
He then collected his information, and asked for my identification.
He then asked Opton to get out of the vehicle.
He took Opton to the back of the car and began grilling him. Another cop car pulled up behind us. He had called for back-up. That officer came over to my side of the car and began grilling me. How do I know this man? Where did we meet? Where do I live? Where does he live? What does he do? What did I study in school? Where are we coming from? Where are we heading to? Remember now — the stated reason for being pulled over was the plastic frame on his license plate.
I find out later that he is being asked the same questions at this time.
Obviously, they were convinced that a white girl was being abducted by a black guy. They were trying to figure out whether he actually knew me or not.
After about a 15 minutes of questions, they had nothing left to ask us and no more reasons to detain us. They told him to “remove the frame around the license.” And they let us go.
I can’t say I’m surprised or shocked. But at the time it was the strangest feeling of reality truly matching my theoretical understanding of racism for the first time in my life. As a white girl, I’d never experienced a situation where racism seriously posed a threat first-hand. Last night I was terrified that my boyfriend was going to jail. And he would have if they’d searched the car — a friend of ours accidentally left his knife in Opton’s back seat. The knife didn’t have a latch — it was illegal, and we’d said that there were no illegal weapons in the car. We didn’t know our friend had left it there until Opton found it this morning. Insanely luckily, they did not search the car, but they could have easily contrived some bullshit pretense to do so. I mean, the reason we got pulled over to begin with is complete and total bullshit. (Side note: We have no rights. The police are the worst gang in town.)
I have been pulled over before — for actually doing something wrong. No one shined a flashlight in my face, and no one asked me to step out of the car. I didn’t even get a ticket.
I’m not telling you all this because it’s news to any of you. It shouldn’t be, and I know for most of you it isn’t. But it helps to have real-life experiences and stories from people you know to fuel the fire when it comes to anti-racist activism, so I decided to share this with you all.
Thanks for describing what black males such as myself experience on the regular. You hit the nail on the head when you described the cops as a gang – they’re the worst gangsters in America. If your boyfriend had talked back, which I tend to do when the cops mess with me, you may have witnessed something a lot worse.
David – I considered this as well. One has to be able to withstand humiliation, disrespect and blatant racism from the police in order NOT to be tasered, beat or arrested. If my boyfriend had mouthed off, I am positive they wouldn’t have let us go that night.
I wouldn’t recommend this approach for anyone else, but my attitude is that the cops will have to kill me – I’m going to say what I want.
Thanks for posting this Lauren. This kind of shit makes my blood boil….F’ing cops are nothing but cowards hiding behind a gun and a badge. Anyway, I’m glad you’re both okay, the situation could have ended much worse.
Nice, Lauren.
Who will police the police?
Good question. President Obama threw away a golden opportunity to address this issue during the Louis Gates controversy. The cops who harassed Lauren and her man exhibited behavior that is culturally acceptable within law enforcement – a Department of Justice report finds that the police are four times as likely to use force against blacks than whites.
And that’s a Dept. of Justice report… which means, in reality, that figure is probably at least double what they reported…
I’m from Windsor, CT and this kind of stuff would happen to my brother and his friends on the regular. He learned early as a teen that he and his friend weren’t safe in Manchester after dark.
And it doesn’t just happen to black men. My cousin, a friend of hers and I (all of us women, girls actually, of color) were pulled over my police in Montclair, NJ for no discernible reason and asked to step outside of the car.
Flashlights were shined in our faces and backup was called. I told the “officers” that as they could not site a violation and a reason for stopping us, I could not site a reason why three women would be forced to get out of the car, in the middle of the night or the side of the road.
The officer with the flashlight told me to “Watch my mouth.” I told him to watch me call my lawyer. They then let us go with a, “Be careful around here.”
