# You're Being Detained, Sir, For Babysitting Someone of a Different Race **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 12, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348 "2008-11-12T15:08:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/161 "2008-11-13T23:05:21Z")
Thanks, **Bricker** , and **Richard Parker**. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/162 "2008-11-13T23:45:36Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Was it homophobia? I thought it was that the police were afraid of looking homophobic and that’s why they returned him to Dahmer. How odd how differently we interpret the decision. I always read it as “This is just some weird gay thing going on, so we can ignore it.” I think that if some man had tried to convince police that he should take care of an obviously impaired near naked woman years younger than him, who was claiming he was trying to kill her, the girl would have brought to a hospital, and not even PC’d. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/163 "2008-11-14T00:11:05Z")
> [@j666](#): > > How odd how differently we interpret the decision. I always read it as “This is just some weird gay thing going on, so we can ignore it.” > > I think that if some man had tried to convince police that he should take care of an obviously impaired near naked woman years younger than him, who was claiming he was trying to kill her, the girl would have brought to a hospital, and not even PC’d. Well, this is just what I’d heard people say. Looking on Wiki, I think you’re right. > **[Jeffrey Dahmer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer)** > > Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (/ˈdɑːmər/; May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994), also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismembered seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991. > Dahmer committed his first murder in Ohio in 1978; he did not resume killing until 1987. The modus operandi for many of his later crimes involved him luring a victim to his Wisconsin apartment where they would be drugged, sexually assaulted, an... > [@](#): > > John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish, the two police officers who returned Sinthasomphone to Dahmer, were fired from the Milwaukee Police Department after their actions were widely publicized, including an audiotape of the officers making homophobic statements to their dispatcher and cracking jokes about having reunited the “lovers”. The two officers appealed their termination and were reinstated with back pay. They were named officers of the year by the police union. Balcerzak would go on to be elected president of the Milwaukee Police Association in May 2005.[3][4] ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/164 "2008-11-14T00:19:43Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > Wholly aside from the issue of civil liberties, I believe that treating a policeman like a human being instead of someone who is automatically my enemy is a better course of action in a civilized society. At some point you may want to take an adversarial approach but in general I don’t see how it’s so laudable to be obstructive. It’s not laudable, except insofar as the exercise of our freedoms is a rare thing, rare enough that persons who do so are looked down upon. What it is, is _safer_. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/165 "2008-11-14T00:32:10Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Fine investigate but why was is his race an issue? These cops where nothing but racist scumbags. The deserve to fired and fined. Race was never an issue. You have no basis to make this statement. The police responded to a call of suspicious activity. And they investigated it, which you acknowledge is fine. End of story. > [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > You haven’t answer what the fuck was suspicious. What was suspicious? A grandpa with his grand kid? Since I didn’t see the event I have no way of answering your question. > [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Do you report every grandparent with a grand kid?:dubious: Or just the multiracial ones? > > Are you a racist bigot asshole who would harass every multiracial family as “suspicious”? > > Tell me. I’m all ears. Why was race part of the questioning? What would lead you to believe this rant is even remotely appropriate for Great Debates? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/166 "2008-11-14T01:38:07Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Well, this is just what I’d heard people say. Looking on Wiki, I think you’re right. > > [Jeffrey Dahmer - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer) Thank you, I am glad it wasn’t just prejudice on my part. I’ve been turning the OP situation over in my head a lot. I’m glad a citizen who probably didn’t even know the little girl took notice of her; I’m glad the police took notice, and provided ‘default back-up’; I’m glad the grand-father stood by his rights. I also think everyone of legal age involved behaved like … jerks. Just a little bit of good manners and good will could have saved everyone a lot of heartburn. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/167 "2008-11-14T01:53:46Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Race was never an issue. You have no basis to make this statement. The police responded to a call of suspicious activity. And they investigated it, which you acknowledge is fine. End of story. You say that. Then back track and say this: > [@](#): > > Since I didn’t see the event I have no way of answering your question. I thought you said “Race was never an issue.”? If you didn’t see the event how do you know? Which is it? Make up your mind man! Do white grand parents with white grand kids routinely get the cops called on em when they’re out with their grand kids? > [@](#): > > What would lead you to believe this rant is even remotely appropriate for Great Debates? I guess that was a little far and apologize for language. And implying you were perhaps a racist. