Race discrimination and harassment by police

[Mitchell Bush]

Jurisdiction

Illinois

Okay to describe my case..... Yesterday night I was out doing Uber and I arrived at my destination to pick up my writer they requested a ride from me...I then proceeded to leave the pickup spot to head to the destination as I was driving I noticed a police car stand-off behind me but kept his distance and was following me for three to four blocks and soon I made a right onto a Main Street he pulled on the left side of me look into my vehicle observe me and my passenger which are black. . Then after pulling up on the side of me and confirming the suspicion of me being black and my passenger he then abruptly cut me off with his police car right in front of me almost causing an accident and then his partner and another police car pulled up behind me and blocked me in in the middle of the street at this time I was very distraught and nervous giving the fact that this is how most black men lives end in this scenario ...so after I was stop. . I turned on my camera and recorded everything their reasoning for follow me three blocks pulling up on the side of me looking in the car cutting me off in the middle of traffic it's because quotes my license plate light was out which was a bunch of bullshit so on camera I asked can I get out and see this like that you claim that is out there warrant such an aggressive pull over in the middle of the street.. the officer reply yes I can. .as I got out the car it was proven that my light was not out then shortly after he says my air freshener which is 2 in 3 in most hanging from my rearview mirror was obstructing my view which it wasn't then he goes along to say he said impound my car because I don't have proper signage which I did have to sign it I told him it's in the back window and I told him to City album just got sent out and I have it in my email would you like to see and he replied no answers time you asked for my ID he hasn't read me any rights and then one of the other officers noticed my City ID to signify that I am a city employee then he proceeds to ask me what do I do for the city I replied I went to City Hall because at this point he is fishing to see what I do in order to see how much of harassment they are willing to go with me and so after the one officer threatens to impound my car for not having the Uber City emblem which I approve I did they all huddled around and told me I was free to go and still didn't give me a reason on why they pulled me over there's discrimination because he pulled up on the side of me first and looked in my vehicle it seemed to black man then decided to cut me off in the middle of traffic and pulled me over.. . And it's harassment because it is an unlawful stop which no suspicion of a crime has been committed which I didn't even have to give my ID but I gave it out of fear of the situation turning deadly and I called Copa to solve a complaint against the police officer and officers they pulled me over and was threatening me with taking my car and other things and not even giving me a reason why they really pulled me over and they want me to come in Wednesday to show them the video but I feel like this needs to be took any more seriously then being filed away as a complaint I want to sue City of Chicago Police Department for discrimination and harassment and now I am very anxious and nervous anytime the police gets behind me because I feel like I will be stopped again for no reason and the situation might turn deadly if the officer inciting other things about situations that is not true even asked if I had a gun and I said no they was really trying to find anything on me to justify they stop which was unjustified stop in the first plplac.. so how should I go about this and should I show up with the video footage without a lawyer what should I wait to speak to an attorney and let the attorney handle it

 

[Tax Counsel]

I want to sue City of Chicago Police Department for discrimination and harassment

Chicago has long had problems with its police discriminating against Black persons and even physically abusing them. But despite that history of problems, it is not easy to win a discrimination case against the police for a stop like this. Proving that the stop was done without the reasonable suspicion the cops needed or was really done because of your race can be difficult to do. Also, while the stop was evidently emotionally upsetting for you, you did not suffer much if any financial loss from it and did not suffer physical injury from it (thankfully). So even if you prove the discrimination you might not win all that much money out of it.

Talk to a lawyer who litigates civil rights claims against police and see what the attorney tells you. The ACLU, NAACP and other organizations might be able to help you with this, too.

 

[Mitchell Bush]

Chicago has long had problems with its police discriminating against Black persons and even physically abusing them. But despite that history of problems, it is not easy to win a discrimination case against the police for a stop like this. Proving that the stop was done without the reasonable suspicion the cops needed or was really done because of your race can be difficult to do. Also, while the stop was evidently emotionally upsetting for you, you did not suffer much if any financial loss from it and did not suffer physical injury from it (thankfully). So even if you prove the discrimination you might not win all that much money out of it.

Talk to a lawyer who litigates civil rights claims against police and see what the attorney tells you. The ACLU, NAACP and other organizations might be able to help you with this, too.

Ok thanks

 

[mightymoose]

Then after pulling up on the side of me and confirming the suspicion of me being black

You have no idea what the officer may have been looking for. He may have been trying to confirm the identity of your rider. It is quite a leap to assume he was verifying your race.

there's discrimination because he pulled up on the side of me first and looked in my vehicle

This detail does not support any claim of discrimination.

And it's harassment because it is an unlawful stop which no suspicion of a crime has been committed which I didn't even have to give my ID

There could be many reasons why you were stopped. Police are allowed to lie to you. It is possible they didn't want to reveal what they were actually up to. Yes, you certainly did need to provide your ID upon demand and it is a good thing you did.

Whether to share the video or not is up to you. If you don't, then don't expect your complaint to go far. I would say no, you do not need an attorney for this. I would also suggest you not talk about dinrg anybody because they will shut down and not talk to you at all. You don't seem to have a reason to sue anyone.

 

[Tax Counsel]

would say no, you do not need an attorney for this.

We don't have all the facts. It can't hurt for the OP to discuss the matter with an attorney or two. It won't cost him anything but a little of his time and the discussion is confidential. It may be that he does not have a good case to pursue for the reasons I discussed before, but without all the facts it's impossible to know. I realize police like to stick together on this sort of thing, but Chicago police do indeed have a very bad record of discrimination and abuse of minorities, so it is not very hard to believe that the OP may well have been singled out because of his race. The city has paid out millions of dollars in settlements because of it. Unfortunately the bad cops out there (and they do exist) make it all the harder for the good ones because it make the communities they serve less trusting and supportive of the police.

 

[Mitchell Bush]

We don't have all the facts. It can't hurt for the OP to discuss the matter with an attorney or two. It won't cost him anything but a little of his time and the discussion is confidential. It may be that he does not have a good case to pursue for the reasons I discussed before, but without all the facts it's impossible to know. I realize police like to stick together on this sort of thing, but Chicago police do indeed have a very bad record of discrimination and abuse of minorities, so it is not very hard to believe that the OP may well have been singled out because of his race. The city has paid out millions of dollars in settlements because of it. Unfortunately the bad cops out there (and they do exist) make it all the harder for the good ones because it make the communities they serve less trusting and supportive of the police.

Facts

 

[justblue]

Facts