You really have to understand that the police really target minorities for arrest and detention. It is totally intentional. They see a black or brown driver and they look for a reason to stop your car. I heard a black cop from LAPD describe the way they operate against blacks and Latinos:

• The first objective is to find an excuse to stop you. Assume it’s a broken taillight.
• Second, they want a reason to get you out of the car.
• Third, they want to find a reason to stick you with a felony arrest so they find an excuse to search your car.
• Finally, if they don't find a reason to take you in they "let you go" without a ticket, without a warning, without paperwork, period. Because we don't understand the game the tendency would be to feel like the cop gave you a break. He didn't. He doesn't want you to have a reason to fix the broken taillight. It will make it easier for some other cop to stop you in the future when maybe you'll have a weapon, drugs, alcohol in the passenger compartment or any other reason to generate a felony arrest.

So, if you drive black or brown, don't ever think you are safe. A reasonable level of paranoia is healthy.

Some of the rules outlined below may seem trite and obvious. However, you can visit thousands of unfortunate black and brown people in the courts or jails on trumped up charges, others that are carrying scars of police beatings or are in the morgues and cemeteries around the country. Many of these are people who encountered the police because of one or more violations of these rules. The intent is to avoid any cause for police-initiated contact. The items listed are the main excuses the police use to justify stops. If you are not stopped you won't need to worry about a contact that escalates to your becoming victim to arrest, harassment, beating or murder. And remember, if Rodney King had not become a celebrity he would have been charged with assault on the police and resisting arrest.

One of my favorite movies is "And Justice for All..." Those of you who saw the movie may remember the poor white boy who had been in jail for over six months because he had the same name as a fugitive. Clearly he was misidentified. But he was caught in the system. He had originally been stopped by the police because he had a busted taillight. In this pathetic case, this innocent boy was held with hardened criminals for six months, raped and eventually killed because he could not take what was happening to him. So this is no joke. Driving while black is dangerous and those of us who do it routinely must be very careful.

If you are stopped by the police your primary objective is to end contact alive. Not getting a ticket is secondary. Remember, the cop you encounter may simply be afraid of you. It doesn't matter if racism or experience motivates the fear. It's just as real and potentially deadly for you. You want to avoid capture, harassment, extended searches and violent physical contact. If you realize that you may be dealing with a deranged, hateful, racist individual that does not value your humanity, you will behave in a way that is consistent with a desire for survival. If he kills you his motivation doesn't matter. You are just as dead. If you survive, you can always call Johnnie Cochran later.

Whenever you drive while black follow these rules: 

These rules will not assure your safety. They will help to lessen you contacts with police. Just remember, if you are not white you are several times more likely to have negative experiences with cops. Too often we find ourselves protesting some horrible police murder of some poor black or Latino. The cops simply claim they were in some form of danger and fire away. The only time they are in any jeaprody of being prosecuted is if the do something so egregious that the system must act. (Like the Louima case in Brooklyn where the cop bragged about sodomizing the victin with a broken broom handle.) This must stop. The one thing we ordinary citizens can do is be observers. Whenever you see brothers being stopped you can simply park a safe distance away and observe. Take pictures, if you like. You may be saving the poor brother's life.

Sign Our Guestbook!