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/168 "2008-11-14T03:58:03Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > You say that. Then back track and say this: > > I thought you said “Race was never an issue.”? > > If you didn’t see the event how do you know? Which is it? > > Make up your mind man! The police were responding to a call of suspicious activity versus making an arbitrary stop. This thread is about the actions of the police. You can speculate all you want about the caller but that’s a separate issue. The police don’t have the option to blow off calls because the caller is wrong. They have no way of knowing that ahead of time unless there is a history of false alarms. > [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Do white grand parents with white grand kids routinely get the cops called on em when they’re out with their grand kids? If someone calls it in then yes. It’s the job of police to follow up on suspicion of abduction. Can you imagine the public outcry if they didn’t and a child disappears? It’s the job of police to prioritize calls and anything dealing with a child tends to get bumped up the list. That’s just common sense. > [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > I guess that was a little far and apologize for language. And implying you were perhaps a racist. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/169 "2008-11-14T14:51:14Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Thank you, I am glad it wasn’t just prejudice on my part. > > I’ve been turning the OP situation over in my head a lot. I’m glad a citizen who probably didn’t even know the little girl took notice of her; I’m glad the police took notice, and provided ‘default back-up’; I’m glad the grand-father stood by his rights. > > I also think everyone of legal age involved behaved like … jerks. Just a little bit of good manners and good will could have saved everyone a lot of heartburn. Pretty much. Had the busybody stepped out her front door and engaged the little girl in a conversation (What kitty did this morning. Do you have kitties? Where is your mom today? Can you introduce me to your friend? A conversation a two year old can probably have - although if shy - the two year old will hide behind the leg of Grandpa - which goes a long way to this not being a stranger abduction) she wouldn’t have bothered to call the police. I am not sure that the police were being jerks - they didn’t see the “suspicious behavior” and child abduction is a very serious thing. And Grandpa being evasive wasn’t assuring them that all was well. And him saying “I’m her grandpa” (or if that isn’t accurate enough - I’m babysitting, I’m a family friend) would have diffused the situation. Standing up for your rights for the good of everyone is a good thing to do - not sure I’d do it with toddler children watching. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/170 "2008-11-14T15:55:04Z")
I can’t see that the cops did anything wrong. Someone reported a suspicious looking interaction, by which I assume they meant what looked like a possible child abduction. What are the cops _supposed_ to do, ignore it? I have no doubt that 99% of such reports are false, but god help the cops if they fail to respond and it happens to be that 1%. Moreover, we have exactly zero evidence that the concern was _racially motivated_. I presume the relevant portion of the account is this: > [@](#): > > Two blocks from home, an Austin police officer pulled up and, to my surprise, got out and announced she was there to question me. Someone had called 911, she said, to report a suspicious looking [Race 1] man walking down the street holding hands with a [Race 2] toddler. (I could tell where this line of questioning was headed.) She said this as though it were the most natural thing in the world for police to investigate, as though my race and Ty’s, in and of itself, was reason enough to stop and question me. > > I’ve heard of racial profiling episodes involving “Driving While Black,” but “Babysitting While [Race 1]” is a new one on me. ‘What’s your relationship with this girl?’, she wanted to know. ‘Where are you going, where are you coming from?’ “No offense,” I told her, “but that’s none of your business.” > > Not wanting to violate the failure to identify statute, I gave her my name, address and birthdate but refused to answer any other questions. (“I’m going to write down that you were noncooperative,” she warned ominously, as though admonishing an elementary school student that some infraction might go on their permanent record. “Oh no, not that,” I thought to myself.) The problem here is that the author (and many in this tread) automatically jump to the assumption that because the pair were _identified_ as “[Race 1] man walking down the street holding hands with a [Race 2] toddler”, that was the _reason_ for the allegation of being “suspicious-looking”. We simply do not know what sparked the allegation of being “suspicious”, but having walked toddlers many times, it could easily have been something else - say, the toddler didn’t want to leave the playground and was kicking up a fuss (mine once shouted “help! Help!” when we dragged him off the merry-go-round for lunch - very embarrasing). Being asked his relationship with the girl is a perfectly reasonable question, he could have cleared it up in two seconds by simply saying “I’m grandpa” or whatever. By acting as he did he made it out to be more than it was. I don’t see this fellow as a champion of civil liberties at all. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/171 "2008-11-14T16:33:39Z")