Forgive me for not using my real name here. I always do when I post comments online. However, anonymity is important to me and others mentioned in my story, because we are addicts in recovery and there is still a huge stigma attached in our society to those who suffer from our disease. As a professional white woman in her fifties recovering from severe addiction, I have come to learn just how white privilege works and how I have repeatedly benefitted from it. As my addiction progressed, I used almost anywhere, from home to office to car. I cannot even count the number the times I drove while under the influence, risking my life and the lives of others. On several occasions, my erratic driving caused cops to pull me over. During each of these incidents I was never asked to step out of my car, I and my car were not searched (a simple glance through the windows would have revealed incriminating evidence), and I was either simply given a warning or a low-level traffic ticket, such as for turning right on a red light. Not so, I have learned, with fellow recovering addicts who are black. For similar violations, many of them were ordered out of their, cars, searched, and interrogated, and then usually ended up in jail. During my last “run,” in fact, I got away with murder (and if very easily could have been murder). I was high as a kite when pulled over for a six-month expired inspection sticker. When the officer also found out I was driving with a suspended license, he said, “I could arrest you on the spot, but I’ll just issue a summons. Go home and park your car and don’t drive it until you take care of this.” Meanwhile, evidence of my using sat next to me on the seat, having been covered over hastily with the pages of a newspaper. Now I hear reports weekly from recovering black addicts of what happened to them under similar, and often lesser circumstances. Let me just say, they were not simply let off, as I was, with a slap on the wrist. In fact, many of them with multiple years clean time still encounter the same treatment, often approached by police while simply sitting in parked cars in front of stores or friends’ houses, having their persons and vehicles searched from top to bottom, and insultingly interrogated. If they speak up to protest, they often get slapped with a summons or are promptly arrested. These reports are not isolated or limited to just a few. They are pretty much the norm.
I’m glad to see that people are discussing this racism issue. Particularly important I feel is that we are aware that racism against people of color is not confined to just hurting “Black” people. The more we in society are aware that racism against “Black” people negatively impacts everyone the quicker we as a country can end this approach to dealing with ourselves. My Gandmother who was white and dating a black man in the 1940s explained to me a lot about the racism she and my grandfather expereinced. I have written a book soon to be published called “RIKERS ISLAND theories on racism” which further explores racism in America as well as within our criminal justice system.
this is truly disgusting,the gang of pigs we call the police are perpetuating the cycle of racism, ignorance, and fear that is undermining everything we are “supposed” to stand for as a country.
I guess i never really thought about things like this happening to people i know, but it does happen, or rather, it did happen. It frustrates me to know that this kind of harassment and disrespect can continually happen to not just friends or people i know but all people of color.
I am terrified of the police whenever and wherever i am driving…i was recently pulled over by not 1 but THREE NYS police officers on a dark road…i am a white female and was driving ALONE… i had 2 officers shining lights in my vehicle, questioning me about whether the vehicle was actually MINE, if my license was in “good standing”, ect…i sat in the car terrified that i had done something wrong for 15 MINUTES until i was told that i just had a rear break light out and was given a sheet of paper to bring to an office to verify i had fixed the light in a timely manner. i can only imagine how things would have panned out if i was a woman of color…
and they didn’t ask ME to step out of the car.
f*ING PIGS. what a useless lot they are. =[
1. Sue the bastards.
2. If they ever ask to search your vehicle, DO NOT CONSENT. Anything they find after that is “fruit of the poisonous tree”, and is not admissable in court.
3.(Of course, it’s the best justice money can buy, etc etc but if you save up a little nut for filing expenses many lawyers will take your case on contingency. Also, get to know which reporters do muckracking).
If Lauren and Opton want I would be willing to email the West Hartford Police Department letting them know that I am aware they were being racist in pulling over a Black man for having his liscense plate partially covered.
Maybe if 10-15 people did it they’d feel a little bit more under the spot light.
Let me know if you would be willing to have people do this.
the West Hartford Police email is: police@westhartford.org
And there website is:
http://www.west-hartford.com/TownServices/TownDepartments/PoliceDept/PoliceDept.htm
Calling or picketing the WHPD might be an idea worth considering.
We are both more than willing to let people do this. At first I felt like it was pointless but it seems like we’d make more of an impact if other people helped.
ILGPNader, that is a great suggestion but I wouldn’t advice it at all. Do what they say, get out of the car, be polite and keep your hands in view. It can save your life. People get killed at the hands of police officers everyday. Not all police are criminals but there are some that are. Do as you are told.
I strongly disagree with advising anyone to consent to what they believe is an illegal search. As Lauren pointed out in her piece, her & Opton could have ended up in jail if the cops had found the knife that was in the vehicle. It’s a citizen’s right to refuse to consent to what they feel is an unjust search & make the cops get a warrant. An individual can deny the cops permission to search their car without becoming confrontational.
We have initiated a call to action campaign against the West Hartford Police. Details are in the’Commentary’ section. I also posted the link on my Facebook page.
