# Picking up trash while black, 5 officers respond. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2019, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703 "2019-03-07T16:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/41 "2019-03-09T17:33:05Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > If I were doing yardwork and the police showed up to question me, I would be highly agitated. Of course, I’m white, so no one has ever called the cops on me… Oddly, I’m white and I’ve had neighbors call the cops on me. Personally, I like the idea of neighbors keeping an eye on things. I’ve personally stopped multiple burglaries of my neighbor’s house by calling the police. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > And, in point of fact, he DOESN’T have to show them ID. Where in US or Colorado or Boulder law does it require that you show papers in order to be allowed to remain in your home? Nowhere, that’s where. I’m not going down this rabbit hole with you. There have been plenty of threads on the subject. The police can and will detain someone they suspect of criminal activity. Throwing a tantrum escalates that suspicion. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I understand that the police have to respond to calls, and always need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, but I don’t really see any rational person defending the police here. I don’t see any rational person defending a tantrum. Nothing good will come of it. With all that said, has anybody asked themselves WHY this person was out in his front lawn with a bucket and a grabbing tool? Look at the house across the street. This is not a neighborhood with buckets of trash in their front lawn. Given his foul mouthed buddy filming it and his tantrum with the police I would hazard a guess that he was picking up trash from a party the night before. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/42 "2019-03-09T17:43:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How is “suspected trespassing” grounds for _any_ police response at all, if the call doesn’t come from the landowner? That’d literally just calling the police on someone for the offense of that person existing. that’s simply not true. As I stated above, I’ve stopped burglaries in progress by calling in suspicious activity at my neighbor’s house. Good neighbors watch out for each other. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/43 "2019-03-09T18:04:42Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Oddly, I’m white and I’ve had neighbors call the cops on me. Personally, I like the idea of neighbors keeping an eye on things. I’ve personally stopped multiple burglaries of my neighbor’s house by calling the police. We look out for each other in my neighborhood also, but we know who lives where, so I wonder why your neighbor did not know that you were a resident. If a neighbor called the cops on me I’d be really pissed. > [@](#): > > With all that said, has anybody asked themselves WHY this person was out in his front lawn with a bucket and a grabbing tool? Look at the house across the street. This is not a neighborhood with buckets of trash in their front lawn. Given his foul mouthed buddy filming it and his tantrum with the police I would hazard a guess that he was picking up trash from a party the night before. I live across the street from a school, so I pick up trash on my lawn all the time. But since when is picking up trash suspicious behavior? Maybe there is a class of criminal with a cleanliness fetish, who’ll only rob clean houses. I have seen a report on News of the Weird about someone who broke into a house and then cleaned it, so I suppose it is possible. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/44 "2019-03-09T18:38:53Z")
What do you mean, the cops “have to take the call”? They’re not a fucking pizza delivery. They don’t \*have \*to respond to any tip provided by the public, especially one as bogus as this one. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/45 "2019-03-09T19:04:00Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Given his foul mouthed buddy filming it and his tantrum with the police I would hazard a guess that he was picking up trash from a party the night before. Well, maybe, but wouldn’t you rather they clean up after a party? Or is your argument that college students shouldn’t be allowed to have parties, or perhaps that the parties should be restricted to sit-down dinners for eight or fewer? I mean, I’m not a fan of any party that spills outside, but it’s not unreasonable to expect a few among the college set. If the police weren’t called DURING the party, that’s a plus (though we don’t know either way). And re: suspected criminal behaviour, if you’re just existing in your own home, including your yard, even if you rent, it is unreasonable to treat you as a suspected criminal. Someone picking up trash is pretty obviously picking up trash, as you can tell at a glance from the physical presence of said trash (whether strewn about the yard or already in the bucket or what). **Novelty Bobble** ’s suggested phrasing sounds much better to me. I would think you would WANT people to keep up their yards. Some of my neighbours are very annoying (loud music, litter, pot & cigarette smoke) but I would never call the cops on things that basically just irritate me, but do no real lasting harm. If someone did, though, I would expect the police to de-escalate politely rather than get aggressive, even if the people themselves raised their voices and swore. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/46 "2019-03-09T19:17:54Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > We look out for each other in my neighborhood also, but we know who lives where, so I wonder why your neighbor did not know that you were a resident. couldn’t see it was me. > [@Voyager](#): > > I live across the street from a school, so I pick up trash on my lawn all the time. But since when is picking up trash suspicious behavior? Who said that was the nature of the call? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/47 "2019-03-09T19:22:51Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Well, maybe, but wouldn’t you rather they clean up after a party? Or is your argument that college students shouldn’t be allowed to have parties, or perhaps that the parties should be restricted to sit-down dinners for eight or fewer? Of course I’d rather they clean up after a party. I seriously doubt the police were responding to a call of someone cleaning their property. I could b e wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/48 "2019-03-09T19:33:17Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Of course I’d rather they clean up after a party. I seriously doubt the police were responding to a call of someone cleaning their property. I could b e wrong. [Boulder police launch investigation into contact with man picking up trash – Boulder Daily Camera](http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_32490946/) (article mentioning 2300 block of Arapahoe with time, 8.30 a.m. March 1) [https://bouldercolorado.gov/police/call-log-march-1-2019](https://bouldercolorado.gov/police/call-log-march-1-2019) (police call log for that address, citing “pedestrian contact” at 8.30 a.m., March 1) Not much information, but from the coverage of the story and the police blotter, it looks like it was police initiative rather than responding to a specific complaint. