I've read the columns of Mr. Charles Blow from time to time and with exception, he is convinced the entire country is nothing but a massive action to suppress black people. Now I did find this article eye-catching because he claims outrage when his son was detained by Yale Police at gunpoint during the search for a burglary or robber on campus. I saw "burglary or robbery" because I've read articles listing both crimes.
Library Visit, Then Held at GunpointOk Mr. Blow, hate to tell you this, but it's not safe out there, with things like that campus rape epidemic going on. What seems to not be in dispute is your son matched the description of a felony suspect. Now what we don't know is your son's size vs the officer's. If your son is a linebacker, 6-4, 260 and the female officer is 5-4, 120 soaking wet is there a size/strength difference? Yes, in case you haven't figured it out. Now, the officer is taking a possibly felon into custody by herself, she has questions to ask. Is this him? Is he armed? Can he take get a swing on me before I can react? Very serious questions. If you want to know why, I'll show you an example of what an unarmed man can do to an armed police officer.
Charles Blow: At Yale, the Police Detained My Son
Saturday evening, I got a call that no parent wants to get. It was my son calling from college — he’s a third-year student at Yale. He had been accosted by a campus police officer, at gunpoint!
This is how my son remembers it:
He left for the library around 5:45 p.m. to check the status of a book he had requested. The book hadn’t arrived yet, but since he was there he put in a request for some multimedia equipment for a project he was working on.
Then he left to walk back to his dorm room. He says he saw an officer “jogging” toward the entrance of another building across the grounds from the building he’d just left.
Then this:
“I did not pay him any mind, and continued to walk back towards my room. I looked behind me, and noticed that the police officer was following me. He spoke into his shoulder-mounted radio and said, ‘I got him.’
“I faced forward again, presuming that the officer was not talking to me. I then heard him say, ‘Hey, turn around!’ — which I did.
“The officer raised his gun at me, and told me to get on the ground.
“At this point, I stopped looking directly at the officer, and looked down towards the pavement. I dropped to my knees first, with my hands raised, then laid down on my stomach.
“The officer asked me what my name was. I gave him my name.
“The officer asked me what school I went to. I told him Yale University.
“At this point, the officer told me to get up.”
The officer gave his name, then asked my son to “give him a call the next day.”
My son continued:
“I got up slowly, and continued to walk back to my room. I was scared. My legs were shaking slightly. After a few more paces, the officer said, ‘Hey, my man. Can you step off to the side?’ I did.”
The officer asked him to turn around so he could see the back of his jacket. He asked his name again, then, finally, asked to see my son’s ID. My son produced his school ID from his wallet.
The officer asked more questions, and my son answered. All the while the officer was relaying this information to someone over his radio.
My son heard someone on the radio say back to the officer “something to the effect of: ‘Keep him there until we get this sorted out.’ ” The officer told my son that an incident report would be filed, and then he walked away.
A female officer approached. My son recalled, “I told her that an officer had just stopped me and pointed his gun at me, and that I wanted to know what this was all about.” She explained students had called about a burglary suspect who fit my son’s description.
That suspect was apparently later arrested in the area.
When I spoke to my son, he was shaken up. I, however, was fuming.
Now, don’t get me wrong: If indeed my son matched the description of a suspect, I would have had no problem with him being questioned appropriately. School is his community, his home away from home, and he would have appreciated reasonable efforts to keep it safe. The stop is not the problem; the method of the stop is the problem.
Why was a gun drawn first? Why was he not immediately told why he was being detained? Why not ask for ID first?
Oh, BTY, that example of the 260 lb male vs the 120 lb female is from my academy days. The DA teaching us use of force make the point the female officer has a legit higher lever of fear for her safety, and possibly life, by the size difference alone.
What if my son had panicked under the stress, having never had a gun pointed at him before, and made what the officer considered a “suspicious” movement? Had I come close to losing him? Triggers cannot be unpulled. Bullets cannot be called back.
My son was unarmed, possessed no plunder, obeyed all instructions, answered all questions, did not attempt to flee or resist in any way.
