#IStandWithAhmed

Freshman, from MacArthur High in Texas, built a clock.

Showed it to his teachers who, to that poor freshman's shock,

Called police, believing that he'd brought a bomb to school.

Ahmed was interrogated, all because some fool

Couldn't tell a nerdy kid apart from terrorists.

So, in NASA tee-shirt and with hand-cuffs on his wrists,

Five cops took Ahmed Mohamed off to Juvie Hall

Where, at last, they let the kid give mom and dad a call.

He's still facing charges but he's home...  Not in a cell.

'though the school's suspended him, perhaps it's just as well;

Doesn't sound as if they've got a lot to offer him...

Faculty has demonstrated that they're rather dim.

Kudos to Chief Campanello in Gloucester

Chief Leonard Campanello. (Photo/riverhousechronicles.com)

Live in Gloucester, Massachusetts and you want to cease

Using drugs? Now you can turn yourself in to police.

Chief has said he won't arrest the addicts who arrive...

That he'll try to get them into treatment, where they'll thrive.

I applaud his motivation... Wants to save some lives;

Sick of notifying mothers, fathers, husbands, wives

That someone they love has accidentally OD'd.

He's aware it isn't jails, but health care, junkies need.

Problem is facilities are running out of beds

And the Chief has been advised of issues with the Feds.

Those could hamper this new effort by the Gloucester cops...

Still the program's worth attempting if one addict stops.

Smart Policing Doesn't Require Tanks

(The evolution of policing?)

President has stopped the flow of tanks to the police;

They don't need such heavy calibers to keep the peace.

Don't need armored vehicles for stupid, college pranks.

Cops are not the military...  Why would they want tanks?

Situations escalate when citizens perceive 

Local cops as faceless troops with weapons they receive

From a force that used them to attack the Taliban,

Or pursue al Qaeda ('though that didn't go to plan.)

There's a lot of surplus gear we used to hunt them down

That police will get to keep for use in your home town...

It may not be tanks with treads but there is plenty still.

I don't feel protected, though...  To me, it's overkill.

Unsolicited Advice for The Thin Blue Line

(Courtesy of/benswann.com)

When police wear body cams, complaints against them drop.

I think I'd insist upon them if I were a cop.

That way I'd have evidence (if anyone's complaining)

That my interactions with civilians followed training.

When we are recording for posterity we tend

To be more aware about the messages we send.

Most of us are more polite - and that includes police -

Making them more likely to be keepers of the peace.

That's what the police are for and, mostly, what they do.

Some might not be "good guys" but I bet there's very few.

Studies prove that cameras calm situations down;

I'd think that police would want to have them in their town.

Je suis Chip

(Some of the young, black men killed by police under "questionable" circumstances. Photo/Courtesy of ebonstorm.wordpress.com)

With the death of Freddie Gray, is this the tipping point?

Will we - now - examine why so many in the joint

Are not white or wealthy? Why they're poor and, mostly, black?

Why it's only if you're white police cut you some slack?

Not that I'm complaining, mind you...  Thank you very much

To the cop who let me go when speeding... Just a touch.

'though I wasn't happy when I saw his flashing blues,

There was not a moment when I trembled in my shoes.

Were I not so lily-white would I have held my breath

Fearing that the interaction could be life or death?

Most police "Protect and Serve" but if you cannot trust

That they're there to keep you safe and not to make a bust

Why on earth would anyone go looking to the cops?

(When you're black they'll look for you at future, "random" stops.)

Neighborhood policing is the only thing that works;

Daily demonstrating that most cops don't act like jerks.

Three Cheers for Toya Graham

My new hero, Toya Graham. (Photo/Courtesy of thehill.com)

Fellow moms of teenage boys should offer our applause

To a mom from Baltimore who's in the news because

When she recognized her son out rioting at night,

Caught him on the local news - red handed - at the fight,

She marched down and kicked his ass and dragged her son away;

Didn't give a damn what her teenager had to say.

Peaceful protest in the streets is justified, but not

Burning down the too few stores your neighborhood has got.

Sometimes though, with teenage boys, a mother has no choice;

If our sons don't listen when we use our "angry voice"

We might have to go ahead and slap them in the head...