Dear Ms. Lo Bue:
Racial profiling is a violation of both state law and Department policy. If you believe you were stopped solely on the basis of race, you may make a formal complaint. We get few complaints, but when we get them we take them seriously and we investigate them thoroughly.
If you prefer not to complain to my agency, you may instead contact the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney or the African American Affairs Commission.
James J. Strillacci
Chief of Police
West Hartford
Indeed, racial profiling is a serious violation of human rights. I would hope you’d take the issue seriously. I would also have hoped the officers who stopped us had been properly trained in regard to racial profiling and its deleterious effects on a community.
Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. As I’m sure you can see from my summary of the event, it is quite clear that racial profiling was the issue at hand that night.
I do NOT have the names of the officers who stopped us, an obstacle which initially deterred me from addressing this issue via “official” channels. However, I have been inspired by the passionate response this account has received to do just that, so you WILL be hearing from me shortly.
An individual who called Chief Strillacci yesterday just informed me that he called her back this morning & was quite rude to her on the phone, grilling her about her knowledge of this case. She did not ask for a call back, so he chose to initiate a confrontation. If Strillacci wants us to believe that he is sincere about making this right, I would advise him to show respect to those who call or email him to show support for Lauren & Opton.
Translation from Piggish to English:
“We’re aware of the law, and we break it anyway. Here’s a phone, call somebody who cares. If you want to press the issue, you’ll be hearing from us very soon.”
Fuck tha police
Comin straight from the underground
Young nigga got it bad cuz I’m brown
And not the other color so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority
Fuck that shit, cuz I ain’t tha one
For a punk muthafucka with a badge and a gun
To be beatin on, and throwin in jail
We could go toe to toe in the middle of a cell
Fuckin with me cuz I’m a teenager
With a little bit of gold and a pager
Searchin my car, lookin for the product
Thinkin every nigga is sellin narcotics
You’d rather see me in the pen
Then me and Lorenzo rollin in the Benzo
Beat tha police outta shape
And when I’m finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still can’t swallow bread and water
I don’t know if they f*** or what
Search a nigga down and grabbin his nuts
And on the other hand, without a gun they can’t get none
But don’t let it be a black and a white one
Cuz they slam ya down to the street top
Black police showin out for the white cop
KT will swarm
On any muthafucka in a blue uniform
Just cuz I’m from the Beat CT, punk police are afraid of me
A young nigga on a warpath
And when I’m finished, it’s gonna be a bloodbath
Of cops, dyin from here to L.A.
Yo Dre, I got somethin to say…
Fuck tha Police. Fuck, fuck, fuck tha police…
My guess is that once the complaint has been filed, not much (if anything) will be done to the offending officers. If that’s the case, the Town of West Hartford and it’s police dept. should know that we will not let this issue go until an acceptable resolution has been reached.
End Racial Profiling! Stop Police Harassment in our Communities!
P.S. Nice rhyme KT…except for the homophobia. All oppressions are linked!
I agree with Dave that we should continue to pursue this matter unil REAL justice has been achieved.
the rhyme is actually ice cubes verse from fuck tha police. thats just the way it reads, all i did was put my name in ice cubes place. i’m not at all homophobic.
Shout out to NWA… KT, We appreciate you making an effort to delete the offending word from the verse.
Matt- LOL at yer comment. Altho I usually hate referring to cops as “pigs”, “piggish” is funny as hell
hey idiots, having anything touching the ct license plate is a violation of ct motor vehicle law. and so isnt having anything hanging from your rear view mirror. say what you want that everyone has them, then everyone is breaking mv law.and im gunna say this, not everything is about race, so get off your high horses and stop thinking it is. if you were in violation of mv law, then you are in the wrong, no matter how you look at it. now lauren, would you be writing the same story if the officer that pulled you over were black? everyone hates cops, because cops call you out when in the wrong, but when something happens and you need help 911 is dialed, if cops are such cowards, dont call next time, handle it yourself if youre so high and mighty. again, not everything is about race, police do things like shine a flashlight in your face for safety reasons. most people look at other people and see exactly that, but obviously not you, you are the one noticing the difference in color.
*Jen also thinks the Native Americans were asking for it*
Wow, Jen, thanks for the enlightening perspective! You’ve really changed the way I feel about the situation!
LOL GTFO!
(Sorry; couldn’t help myself. Stupid comments require stupid responses.)
