I just sent a check to the KY State Police for $180, put it in the mail yesterday.
My parents were on the way back from a camping trip, they're around 70 in age, they're as white-bread and clean-cut as they come. Going through a construction zone in Paducah. Dad said it was fairly heavy traffic, speed limit was 35, but he was keeping up with traffic. He got pulled, 50 in 35. Nice truck, nice camper, out of state tags...that's a payday for police officers. He asked the officer why he was the one pulled when traffic was moving steadily. The officer said don't be a smartass, you were speeding in a construction zone (which was true). Dad hands officer his drivers license and his CCP. Officer asks if he has any weapons in the vehicle. Dad says yes, one in my pocket, one in the console, one in the duffel in the back seat, and my wife has one in her purse. Officer wants to know why he has so many. Dad says it's just personal protection. The officer wanted to see all of the guns (suspect he just wanted to look in the duffel), so dad obliged. Another patrol car shows up (backup I guess). All in all, he sat there over 30 minutes at a traffic stop for speeding, and legally carrying handguns. Dad kept his cool the whole time, got his $180 ticket, moved on. It pissed him off that the officer was a smartass and a jerk, but he kept his mouth shut. Keep in mind, to have a CCP in SC, you have to have a clean record, so at 70 years of age, dad hasn't had anything more than minor traffic tickets, yet the guns somehow were of interest. Maybe after 70 years dad was going to go postal.
My point is, yes, there is a lot of profiling that goes on, but I'm not so sure a lot of it is racial (although there COULD be instances of that). Police officers are looking for easy targets, and out of state is an easy target. Pull em over, give em a ticket, they're not coming back for a court hearing, it's easy money, oh and you might just get a big drug payday to fall in your lap every now and then. You have to be extra careful driving in other states, you've got a target on your back. Black, white, hispanic, race doesn't really matter IMO.
I would encourage those that think everything is racial profiling consider what I wrote above. Dad was an easy target. IMHO, Marcus was too. Profiling happens, deal with it, move on.
My parents were on the way back from a camping trip, they're around 70 in age, they're as white-bread and clean-cut as they come. Going through a construction zone in Paducah. Dad said it was fairly heavy traffic, speed limit was 35, but he was keeping up with traffic. He got pulled, 50 in 35. Nice truck, nice camper, out of state tags...that's a payday for police officers. He asked the officer why he was the one pulled when traffic was moving steadily. The officer said don't be a smartass, you were speeding in a construction zone (which was true). Dad hands officer his drivers license and his CCP. Officer asks if he has any weapons in the vehicle. Dad says yes, one in my pocket, one in the console, one in the duffel in the back seat, and my wife has one in her purse. Officer wants to know why he has so many. Dad says it's just personal protection. The officer wanted to see all of the guns (suspect he just wanted to look in the duffel), so dad obliged. Another patrol car shows up (backup I guess). All in all, he sat there over 30 minutes at a traffic stop for speeding, and legally carrying handguns. Dad kept his cool the whole time, got his $180 ticket, moved on. It pissed him off that the officer was a smartass and a jerk, but he kept his mouth shut. Keep in mind, to have a CCP in SC, you have to have a clean record, so at 70 years of age, dad hasn't had anything more than minor traffic tickets, yet the guns somehow were of interest. Maybe after 70 years dad was going to go postal.
My point is, yes, there is a lot of profiling that goes on, but I'm not so sure a lot of it is racial (although there COULD be instances of that). Police officers are looking for easy targets, and out of state is an easy target. Pull em over, give em a ticket, they're not coming back for a court hearing, it's easy money, oh and you might just get a big drug payday to fall in your lap every now and then. You have to be extra careful driving in other states, you've got a target on your back. Black, white, hispanic, race doesn't really matter IMO.
I would encourage those that think everything is racial profiling consider what I wrote above. Dad was an easy target. IMHO, Marcus was too. Profiling happens, deal with it, move on.