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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf you're white you're a customer, if you're black you're trespassing
I can only quote four paragraphs, but this is really disturbing. They talk about one African American man who was stopped 250 times for tresspassing at the place where he actually worked, and 60 of those times he ended up arrested.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/if-youre-white-youre-customer-if-youre-black-youre-trespassing
According to Grand Rapids police officials, the signed letter allows officers to stop and arrest people for trespassing at the business in question even while the business is open whenever the officer thinks the person is on the property without a legitimate business purpose. In other words, cops are given unrestricted discretion to decide who does and does not belong on the property of an open business, without ever talking to the business owner or any employee to find out why the person is on the property, how long theyve been there, and whether the person is welcome on the premises.
Which raises the question: How can Grand Rapids patrol officers possibly know who is and is not a trespasser without first determining whether the business has authorized the person to be there?
The short answer is: They cant. But if the business has a No Trespass Letter on file, police officers are given carte blanche to make that very judgment.
The results have been predictably disturbing.
JustAnotherGen
(31,973 posts)Would probably be happy to have this in its entirety here.
ETA - Neither the Miami Gardens' nor the Grand Rapids' police departments should be shocked if their employers (the citizens of their communities) turn against them.
^K^I^C^K