Yes, Jen, I would have said the same thing if the officers were black. Do you know why? No, I know you don’t know why. So I’m going to tell you. It is possible for all people to internalize racism and act in a racist manner. Racial profiling is not limited to white folks. It is sad, but absolutely not unheard of, for people of color to be cops, and indeed to be racist towards other people of color. Just as a woman can be sexist to other women, a black person can be racist.
Now, just for fun — I know I won’t make a difference at all by trying to talk sense into you. Let me ask you. Do you think it is truly normal to be asked to exit a vehicle because a license plate frame covers the “Constitute State” portion of the plate? Do you think 15 minutes of personal questions about how two people know one another are normal and acceptable because a license plate frame covers the “Constitute State” portion of the plate? Do you not think it more fitting to, say, tell a person that the license plate frame covers the “Constitute State” portion of the plate, while they are still in the car, and then let them go with a “Have a pleasant evening”? I realize we broke the law, oh noes, and committed the serious crime of NEVER NOTICING THERE WAS A PLATE ON THE LICENSE BECAUSE IT DOESN’T MATTER. We are totally disgusting, thank god the police caught us before we did even more damage. HOWEVER, given the events that unfolded following our atrocious crime, do you truly believe this is a normal response? Oh, and by the way, when the cops pulled behind us they were at an angle where they could NOT SEE THE LICENSE PLATE. They could only see the occupants of the car. Hmm. But this is not about race.
P.S. Extra LOL points for the “noticing the difference in color” comment. I love living in a such a “post-race,” colorblind society…
Check out a piece that I wrote in March about police misconduct http://hartfordimc.org/2009/03/19/certified-gangstas/
How do you know you were stopped because Opton was black? It sounds like you were unhappy with the reason you were stopped and just assumed it had to be racism. I think if this were true racism and police misconduct as you described, a ticket would have been written for the license plate frame to really stick it to him. I would think that a cop that is racist would not stop at shining a light in your eyes to satisfy his prejudicial hunger.
Further, it is common practice for the police to stop and question people. It’s their job. Every now and then, good people get stopped and questioned for a variety of reasons. In those cases they are free to go after the determination has been made that they are good people and there is no criminal activity present…kinda like your situation.
Like it or not, proactive police activity, such as the type your were involved in, has led to the arrests of so many dangerous criminals. It is a very necessary function of effective police work and is not going to go away. Innocent people will continue to get stopped and freed and criminals will continue to get stopped and arrested.
Based upon the account you provided of the incident, your persecution of the West Hartford Police Department is coming from a place of disdain for the reason you were stopped rather than actual racism. Other than opinion, I saw nothing in your account that concretely, or even vaguley, showed any form of racism whatsoever on the Officer’s behalf.
It’s okay to be frustrated with your encounter but when you start dragging people through the mud with nothing but opinion to back yourself up, you have become just as guilty and unfair as people that you are trying to make the police look like.
As an American you are entitled to due process and the free expression of your opinion. Best of luck.
John,
I think your response best typifies how we as whites often deal with racism: “If you can’t prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that an act was solely based on race–then you can’t accuse anyone of being racist.” Accusing a white person of racism has taken on the added burden of being able to mindread.
Of course we know that in every institution racism and disparities abound.
1. If you are a person of color you are much more likely to live in an area where there is more pollution, and pollution producing facilities.
2. If you are white you are much less likely to go to jail even if you commit the same crime.
3. If you you are black you are much more likely to get the death penalty than a white person even if you commit the same crime.
and on and on.
One problem here (and there is tons of research on this) is that most whites know well enough to deny that we are acting as racists (hence the most common of cliches:…”I don’t see color”). So when whites are asked straight up: “Are you racist?” we say “no.” But when given simulated situations where we are shown images of a Black man with a comb and a White man with a comb, we are much quicker to think that the black man’s comb is a gun. No wonder you see Blacks being killed by the police for doing nothing wrong — yet not so common with whites. In the end, White people’s beliefs about race turn out to be much different than what we would claim in public.
So what do we do about West Hartford (and the entire country for that matter) having a problem with racism? We know (just as Obama pointed out) that people of color are being pulled over and arrested way more frequently than whites are. Is that okay?
This is where the rubber meets the road. Now it’s time for us as whites to say: “nope. This is a fact and it’s not okay and we’re going to do something about it.” Can I hear you John, join with me and say–we won’t allow this to happen anymore?