Teach them that it isn't just police they need to dread.

Unsolicited Advice re: NYPD's Blue Flu

Mayor of New York City has a problem with the cops;

When he dared to criticize the force, they blew their tops.

Turned their backs at funerals whenever he walked by...

Now, to get arrested there, you really have to try.

In a further show of anger by New York police,

Interactions with the public have appeared to cease.

No-one's getting busted - short of very violent crimes -

Rates dropped 92%, according to The Times.

New York City cops have got their noses out of joint,

Angry (even though the Mayor had made a valid point)

Now they've turned their backs on us because we've dared to ask

Why is truthful dialogue a Herculean task?

No-one thinks the cops are racists but the studies show

Blacks have poorer outcomes with police - who have to know

They cannot ignore that problem... It won't go away

Just because they've all decided not to earn their pay.

I Am Chip

 (Warning: Mr. Chappelle's routine contains graphic language.)

Dave Chappelle's a brilliant comic.  Dave Chappelle is black.

Dave did a routine about police a few years back;

Told some stories of past interactions with the cops...

His friend Chip and he involved in minor traffic stops.

Both of them as high as kites (and Chip was driving drunk)

Still, he didn't find himself spread-eagled on his trunk.

Chip received a warning; the exchanges were polite.

Dave was shocked to see how cops treat people who are white.

Wasn't his experience in dealings with the law;

Blacks are frightened by police and that's a fatal flaw.

You'd feel smothered too if cops were breathing down your neck.

If I didn't trust police I'd be a nervous wreck.

Just like Chip, I've always felt policemen were my friends

But, with recent studies showing such disturbing trends,

I would not feel quite so sure if I weren't quite so pale...

Fearful that the slightest thing could land my butt in jail.

We have got to shift perceptions; training is a start

And the body camera idea is also smart.

That way cops can document if people give them lip

And they're motivated to treat everyone like Chip.

Teenage Boys Are Stupid

Bomber of the marathon in Boston's college friend,

On trial and now waiting 'til deliberations end,

Has to hope the jury members know some teenage boys

Or of all the brain cells that their smoking pot destroys.

This kid didn't help police; at least, not right away.

Phillipos seemed slow to realize it's not okay

Sticking to the rule that college friends don't talk to cops...

When your friend's a terrorist, the code of silence stops.

Even though the part he played, in fact, was rather small

He tried hard to cover-up he was involved, at all.

So he started lying - which you shouldn't oughta try

When you're being questioned by police and FBI.

Didn't get the details right, he said, 'cause he was stoned.

Wasn't sure his friend was guilty or he would have phoned.

Now he could get 16 years because of what he did.

Though he might be guilty, I feel sorry for the kid.

To Protect and Serve - Not Fix Windows

"Broken window" policies, adopted by police,

Mean that petty crime arrests have seen a sharp increase.

It's supposed to help improve our quality of life,

But the bottom line is that it leads to racial strife.

Black, they say, is beautiful but when it comes to cops

It makes you the target of more "random" traffic stops.

Black makes cops suspicious and more likely to arrest

People they've subjected to a much more stringent test.

I believe that when police pursue a petty bust

They become the last one who a young, black man would trust.

Cops should be protectors - there to serve the public good -

Not someone whose job is to harass the neighborhood.

Unsolicited Advice for Missouri's Governor Nixon

(Photo/Courtesy of youtube.com)

 

"Always listen to police," is what I've told my sons.

"They'll protect and serve you and, besides, they're wearing guns...

"Doesn't do to argue with a person who is armed."

But I've never really worried either would be harmed.

Both my sons are white, suburban teenagers, you see.

That police might kill my kids had not occurred to me.

I cannot imagine how a black man's mother feels;

I have tried to do it...  The imagination reels.

Teenage boys do stupid things sometimes; that's just a fact.

If it's bad enough that the police get in the act

Studies show that, if you're white, you're probably okay...

If you're black they handcuff you and haul your ass away.

It's no wonder white police do not inspire trust.

Something has to change...  I think diversity's a must.

We need more equality within policemen's ranks.

Then we have to ask ourselves; do local cops need tanks?