Cops are supposed to answer all calls; they don’t know anything other than what the dispatcher said, and people should be allowed to go for walks with their differently-colored grandkids. Both sides on this issue had a basic obligation to themselves and to each other to not be dicks, so that the cops could go chase other criminals, and so the guy could continue on his walk. “Hey, we got a call.” “It’s okay, officer, I’m her grandfather.” “No probs.” “Peace out.” I know that we have an obligation to make every little situation into a constitutional crisis, but I don’t know that it’s clear that showing a toddler that she has a constitutional right to give policemen grief outweighs the opportunity to say, “See these men? When we say not to trust strangers, we don’t mean them or firemen. These men will help protect you if you get in trouble, and they were just driving by to see if we were safe.” ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/172 "2008-11-14T16:35:25Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Being asked his relationship with the girl is a perfectly reasonable question, he could have cleared it up in two seconds by simply saying “I’m grandpa” or whatever. By acting as he did he made it out to be more than it was. I don’t see this fellow as a champion of civil liberties at all. ``` Based on my experience, an ID statement such as "I'm grandpa" wouldn't have cleared this up in two seconds. He asserted his civil rights and had the least hassle. If the police felt the situation required further detention, he would have had greater time involved yet still have been acquitted. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/173 "2008-11-14T17:13:01Z")
> [@Carson\_O\_Genic](#): > > Based on my experience, an ID statement such as “I’m grandpa” wouldn’t have cleared this up in two seconds. He asserted his civil rights and had the least hassle. If the police felt the situation required further detention, he would have had greater time involved yet still have been acquitted. I somehow doubt that acting confrontational with the cops is the route to “the least hassle”. Not that “not being hassled” is really the measure of how one should act. If I thought the situation warranted it, I’d cause “hassle” to make a point or to assert rights. But objectively speaking, this situation did not warrant it. Contrary to the assumptions made by the authour in to OP, I see no real evidence that the cops were acting improperly or infringing on his rights. It is not a question of being “acquitted” since he was not charged with anything; indeed, the cops must have evaluated him quite correctly as harmless (if annoyingly and pointlessly antagonistic) and let him go - which is in fact exactly what they _should_ have done. Remember, we have only _his_ side of the story. In that account the cops come off as rude, but _he_ comes off as even more rude - the whole ‘I’m a taxpayer, don’t you guys have REAL crimes to investigate?’ line must have had 'em rolling their eyes - they probably hear that sort of thing ten times a day. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/174 "2008-11-14T17:35:02Z")
> [@whorfin](#): > > Is there any suggestion here that the godfather was anything less than polite? He asked a question, and the officer refused to answer it. That, to my mind, is the impolite thing. What makes you think that? Here’s what I see in the OP: > [@](#): > > I asked if we could leave, but the officer kept me there demanding answers. “Someone complained,” she declared, “we have to follow up.” … I replied to his “I’m in charge here” bluster by again asking, “Am I free to go?” “No you are not,” he insisted, “not until I’m finished,” and continued his pointless monologue. So they did answer him - he asked “am I free to go” and they said “no.” And you might not call it “less than polite”, but I call this being obnoxious: > [@](#): > > “Don’t you people have actual crimes to investigate?” I demanded. … “Aren’t y’all supposed to be chasing shooters with assault rifles? Why are you bothering us?” That’s a great idea! As soon as I hear on the radio that there was a bank robbery in my area, I’ll be driving 70mph in the residential street in front of my house, because of course all the policemen will be out chasing the bank robbers. And when I see an Amber alert on the freeway, I’ll jump in the carpool lane even if I’m alone in the car, because all the highway patrol should be looking for the car mentioned in the Amber alert, and I don’t match that description. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/175 "2008-11-14T17:43:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Being asked his relationship with the girl is a perfectly reasonable question, he could have cleared it up in two seconds by simply saying “I’m grandpa” or whatever. By acting as he did he made it out to be more than it was. I don’t see this fellow as a champion of civil liberties at all. No, he could have cleared it up in two seconds by simply saying “Am I free to go?”. At best, saying “I’m grandpa” would have cleared it up in four seconds, if he had said “I’m grandpa. Am I free to go?”. Assuming, of course, that his claim to be grandpa didn’t cause the police to detain him further. And again, the police absolutely did two things wrong. First, they got evasive with him when he asked a perfectly reasonable question, prolonging the encounter and stressing the poor kid. Second, they brought three cars to bear on a situation which could have certainly been handled (even in the worst case situation) by one, at a time when they had direct pressing need for those officers elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/176 "2008-11-14T17:44:42Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > And you might not call it “less than polite”, but I call this being obnoxious: > > “Don’t you people have actual crimes to investigate?” I demanded. … “Aren’t y’all supposed to be chasing shooters with assault rifles? Why are you bothering us?” > > That’s a great idea! I understand they also like being reminded that you pay their salary. This was an exercise of rights, in the same way that standing on a streetcorner ranting about jezebels and sodomites is an exercise of free speech—i.e., fits the definition, but doesn’t really help accomplish anything. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/177 "2008-11-14T19:03:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, he could have cleared it up in two seconds by simply saying “Am I free to go?”. At best, saying “I’m grandpa” would have cleared it up in four seconds, if he had said “I’m grandpa. Am I free to go?”