And he did what the cop told him to, his identity was confirmed, he was released.
...The dean of Yale College and the campus police chief have apologized and promised an internal investigation, and I appreciate that. But the scars cannot be unmade. My son will always carry the memory of the day he left his college library and an officer trained a gun on him.
And if they had let he actual suspect go Mr. Blow, who later assaulted, robbed or murdered your son would you be so understanding?
I love reading the comments section on articles like this because the stupidity and ignorance is astounding. The charge of "racial profiling" is all over the pages. Question, how is it "racial profiling" when the suspect was identified as a young black male? It's stupidity and hypersensitive like this that lead to wanted posters without a full description. Right now the Sheriff of Harris County Texas (basically Houston) is sending out wanted notices on robbers. They have a full description of the cloths (e.g. white t-shirt, blue jeans down to the hips), his getaway vehicle (blue Ford pickup), his approximate age (18-24 YOA) and his sex. What's missing is all that? Come on, you can tell me, can't you? Oh yes, the color of his skin?
A typical morinic comment:
Reform police training now before more innocent blood is shed.
Police in the U.S., campus or municipal, have powers they have not had in earlier generations: weapons are more powerful and varied and the public less concerned with police rules and civil liberties. Judges and governing officials too often permit police and citizens more leeway in firing and carrying weapons. Safety can be ensured without victimizing innocents...
Gee doc, what news powers do I have? Actually in previous generations I could shoot a warning shot, I didn't have to have fear for my "life or serious bodily injury" before using a firearm, I didn't have the fear in the back of my head I could loose my job, liberty and wealth to a street punk.
The most logical comment I saw (there were one 1100 so I can't see them all) was this:
...Charles's reaction of outrage as a dad is perfectly understandable. But readers are given way too little information to conclude that this was a racially characterized incident; or even that the campus cop WASN'T justified in drawing down on someone who matched the burglar's description.
But Charles suggests racism, and to do that legitimately he needs to defend the suggestion with facts.
Excuse me sir, but with all respect, Mr. Blow is a member of the racial industry. He makes his living complaining about any possible racist slight. You are very correct, an investigation should determine if the officer legitimacy used her weapon. From what I've read, yes, she did . But your last sentence is very correct. We need facts and the facts in evidence do not support what Mr. Blow is implying and stating. But that never got in his way before.
UPDATE:
Seems more information is coming out and it's not fitting the race baiting template:
From an email the Yale President sent out:
The Yale Police Department’s response to a crime in progress on Saturday evening has generated substantial and critical conversations on campus and beyond. A Yale police officer detained an African American Yale College student who was in the vicinity of a reported crime, and who closely matched the physical description – including items of clothing – of the suspect. The actual suspect was found and arrested a short distance away.
Many in our community felt personal pain upon reading accounts of this incident on social media and in the press as they saw national debates about race, policing, and the use of force become a very local and personal story. We share these feelings and recognize that the interest in and reaction to this incident underscore that the work of making our campus and our society more inclusive, just, and safe remains an imperative for all of us.
Let us be clear: we have great faith in the Yale Police Department and admire the professionalism that its officers display on a daily basis to keep our campus safe. What happened on Cross Campus on Saturday is not a replay of what happened in Ferguson; Staten Island; Cleveland; or so many other places in our time and over time in the United States. The officer, who himself is African American, was responding to a specific description relayed by individuals who had reported a crime in progress…
Strange Mr. Blow, why didn't you mention that the officer who stopped your son was black? I'm assuming your son told you that in his frantic phone call. I mean, leftist like you like to say a black person cannot be a racist beause "they don't have the power of a white person" or some other crap. So again Mr. Blow, was this stereotyping? And to you, and all the morons on the comment section who went off half cocked screaming racism, you will now apologize to the officer whom you have just defamed?
I think I know the answer to both questions. But the facts won't stop Mr. Blow from sending out other "not fully accurate" writings in the future. Hopefully it will make the flying off the handle commenters think before they speak.
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