Basic traffic stops, terrible technology, and death sentences

For those of you who watch these videos of black people getting shot by cops after basic traffic stops that lead to “warrant arrests” and think “well, follow the law and you’ll be fine”, here’s a story a story that might help put things into perspective.

I got a speeding ticket on 4/6/2021. My court date (on the ticket) is 5/4/2021. I’ve been checking the site regularly to get my ticket to show up in the system so I can act on it. I forgot all about this last week in the midst of a crazy work work. Just found the ticket and realized I need to pay check again. Nothing in the system. Today is 4/23/2021.

I called the courthouse twice to figure out why I couldn’t find my ticket in the court’s system. Apparently, the officer has to download the ticket data from his handheld device that printed my ticket into the court database.

The courthouse operator told me that the system will issue a new court date and send me a letter whenever the ticket is finally uploaded.

How much should I trust that system? How often should I be checking? What documentation should I get to prove I’m not forgetting this ticket even if it’s. It showing up in the system yet? How can I avoid being arrested if I’m pulled over after 5/4/2021 and my ticket still hasn’t been downloaded? And why, after 17 days, has the officer STILL not downloaded the ticket data for my and likely everyone else he’s been ticketing the last 17+ days?

How much I trust this system to digitally “just work”? After all, government technology platforms aren’t know for their cutting edge, flawless execution.

And even if the system does what it’s Supposed to do, consider these questions:

What if I lose the physical ticket in the 17+ days it’s taking to get into the system? What if I forget to look at the court web site every day to track my ticket? What if the court system keeps the original date?What if the USPS doesn’t deliver the notification of my updates court date properly (like so many pieces of mail lately)? What if I get pulled over again while this is sorting out and I am showing as having rolled my 5/4/2021 court date?

Just follow the law, right? Don’t get pulled over, right?

Sure.

But what if I was a black man? Caron Nazario was pulled over with guns drawn on him for not displaying tags (they were displayed). Daunte Wright was pulled over for an air freshener hanging from his rear view, or expired plates, or who knows what…We are still sorting this out.

American police can pull anyone over at any time. There’s ALWAYS a statute they can fall back on. It’s literally impossible to drive “legally” in America. Literally.

If your first response is that following the law is a “stay out of jail” free card, you’re not understanding or empathizing with the realities of our system and society.

Let’s say I’m pulled over while my ticket is getting sorted out, but a bench warrant is already issued. The police have no choice but to arrest me. I might have documentation to get OUT of jail, but I’m still going to jail.

That means bail, impacts on my job, follow-up court dates, additional costs, dealing with the impound lot, and more. Not to mention that getting arrested, especially as a black person in America, is traumatic… if not deadly. Daunte Wright would be alive if not for an outstanding warrant for failure to pay a relatively small fine + a needless traffic stop.

I’m white.

I have the privilege of not having to worry that any interaction with the police could lead to my death. I don’t have to fear that not putting my hands in just the right spot will lead to death. I don’t have to manage the fears of being seen as inherently dangerous during a routine traffic stop because of the color of my skin.

Black people do. Period. And that has to stop. Now.

Black people have been telling white America for many, many, many years that their experience is tougher than we understand, more complicated than simple phrases like “just follow the law” can address.

It’s time to wake up and find our empathy. It’s time to listen to the experiences, traumas, and fears that black America is telling us about. It’s time to understand why BLM exists, what their message is all about. It’s time to stop listening to the crazies on Fox News turn real, tangible race issues into some sort of terrorist plot because it helps them sell ads on Hannity, Ingrahm, and Carlson.

And most importantly, it’s time for white America to stop saying “well, if they just followed the law, they’d be alive…”

Those words in modern America just aren’t true.

#enough

UPDATE: I checked the courthouse web site again today (4/23/2021) and the ticket is finally updated. Want to guess what the new, updated, adjusted for the cop’s delayed processes is now? Yep, you guessed it: no change at all. Still the original 5/4/2021 date. Which means that despite giving me a month to plan and pay, I’m down to half that. 12 days. And had I trusted the agent at the courthouse, lord knows where I’d be. And that’s the point, eh?