Once whites take this on as OUR issue and all agree that it is wrong and agree that we will get involved to make sure it doesn’t happen anymore, than we we finally begin to more forward on this whole business of racism.
Will you step up John?
Yup John, I was real unhappy with the reason why we were stopped. And I’m also real unhappy that you are convinced that the “reason” we were stopped justifies the officers asking questions of a personal nature regarding how two people know one another. I asked the same question of Jen, the previous commenter (who was, albeit, much less respectful than you are): Can you honestly tell me that you think a license plate frame that blocks the “Constitute State” part of a license is an acceptable premise to ask someone to exit a vehicle on a busy highway and interrogate people about personal matters that have nothing to do with license plates or even the CAR at all? Honestly?
You seem convinced that I’m just stuck on how stupid the reason for being pulled over was. You fail to see that this is the whole point: the reason was contrived. It wasn’t a legitimate reason. It was the stated reason, because officers need to give a reason for detaining you. However, the real reason obviously has nothing to do with license plate frames. Unfortunately, I cannot change the lens through which you view the situation.
Also — “Jen,” or Officer Jen Zanardi of the West Hartford Police Department — I don’t think it’s acceptable for you to be commenting on this issue. Especially not beginning with, “Hey idiots.”
You should be more careful with posting offensive comments on duty, especially if you’re going to use your email address to post, which is your full name.
860/523-2002 ext. 8305
Is that your number? Just wondering, in case I’ll need it later.
John and Jen: The fact that the car may have been in violation of the motor vehicle law doesn’t resolve this question. It is well established by many court decisions that a police stop can only be as invasive as is required by the violation or possible crime that caused the stop. Thus, if police see a car driving erratically, they may (and should) make sure the driver is not drunk, drugged, etc. However, if police see a non-arrestable equipment violation, all they can do is check license and registration, inform the driver of the violation, insure that the vehicle is safe to be on the road, and issue a ticket. In Lauren and Opton’s case, it’s not even constitutional for them to order the driver or the passenger out of the car.
This is addressed to Jon and jen who are doubting the issue and ill just say that this is not this first time i have been pulled over and harassed on the basis of the color of my skin. The fact of the matter is the officer LIED to me. This is why. I passed the officer at a perpendicular angle whereas the officer can only see the passangers much less the frame covering my licence plate. Second, all parts of my licence plate including the frame that holds it on the car makes all parts visible. All the numbers, the part that says constitution state and all. I knew he was going to pull out and follow me after passing because a young black man whith a white woman in the car is an easy target. Where is the high horse when we are in constant fear of being innocent? He pulled behind me and only then could he see the frame on the licence plate. Once i gave him the proper information he continued to harass me. This type of harassment reminds me how white police officers are doing their best to keep black people and other minorities out of west hartford. I knew this was the case before I got harassed. Listen jen, its always about race. Do you think 40 years after 400 years of slavery and segregation can fix all race problems? Do you think just because we have a mixed race president the problems have been cleaned? Meanwhile i have some white friends that get away with driving drunk with no licence. I wish i could make this stuff up. I believe the police are trained to BE racist since they obviously cant see the problems at hand.
One thing to add to this situation. I drive home on 84W everyday. And over the last 6 or 9 months, I’ve noticed almost weekly, WH cops with people pulled over on the side of the highway, just up from this same exit. And it just so happens, the people were almost always black or Hispanic.
Makes you wonder even more!
I was held up on a street in NYC 40 years ago and went to court because one of the people was arrested.
Waiting to testify, I got into a conversation with a cop who went on at length about the ugliness he saw (an 80-year old woman raped, among other things).
What I realized then, and has been proven over and over, is that cops’ views of the world are spectacularly skewed, even if they are not racist.
What makes this worse is that the people training and overseeing them do not seem to do anything about teaching them how unrealistic their perspective is—that most of the people they see in their job, including the people they may confront, are regular folks, not dangerous criminals.
I stopped to watch an arrest taking place here in Portland, OR, some years ago and was approached by a cop who wanted to know if I would have reported a crime being committed if I had seen it, or if I was only interested in checking on the cops. He was very angry that I was watching (I was on my way to work at the time).
There is a huge us/them gap that racism only reinforces.
I have lived in Portland for almost thirty years and have seen people of color killed by the police numerous times, including a boy being shot in the back while running away from police. He was not known to have committed any crime.
Anyone who thinks that what happened to Lauren and Opton wasn’t racist is in serious denial.