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Being Black and Treated Like A Thug at a Detroit Traffic Stop
http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/12907/mongo_being_black_and_treated_like_a_thug_at_a_detroit_traffic_stopAfter leaving a meeting at a local restaurant, I headed down Jefferson to another meeting when I was stopped by a Detroit officer in a white traffic control car at Jefferson and McDougall, east of I-75. He said that I had run a red light. He asked for the usual -- license, registration and proof of insurance.
He then made a negative remark about my new, red Mustang convertible. I reached in my glove compartment and gave him a copy of my registration and proof of insurance and reached in my back pocket to retrieve my license. It wasn’t there. I had just paid my tab at the restaurant and must have left my wallet behind. I told the officer that. He didn't care. His laugh was of a sinister nature.
He went back to his car. I made a call to retrieve my wallet. It was at the restaurant. Someone was bringing it to me. The officer, a middle-aged African-America man, came back and said “your license is not valid, your insurance is bogus and I am going to have to impound your car.”...
“You probably paid cash for it or got it some other way,” he said in a threatening tone, suggesting I was a drug dealer. “I am going to give you three tickets and take the car.”
He then made a negative remark about my new, red Mustang convertible. I reached in my glove compartment and gave him a copy of my registration and proof of insurance and reached in my back pocket to retrieve my license. It wasn’t there. I had just paid my tab at the restaurant and must have left my wallet behind. I told the officer that. He didn't care. His laugh was of a sinister nature.
He went back to his car. I made a call to retrieve my wallet. It was at the restaurant. Someone was bringing it to me. The officer, a middle-aged African-America man, came back and said “your license is not valid, your insurance is bogus and I am going to have to impound your car.”...
“You probably paid cash for it or got it some other way,” he said in a threatening tone, suggesting I was a drug dealer. “I am going to give you three tickets and take the car.”