. Assuming, of course, that his claim to be grandpa didn’t cause the police to detain him further. > > And again, the police absolutely did two things wrong. First, they got evasive with him when he asked a perfectly reasonable question, prolonging the encounter and stressing the poor kid. Second, they brought three cars to bear on a situation which could have certainly been handled (even in the worst case situation) by one, at a time when they had direct pressing need for those officers elsewhere. First, what business is it of any but the emergency services how many cops reply to a call? Is it somehow a “violation of rights” that three cops answered when one would do? I do not get why this is even relevant. Maybe they just call whoever is closest, and three answered. To my mind, ‘outrage’ would only be appropriate if an emergency call went _unanswered_ or took an unreasonably long time. Getting hot and bothered on behalf of the cops ‘wasting their own valuable time’ because they respond quickly to what you know _after the fact_ is a bogus call strikes me as unreasonable. A very high percentage of calls cops get through 911 prove to be bogus, but naturally they cannot determine _in advance_ exactly which those are - hence, asking a few quite reasonable questions and assessing the situation before dismissing the incident. Which is, seemingly, exactly what they did, and quite rightly. Second, what did they say that was “evasive”? I missed that part. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/178 "2008-11-14T19:06:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, he could have cleared it up in two seconds by simply saying “Am I free to go?”. Well obviously not since he did say that and the matter wasn’t cleared up in two seconds. > [@](#): > > At best, saying “I’m grandpa” would have cleared it up in four seconds, if he had said “I’m grandpa. Am I free to go?”. Assuming, of course, that his claim to be grandpa didn’t cause the police to detain him further. Just saying “I’m grandpa” (more accurately, “I’m the child’s mother’s godfather and the mother entrusted me with her child”) might not have cleared it up in four seconds either. The police seemed suspicious (whether rightly or wrongly, I can’t say. From what little information in the OP, there doesn’t seem to be justifiable cause for suspicion, but we don’t know what the caller told a dispatcher, and what the dispatcher told the police officer.) > [@](#): > > And again, the police absolutely did two things wrong. First, they got evasive with him when he asked a perfectly reasonable question, prolonging the encounter and stressing the poor kid. Evasive? Again, from what I see in the OP, the person asked “Am I free to go?” and the response was “No, we want to ask you more questions.” What’s evasive about that? > [@](#): > > Second, they brought three cars to bear on a situation which could have certainly been handled (even in the worst case situation) by one, at a time when they had direct pressing need for those officers elsewhere. Saying that they had direct pressing need for those officers elsewhere is something that the police officers can judge better than us. We don’t know why the other two cars stopped - did police officer A ask for backup, did the officers stop because they saw what seemed to be like an irate citizen talking to a female police officer, were they just driving by and curious? I was once stopped at a traffic stop, a police officer was writing me a ticket, and another officer stopped next to us, rolled down his window, and asked the officer writing me a ticket “everything OK here?” I was about to yell through the window “Why aren’t you out catching real criminals instead of siccing two pigs on a poor guy who was only speeding?” but I didn’t. Maybe I should have to exercise my freedom of speech - if I don’t, then who will? p.s. Malthus said much of what I had to say, so you can ignore this post, but I’m not deleting it because it took me a couple of minutes to type and I hate for all that work to just disappear. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/179 "2008-11-14T19:15:21Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > I was once stopped at a traffic stop, a police officer was writing me a ticket, and another officer stopped next to us, rolled down his window, and asked the officer writing me a ticket “everything OK here?” I was about to yell through the window “Why aren’t you out catching real criminals instead of siccing two pigs on a poor guy who was only speeding?” but I didn’t. Maybe I should have to exercise my freedom of speech - if I don’t, then who will? Obviously you are a cowardly betrayer of Constitutional rights. ☹ What you should have done, is remind them that you are a taxpayer and pay their salaries. Though I like the notion of telling 'em that they have actual crimes to investigate - that’s almost as good. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348/180 "2008-11-14T19:44:24Z")
> [@Carson\_O\_Genic](#): > > Based on my experience, an ID statement such as “I’m grandpa” wouldn’t have cleared this up in two seconds. He asserted his civil rights and had the least hassle. If the police felt the situation required further detention, he would have had greater time involved yet still have been acquitted. As someone who has dealt with the interracial family thing for a long time, and someone involved in a lot of interracial adoption discussions - 90% of the time, it does. The little light goes off in people’s heads - you see it in their eyes. Once in a while, someone demands proof, but its often because of something like little Nigel being too smart for his own good. Now, much of my experience has been with my own and my friends’ families in the Twin Cities - epicenter for International Adoption, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone with a Korean cousin or a niece from Columbia around here. So this might be very different in other parts of the country. The airport security guard who gave us a bit of trouble was in Orlando - and the border issue Jill talks about has less to do with racism (IMO) and more to do with concern over illegal immigration. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-being-detained-sir-for-babysitting-someone-of-a-different-race/472348.md?page=10)