Situation Profiling
Categories: LifeI used to live in Wilmington, NC. Wrightsville Beach was just a three-minute drive from my apartment, and I spent a lot of time enjoying the beach environment.
WB is more of a residential beach than something like Myrtle Beach –- there are very few businesses on WB other than some hotels, a few restaurants, and single beach supply store. At night, when the sun goes down, it’s a pretty quiet area. If I were to move to live on a beach, WB is where I’d go.
To support this quiet, small town atmosphere, the WB police are on the ball -– they’re attentive. This is a good thing for WB residents, though maybe not so good a thing for rowdy college kids wanting to party.
One night, when I was in my mid 20s, well into the dark hours, I couldn’t sleep. I got up from bed, put on shorts and a t-shirt, and went to my car. I drove out of the quiet apartment complex in Wilmington to just ride around a bit. Soon I was driving to Wrightsville Beach.
There was nothing to do at WB at 1:00 in the morning, so I just drove around with the windows down, listening to the sound of the wind and surf. Within a minute or so of my pulling onto the main drive along the length of the small island upon which WB sits (just over two short bridges), a police car got behind me.
At first I just thought we were both going the same direction, so I didn’t think anything of it. There were no other cars on the road at that hour, so it soon became pretty clear that the cop was following me. When I pulled into a short side road that went through a small neighborhood of beach houses, the cop car followed me.
I realized what was going on immediately. Here was a lone car, driving slowly down the empty streets, possibly casing the area for some nefarious purpose. I made sure not to break any road rules, but I began making my way back to the exit of WB.
As soon as I crossed the second bridge off the island, the cop car slowed down, made a u-turn and returned to his patrol.
Now, would this cop have followed me and watched me like that if I was a white guy driving on the beach road? Oh, wait, I am a white guy.
A couple years before the above situation, I was accused of shoplifting. But again, I’m a white guy.
I can’t help but wonder, if I were black, would I or someone claim these events occurred because the cops and/or the clerk were profiling me based on my race?
Bullgrit
amen….who would think that a cop does is job. whether its a car driving down the road at odd hours of the night….or someone calling in a suspected break in….
case in point….you WEREN’T pulled over….and you WEREN’T arrest for shoplifting.
how about all the times i have been followed after a show…the cop follows me just because i left a bar, i don’t drink, so, is he profiling me, assuming that i have been drinking all night.
the tapes have come out about the 911 call race is never mentioned to the operator.
I think your title sums it up well. It was probably too dark for the cop to see you, so it was more about the circumstances involved. However, as a young black man, I’ve had this happen to me in broad daylight which lead me to form other conclusions. I think these days that police tend to be more suspicious of young people (16-25) behind the wheel as opposed to people of aparticular race.