PhillyTalk: Ask the Writers and Experts

QIn 2004 I was stopped by Philadelphia police and searched on my way home from work. After being told "I want to kill you, so give me a reason". When the harassment and humiliation was complete I was to go file a complaint if I didn't like it. So I filed a complaint but months after the investigation my "allegations were not sustained". Is there anything more that can be done than filing a complaint with the same department, who will almost never find a fellow officer at fault?

QCan an individual refuse to be strip-searched and what would be the reprecussions? It seems to me, from personal experience, many philly cops are on a power trip and there's literally nothing that can be done because all complaints are handled by the department, is there anyone else to turn to?

QAfter reading many of these troubling stories of police misconduct (racial profiling, verbal/physical abuse, humiliation, etc.), I can't help but think, "If only it had been videotaped." As we learned with Rodney King and many other similar situations, the only way to reliably "prove" abuse is by recording it, otherwise it's the victims' word vs. the polices' word (and we know who wins that one). I have been in situations where a person was videotaping an arrest and the cops threatened to arrest him for "interfering with police business". Do people have the legal right to videotape their own or somebody else's encounter with the police?

QAs a new resident of Folcroft PA of nearly two years, with two teenaged sons who are black we feel besieged by the number of times they have been picked up, fined and even arrested on hearsay. The attitude of some of officers toward us has been very abrasive over the past couple of years. My husband and I moved out of the city to at the very least give our sons different surroundings at first it started with curfew. The admittedly we were not aware of the curfew laws or how they are discretionarily enforced; my younger son did break curfew a couple times although now he is aware of and adheres. I have witnessed non minority kids roam the street and no police patrol in site. It seems that the police in these suburban areas are not culturally diverse enough and therefore make the police more aggressive toward those which they do not understand. I do not want my sons systematically assassinated with a record of petty or nuisance arrest and that is what they are doing. How can I make my concerns heard for the lack of education and tolerance that is abundance in my neighborhood? It would seem that the borough and need council take a look training for these officers and revisit their practices and how disproportional the arrest among minorities and non minorities truly are. The catch phrase is “we want to stop crime and drugs”, how are they engaging the citizens to promote a healthy anjd safe environment for everyone? Where does all of my tax money go? At the very least we need some structured activities for these teens. The only borough sponsored activity I see is the police patrolling in cars burning up gas. Wonder how many tanks could have funded a workshop?

QPhilly police on patrol are targeting a potential person for a stop by using their cellphone to call in an anonymous 911 "black man with a gun" call to have them searched. Is this legal? It happened to me! I saw the bogus call in the system myself!

QHi Professor, I have previously lived in Upper Darby and in Abington. Whenever I would be driving with my kids, and we would see a car stopped on the side of the road by a police officer, we observed that, anecdotally, there was an extremely disproportionate number of blacks who were pulled over. I would often wonder why anyone who was black would dare drive through the townships.

QPhiladelphia's police department discipline among African Americans is more severe than for whites for the same infractions, Investigate that please.

QWe had an incident where my son was pulled out of Latin class for interrogation over a stolen IPOD. The local detective called me and told me that he "had enough evidence to arrest [name of my son] right now." It later turned out the father of a crime victim was a co-worker and the pair was basically harassing children and their parents either to locate the IPOD or obtain a replacement. The officer fabricated this wonderful story about my son and I almost believed him just because he was a police officer. When I complained to the school and police chief, I was told this was standard operating procedure. Now I do not trust the police and I jump when the phone rings and my children are at school. How can we protect our children from people who abuse their power?

QAND WITH THE BLACK POPULATION BEING INVOLVED IN THE MAJORITY OF THE CRIME IN THE REGION, PARTICULARLY VIOLENT CRIME, YOU FIND SCRUTINIZING THEIR ACTIVITIES OUT OF LINE...? GET REAL...! IF IT LOOKS LIKE A DUCK AND SOUNDS LIKE A DUCK... IT'S PROBABLY A DUCK... THE JAILS AND PRISONS ARE NOT ALL FULL OF INNOCENT PEOPLE... AND IF YOU CHECK, A MAJORITY OF THE PRISONERS ARE BLACK.... IF YOU CHECK STATISTICS FOR CRIME NATIONWIDE... AGAIN, BLACKS LEAD THE LEAGUE.... IF "PROFILING" LEADS TO LOWER CRIME LEVELS, SO BE IT...

QWhat should I do if I am arrested by police on a nuisance law, and subsequently strip searched?