I'm Not Anti-Police, But...

...I have plenty of reasons for them to not be my most favorite people.

My very first encounter with the police was on a Saturday evening the summer before my freshman year of high school. I was out with my sister and older cousin, heading to the next town over to see my cousin’s sister. We stopped at a convenience store before hitting the road so that my cousin could get drinks and snacks for us, including a ‘40’ for himself. (My cousin was over the age of 21 at the time.) Soon after leaving the parking lot of the store, we were being pulled over. The offense? My sister, the driver, failed to turn on a signal coming out of a parking lot where there was no one behind her, and houses in front of her. During the encounter, my cousin was questioned by an officer, while my sister another. The officer suspected that my cousin bought alcohol for some girls at the convenience store. After asking a few questions, the officer proceeded to question me, then noticed the unopened bottle of beer my cousin had purchased. He put it under the seat and it rolled to my feet. The officer asserted that it was mine and made me sit in the police car while he wrote me a citation for Minor in Possession [of alcohol].

Recap...my sister was pulled over but only issued a warning, my cousin questioned and found not guilty of any offense and me, the youngest person in the car, given a ticket on some b*llsh*t.

My next negative encounter occurred in college when an officer pulled me over for allegedly speeding at 5:30 in the morning. I was in the band with my cousin and we were headed to another state for the game. As I was dropping my cousin off before heading to the parking lot, a police car pulled up in the back of me and an officer proceeded toward me. He accused me of speeding and proceeded to make a scene by raising his voice and cursing at me. I fired back at him that he didn't have a right to talk to me like that and he back down. I knew the worst he could do was arrest me, and not beat me because of all the folks that were around. I didn't get a ticket, just a warning. B*;;sh*t.

Next time was in college again and I happened to be in the car with a white girl. We were dating at the time and working together on a campaign. This event occurred at night as we were putting up yard signs for our candidate. We had gotten lost and had to turn around after reaching a dead-end on a street. An officer just happened to be in the area and decided to follow us and eventually pulled me over in a Target parking lot. The officer pulled me over because he was suspicious. That was his only reason. B*ll$h!t.

Living in DC, I encountered a rude cop who pulled me over and threatened to arrest me because I was confused by signs that we was currently moving.

Returning to school in another southern state and driving a luxury car, I was often pulled over. On one occasion, an officer pulled me over and immediately asked if the car belonged to me. He was suspicious because I was driving too slow. On another occasion, I was rightfully pulled over for speeding but had to submit to a very public sobriety test in order be released. I hadn't been drinking and actually gave a legitimate reason for speeding. (I was new in town, following a friend from a bar to a house party and was trying to keep up because she was speeding.) I walked away without a ticket, yet again.

The one time I was in clear, unquestionable violation of the law, I thought I was about to get away with it, but didn't because of police b*llsh*t. I was speeding on an interstate in Mississippi with a group of about 5 other cars. We had been rolling together for miles. When I speed in packs--something I rarely do--I never lead. I will at least be the second or third ahead and am always on the lookout for po-po. Lo and behold, I spot a cop and start to pull back on my cruising at 86mph. But the van ahead of me didn't spot the cop and zoomed right past the officer. I came behind a second later, but not as fast. The cop geared up and started speeding after the van, but as soon as he pulled alongside of me, he slowed down, got behind me and pulled my @ss over.

So no, I'm not anti-police, but they are not my favorite people. They are here to protect and serve, but I don't always feel they protect and serve me or others that look like me.