My latest book titled “Minority Viewpoint – my experience, as a person of color, with the American Justice System” describes many of my interactions with the legal community as well as with law enforcement.
One of the things I discuss in this book is the role the police played in this whole scenario. There were a couple of police officers whom I found to be highly professional and respectful to all parties involved. However, there were a couple of other officers whose approach appeared to me as not as professional.
Apparently one of the officers was talking to a teenager and associated my name with a horrible crime. The teenager was totally confused and called me right away and asked me if it was true. When this officer was deposed, he did not confirm that he actually used my name and associated my name with a crime, but he did say that they often used various “scare tactics” when talking with teenagers.
I find this very disturbing. Although he did not confirm that he had actually used my name, I do believe what the teenager told me in a phone call at the time this interchange was taking place between the police officer and the teenager.
I think it is very important for police officers to make sure that the so-called scare tactics do not involve any specific person’s name, unless they are talking about a person who was actually convicted of a crime. People in general look up to police officers and what they (how they say it) matters a lot. General public typically respect what the police has to say, and if they provide any misinformation, then it can cause significant negative consequences.