November 01, 2008

I love finding out things at the last minute. Two weeks ago I went to a class on how our new reporting system works. I thought everyone was scheduled to go. A week later I find out we're supposed to be teaching others. Oops! Nobody told me that. So, I get to figure out how to use power point and basically talk. I like to run my mouth anyhow. Of course as with anything else I do, the first time is a dry run. The next couple of times I remember something and add it in. I feel a little bad because the previous group didn't get that instruction. Oh well, it's like when we all started writing reports. The more we use it, the more we become accustomed to it. When I went through the class I went and found a report to take so I could play with the system myself. I know I don't have to. However, how can I review and grade reports if I can't keep up with the trend and do them myself?

Then later into the evening a call comes in about three black males walking around the area looking into cars. While going to the area they call back and say they just broke into a car. The first guy gets there and finds the three males. A few minutes later I get there. Come to find out, one of them lifted the door latch on the car trying to open the door and set off the alarm. Now, that's not breaking into a car. However, why the hell is he trying to open the car door to begin with? Plus, the car belonged a captain in the fire department and all of her gear was in the back. Plus, there is a hand and forehead print on the back glass (the car was dusty) indicating someone had been peaking inside it. All in all, these little creeps were about to do something they ought not to be doing. Their mother comes by. I already knew she was looking to play the "black victim" card. I'm so sick of this mentality. This mentality says nothing is your fault, it's because of racism and other people you can't act right. It's ingrained into kids and they grow up to believe it's okay to steal, use/sell drugs, even hurt or kill people. However it's society's fault, not yours. Anyway, I pull the mother to side and let her in on everything. I want her to know why her kids are detained and what people saw them do. Fortunately this woman had sense enough to realize that we weren't making this up. We were not detaining her kids for being black in a "mostly white" neighborhood (the fire captain is Hispanic by the way). She said it was sad this happened in a "mostly white" neighborhood. I calmly told her "ma'am you know as well as I do that people make decisions that get our attention and nobody but themselves are to blame!" I wish there was someway to bust through that mentality but it will persist. As long as certain people want to follow and be lead they will hang onto whatever suits them best. I'm not trying to be controversial, but perhaps the black community ought to listen to people on the outside like this man here.