it's not nice.
Here's how it went down. A friend asked me to join her for lunch in a public park since she had made some homecooked fried chicken and homemade coleslaw and biscuits. I agreed! What a treat. So, on our lunch hour, we cruised over to a park close to our work and, because all the shelters were full, we decided to eat in her car. The parking lots are not shaded and it was rather warm in the sun so, she parked, as several other cars were, under a tree. There were others in their cars around us, also enjoying food or, for a few a little shut eye. We were enjoying our food, when a police officer in a patrol car stopped and indicated for my friend to roll down her window.
This is where the profiling started. The officer asked what we were doing (as if she couldn't see we were eating fried chicken and biscuits!), my friend answered having lunch. The officer then proceeded to tell us we needed to park in a parking space and we should really be using a shelter. My friend pointed out that all the shelters were full, including one that had homeless people sleeping on the picnic tables. The officer replied that we still needed to move to a parking space. We said sure and thanked her. My friend rolled up her window and pulled into a space close by. It was an irritating interaction to say the least. Even more so, because none of the other cars parked around us with people sitting in them was asked to move.
A minute or two later, after the police officer had left, a car pulled up next to us. Two guys from our work were in it. One guy hopped out and asked us why the police officer asked us to move. They were just a few cars down also parked under a tree and not asked to move. We said we didn't know. At this point the other guy pointed out that we were the only car with no men in it. Either that cop was too afraid to confront men, or there was something going on with women and we were being profiled for it. They had heard the whole exchange as their windows had been cracked and thought they missed something. Another woman, this one with a dog stopped by at this point and said she had witnessed this as well (she was behind our car walking her dog when the officer showed up). She gave us her information, in case we wanted to file a complaint with the police department.
I was ready to drop the whole thing, but I could tell it bothered my friend. As we drove back to work, she decided to ask the husband of one of our co-workers (also a police officer) about it. What she heard from him, was eye-opening. He said there was an investigation going on involving prostitution rings where two women were sitting in a car in the park. However, he said all the issues were occurring in a totally different part of town and the women who were apprehended were not eating lunch or had any evidence of food in their cars. He also said that there were a large number of complaints recently from patrons of the park we were at and another nearby of a female officer harrassing two or more females congregated together while ignoring others doing the same thing (just hanging out talking, or sitting in cars like we were) or other possible safety issues (the homeless people sleeping on the picnic tables, for example). He gave my friend the information to file a complaint. And I think she will. If this woman thought we were prostitutes than all women in business attire must look suspicious to her. And it was strange that she only asked us to move. If we truly were doing something wrong, everyone should have been asked to move. If she was intimidated by the men in other cars, well, she is in the wrong line of work.
I am not anti-cop. I appreciate when they patrol areas like the park for our safety. But I have a real intolerance for incompetence. And there is no doubt in my mind now, people are profiled by both good and bad cops every day.
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