Recently I went to an on-campus party at the LSC Ballroom, and in the middle of the party my friend Mical Roy and I went to my car which was parked in the parking lot next to the Health Center. We went to get this fake afro so he could wear it at the party.
After locking my car door, I noticed a cop car pass us and then make a U-turn in the intersection. He then proceeded to drive into the parking lot, driving past us again. Mical and I started walking up the hill and during our walk up the hill, the officer drove past us about seven times back and forth.
I told Mical that if I ran right now, the cop would probably put his lights on and chase me. After the cop passed us again, I told Mical that we were about to get stopped.
Mical said, “If I didn’t have this afro on, we wouldn’t be getting messed with right now.”
I don’t know if that was the reason, nor do I want to even state why I think the cop was going to stop us, but I knew we were about to be stopped.
We were about 100 feet from the LSC when the cop shined his bright light at us and told us to stop. Mical stopped but I kept walking, because I knew he had no reason to stop us.
The cop then yelled at me to stop. I asked the cop if we were a pair of elderly women, would he have stopped us, and he responded, “Yes.”
He then asked us where we were going and I said right there, pointing to the LSC. I then asked him if he was bored and had nothing else to do. He said the reason he stopped us was because we fit the description of two suspects the cops were looking for.
He went on to say that one suspect had a red shirt (Mical) and the other had a black shirt and jeans (myself). I was thinking this cop was full of it. I knew he wasn’t looking for someone with a fake afro on and someone wearing a black “Superman” shirt.
I then told the cop angrily to stop wasting my time and go ahead and arrest us. I then put my hands together to indicate he could put the cuffs on. The cop said that wouldn’t be necessary and asked us if we were students.
Mical told him that we were students and lived at Smith Hall. I told the cop if we weren’t being arrested that I had business elsewhere and I walked back to the party. As I walked off, the cop headed to his car and said, “y’all have a nice night,” sarcastically.
Now let me explain to some of you why I responded to the situation as I did.
This semester alone, I have been stopped six times by cops: three times on campus in my car, twice on the edge of Huntsville and now this last time walking on campus. All three times on campus in my car I was asked if I had been drinking, if I had any drugs in the vehicle, where I was coming from and where I was going.
I felt like I was on a game show, with all the questions I had to answer. Then they made me get out of the car and take a five minute DUI test.
At the end, it is always, “Y’all be safe.” Since the school closed down the Smith-Kirkley parking lot it is not exactly excessible, and so a lot of students have to walk from the parking lot by the clinic back to their dorm.
Never have I seen security for anyone while walking back to the dorm. I’m not worried about my safety at school, but the fact that a student can be harassed like a criminal but not be escorted to their dorm after midnight, is amazing.
Once again the cops have given me a reason to sometimes question why they are even necessary.