Memorial Day in South Beach

Memorial Day in South Beach

I am NOT sticking up for anyone, but I hate injustices!

At the age of 16 I was pulled out of my ’62 Chevy Impala through the driver side window while still wearing my seat belt, the “officer” first punched me on the side of the head and then grabbed me by the neck and just yanked me out of my car, slammed me against the pavement, dropped on my lower back on his knee and handcuffed me, after I was handcuffed he kicked me in the ribs twice and all the while I had no idea why this was happening to me. As he told me a few minutes later after searching my car from end to end and not finding anything illegal, the reason he stopped me is because I was playing the radio too loudly. Now, let me tell you that my car radio was an AM only radio that came from factory, only one speaker was connected to the radio and it was in the dashboard, this speaker was cracked so if you raised the volume you just couldn’t hear the music, and besides that, my antenna had been torn off two days or so before this incident. This L.A.P.D. officer gave me a ticket for making an unsafe left turn and gave me a written warning of resisting arrest.

What could I do? It was my word against his. I had no parents to stick up for me, in a foreign country, speaking very little English and not knowing the law. Yes they abused me many times so I know firsthand what I am talking about, I don’t need anyone to tell me what the police in the big cities in this country does.

              Police officers in this country which is where I happen to live, are for the most part bullies, and therefor cowards. What I just related to you in the above paragraph is just one occasion I was unjustly stopped by the L.A.P.D. and abused, if I am not mistaken that was the sixth time and surely not the last time.

              The last 10 or more years during the Memorial Day weekend there is THE 12TH ANNUAL URBAN BEACH WEEK here in Miami Beach, Fl. I don’t know and don’t care who the organizers of these event are, but what are they thinking? Are these people stupid or what? Miami police is a proven known racist police department, hardly a week goes by that a black person doesn’t get shot, many are harassed and some are beaten as I was when I was a teen. By the way, I am not black, I am a white Cuban and as a “Hispanic” (none existent terminology for there is no Hispania) I encountered the wrath of racism in Los Angeles, Ca. and it was worse when it was “Hispanic” officers, just like here it’s worse for the blacks if it is a black officer; seems that they constantly want to prove to their white counterpart that they are tough on their own.

              Now, about the “BLACK” celebrations here: To the organizers of these events I want to say that you must look past the profits and look out for the welfare of the people attending these events, unless you see this as an opportunity to get rid of some more blacks. I know that City officials of Miami Beach assure you, the organizers that their officers are not racist, and that may be true in part, for things have come a long way since I moved here in 1994, but even if that is the case, whenever there is a celebration here in Miami Beach, they hire out from Miami police in order to have enough police presence and keep the crowds in check (drunks mostly).

              I wonder how many officers from Miami were involved in this last shooting in Miami Beach. As I watched the news report this morning I could not believe what I was watching, a car that had come to a complete stop and obviously had been placed in park was suddenly fired up on without regard to the bystanders on the street surrounding the area. Of course that at least one bystander was hit by “officers” bullets, thank God no one died as a result of the irresponsible act of these policemen. If you watch the video you will see that not only did they open fire on the car at close range once, but they did it and kept doing it. The news broadcast didn’t bother to say what happened to the occupants of the vehicle, how many occupants there were or anything else in regard to the ones being shot at; but they did make mention that the police were overwhelmed and found themselves forced to shoot. Well, the news stations here are terrified of the Miami police department and are very careful as to what they report when it comes to police behavior for they will pay the consequences in one way or another, but from what I saw in the privately recorded video of the events in this early morning shooting by the police, there was no need to endanger the life of innocent bystanders by shooting up this car, and the lack of information that has followed, it would not surprise me if they were shooting at the wrong vehicle, for as I understood it, there had been a drive-by shooting a couple of minutes before this incident and that is what the police responded to.

              I know that most of the violent crimes in South Florida are committed by Blacks and followed by Hispanics, but the killing by the police has to come to an end. Sure we are glad when a known killer is killed himself, but, how many others are also killed in the process of eliminating crime in our streets? Where does it stop?

              We as a society have to take steps to protect the innocent, and as I have said many times in the past, when it comes to police officers we have to screen every person that we are going to entrust with a firearm and give him/her the permission to use that firearm. Training must include psychological training under stressful situations, not gang tactics which is what is being used currently, and screening of candidates cannot be strictly if they have a criminal record and if they have good standing credit, because much more is involved in the protection of citizens and the control of criminals. The aptitude of a person must be evaluated for lack of self-steam, prejudice, bravery, fear, respect and human evaluation as character reading abilities. We fall short when it comes to who we pay to protect us and many innocent people can attest to that fact.

              When you hear that a police man got shot, don’t just say that the guy is a cop killer, because if he is a black man in south Florida and he knows that the police is looking for him, then he honestly believes that he will be shot on site if the “man” catches up with him. The police in South Florida are not held accountable for any shooting, because the law says that they are allowed to shoot anyone if they feel threatened, so all they have to claim and they always do is that the felt threatened.

              I am not afraid because I have very little to lose, so I dare to write these things, but I know for a fact that I could suffer an “accident” or who knows what fate the future/police will have in store for me.

              Or now, I have this warning: IF YOU ARE BLACK AND DON’T LIVE IN SOUTH FLORIDA, STAY AWAY FROM HERE OR RISK GETTING JUSTIFIABLY SHOT AND IF YOU DO LIVE HERE, DO AS YOU ARE TOLD BY THE POLICE AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE WITNESSES FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION.

Jorge