After we left the old people club, me & my friends Ash, Rob & CJ were ready to get our grub on so we headed to this 24-hr. breakfast spot called The Diner. It was Saturday night though, and the area where The Diner is located is full of bars and drunk people and whatnot, so the police presence in that area was heavier than usual. Just our luck, while trying to find a parking spot (we all rode in CJ's car) WE--the innocent, college-educated, mostly law-abiding black kids--get pulled over.
We were originally pulled over by one cop car and two cops, but I guess because there were four heads in the car, they called for back-up. Less than ten minutes later, there were two cop cars and four cops on us, asking us to roll down our windows.
They asked Rob to get out because he "looked suspicious" and they thought that from the way he was leaning on the middle console in the backseat that he looked drunk.
Uh, ok. One, the man was in a button-down shirt, slacks, and dress shoes with a close cropped haircut. Suspicious? Really? Two, who doesn't lean in the backseat. Three, there were (legal) tints on the window, you couldn't even tell anyone was back there, much less "leaning drunkenly."
They frisked Rob and told him to get back in the car. They asked for his and CJ's IDs then went back to their cars for a minute (I'm talking a hot minute too, like 25 minutes). Me & Ash were just holding down the passenger's side, chillin'.
When they returned, we asked the cops why they pulled us over. The original cop said CJ's view was obstructed by the air freshener and a pair of earmuffs he had hanging off his rear view mirror. The earmuffs I can understand, but the air freshener. Really. Mad nosy people in cars had already passed us with hella $hit hanging off their rear views! Fuzzy dice, Mardi Gras beads, rosaries... sheeit.
Accordingly to el popo, they pulled us over for THAT reason, then, SURPRISE, they found a "suspicious black male" in the backseat, too. Bonus! Since Rob was not drunk or hiding bottles or drugs in the back, they ticketed CJ with having a passenger who wasn't wearing a seatbelt.
Oh yeah, and here's the kicker you guys: the cop wasn't even going to ticket us until my homegirl Ash asked for his badge number... NICELY (our entire conversation with this douchebag was civil. No need to cause any MORE problems, right). Then--can you believe it?!--he gets a little attitude and says "Well since you want my badge number, you can get it off the ticket I'm gonna write you."
!!!!!
One hour and $30 in tickets later, we were on our way again (NOT TO THE DINER, of course).
That whole ordeal was ridiculous. Before heading to our new destination, IHOP, we went to the nearest police precinct and got some info on filing a complaint against a cop.
There's no need to put up with anything like what we went through--and I know there's people out there with even worse experiences with the law.
Know your rights folks, and fight back when you can.