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/49 "2019-03-09T20:29:03Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > [Boulder police launch investigation into contact with man picking up trash – Boulder Daily Camera](http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_32490946/) (article mentioning 2300 block of Arapahoe with time, 8.30 a.m. March 1) > [https://bouldercolorado.gov/police/call-log-march-1-2019](https://bouldercolorado.gov/police/call-log-march-1-2019) (police call log for that address, citing “pedestrian contact” at 8.30 a.m., March 1) > > Not much information, but from the coverage of the story and the police blotter, it looks like it was police initiative rather than responding to a specific complaint. this is just me but if I’m holding anything and an officer tells me to put it down then down it goes. Been there. Done that. The time to get butt hurt over it is when you’re typing a letter to the Chief of Police. Seriously, I’ve been there. Officer didn’t like my cigar. Out it went. I went through a sobriety test which I passed. I received a bogus traffic ticket. He didn’t show up in court. It was all to waste my time. Judge was NOT happy about it and based on his remarks was planning on reaming the officer’s ass. I hope this gets thoroughly investigated. Independent of it I hope every community engages in training of officers in how to keep situations diffused. I also hope parents and teachers teach children the same thing. The world would be a better place for it. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/50 "2019-03-09T23:32:57Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > couldn’t see it was me. So your neighbors call the cops when someone unidentified is near a house? Were you doing something suspicious, like mowing your lawn? I’d get new neighbors if I were you. > [@](#): > > Who said that was the nature of the call? Doesn’t matter. The cop should have seen him picking up the trash. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/51 "2019-03-10T01:33:55Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > So your neighbors call the cops when someone unidentified is near a house? Were you doing something suspicious, like mowing your lawn? I’d get new neighbors if I were you. > > Doesn’t matter. The cop should have seen him picking up the trash. As dense as most criminals are don’t you think they would find something convincing to tell an officer? And I like my neighbors just fine. They don’t have yards full of trash and they watch over my property. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/52 "2019-03-10T08:05:53Z")
They don’t have yards full of trash because the police don’t arrest them when they’re trying to clean them up. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/53 "2019-03-10T09:37:57Z")
Relax people. It’s just the police winning the Hearts and Minds of the community. After all, this is SO much better than the average. Why, the guy was not even shot. Not even slightly. That’s gotta count for something. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/54 "2019-03-10T09:43:17Z")
Although it pathetically crows about being “the home of the free,” [the USA has the highest incarceration in the world, and their incarceration rate for black people is five times that of its incarceration rate of white people.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States) And so the police came for him. He stood up to them. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/55 "2019-03-10T12:05:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > There is an internal police investigation. The widespread news coverage should add pressure and get the people responsible reprimanded or terminated. I would be absolutely floored if anyone got fired. If they’d killed the guy, maybe. But if no one got shot, the “reprimands” will be purely for show. Nothing will really be done. The propensity of cops to profile black people is a huge problem, but also a huge problem is just how bizarrely aggressive they are, especially in the USA (as compared to other first world countries.) The horrific Daniel Shaver shooting being a prime example, but the cops are so commonly like that now. It is a product, I would assume, of a lot of things, including the increasing militarization of the police forces. Hell, cops wear camouflage a lot now, even in situations where it makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/56 "2019-03-10T18:03:19Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > They don’t have yards full of trash because the police don’t arrest them when they’re trying to clean them up. where in the video was he arrested? No guns were aimed at him despite the claim. No arrest was made despite your insinuation. A great deal of angst over a how-to video of poor manners. All it does in reinforce bad behavior under the guise of moral outrage. It’s a self perpetuating condition. Hatred for police generates rude behavior that generates a bigger response. If you don’t understand that agitated behavior ramps up concern for personal safety then talk to a policeman. They have to deal with this on a daily basis. There’s a reason we don’t see the 99% of investigations where the police are met with polite adult behavior. Everything is quickly sorted out and everybody is on their way. A few months ago I witnessed a situation where a person was arrested and a relative shows up in a total tirade. He was completely unhinged. He walked back and forth screaming obscenities at the officers. What he got was a bigger audience. It’s really not hard to avoid problems with the police. Treat them with respect and follow their instructions. If they tell you to put down what is in your hands than put it down. In the video discussed the subject is holding a long pole with a trigger on the end of it. Gee what does THAT look like to an officer? I would have put that down in a New York second without being asked. This is not a good example to rage against. Nothing happened. There are current examples of shootings that deserve this attention. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/57 "2019-03-10T18:16:25Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > where in the video are they aiming guns at him? > > They were responding to a call. They can’t just ignore it. It has to be investigated. All this guy had to do was show them some ID and they’d be on their way. But no, he had to throw a tantrum. > > A rational person would see how it looks to police. They’re responding to a call and are confronted by 2 highly agitated people. You’re making excuses for racist fuckwits. A rational person would find a new hobby. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/58 "2019-03-10T18:21:32Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > that’s simply not true. As I stated above, I’ve stopped burglaries in progress by calling in suspicious activity at my neighbor’s house. > > Good neighbors watch out for each other. Good neighbors are not racist busybodies. The LEO’s should find new jobs. (Picking up thrash seems oddly appropriate) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/59 "2019-03-10T20:00:54Z")
WOW ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703/60 "2019-03-10T20:28:40Z")
**Magiver** , your take on this seems best summed up by “respect authority, especially in the moment; if there are abuses of authority, there are ways to correct them later.” This is not, in fact, true for black people the same way that it is for white people. There is a history literally centuries long of authority bullying and disregarding black people in a way that is not the case for the typical white citizen. A lot of the outrage over this incident relies on this context. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-trash-while-black-5-officers-respond/830703.md?page=4)