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Printer-Friendly ModeBreathalyzer lawsuit triggers memory of police harassment
August 25, 2005 —
With the recent discussion of Katie Platte and the constitutionality of forcing minors to take Breathalyzers, I was reminded of something that happened to me a few years back. Though my situation deals with alcohol as well, it has nothing to do with actually consuming it. And while I admit I probably should have written this commentary three years ago, I adhere to the old sayings that things are better late than never and there's no time like the present.
In November of 2002, two of my friends and I went to Meijer on Tittabawassee to buy a blank video tape. On our way back to the electronics department, we stopped to look at alcohol. After a few minutes of browsing, we went back to the electronics department and got the tape we needed. We walked around for a while longer, looked at stuff like only poor college kids can look at stuff and decided to leave. We went to one of those self-checkout aisles, paid for the tape and headed for the car.
In the parking lot, we began to get the feeling that we were being followed. There were two groups of men flanking either side of us and all three of us later admitted to each other that we knew something was going to happen. Maybe we thought we were going to get mugged or beat up or whatever. What we didn't think though was that we were going to get harassed by the police.
What happened next still makes me mad almost three years later. One of the men stepped forward and demanded we hand over the alcohol we had stolen. My friends and I stood there dumbfounded. The man claimed he had witnessed one of us (never saying which one) steal a bottle of alcohol and that we needed to hand it over. He even told us we had been captured on video and that the tape could easily be reviewed to catch us red-handed.
Though scared and confused, I eventually got around to asking these men who they were. It was then, and only then, that they identified themselves as police officers (though I still had to request to see a badge.) They asked us a few more questions, looked through what we bought and even insisted we tell them what we were planning to do with the video tape as if it was any of their business in the first place. They said it was far too "convenient" that three college guys were buying a blank video tape at 11:00 at night and then told us we were going to be frisked. It was then that I was pushed against my own car and patted down like I was some sort of criminal.
Of course, the frisking turned up nothing. One officer said we probably stashed the bottle somewhere or dropped it when we realized we were being followed. They told me I was still in big trouble and that I could rat on my friends and maybe get off a little easier. Obviously, I did nothing but insist we were all innocent, vouching for my friends and knowing full well they would never steal.
Eventually they let us go and told us to leave and not come back. A wonderful send off for three customers indeed: "Thanks again for shopping at Meijer, now don't come back."
When I got home, I was so outraged I didn't know what to do. I called Meijer and complained, asking them if they were aware a half-dozen plain clothes officers were harassing their customers. They told me that the men were State Police Officers from Bridgeport and were in their store on a sting operation trying to catch kids stealing alcohol. They didn't even apologize to me.
Days later, The Saginaw News even did a front-page article about the sting, claiming it was a huge success since they had caught a number of kids. It made me wonder how many others there were like me and my friends.
I know now that I should have done something. The police were in the wrong for what they did and Meijer was in the wrong for letting it happen. They can claim that they had reason to believe we stole alcohol since we looked at it and didn't buy anything. But they didn't follow us out to the parking lot demanding we give back the movies, sporting goods or dust buster we looked at but didn't buy either.
And now that Katie Platte is part of a federal lawsuit and trying to make a difference, I am again reminded of the evening I too was guilty until proven innocent. And while my situation would have never gone to federal court and changed laws, I would have been content with an apology. Instead, I'm left to ask my fellow students for help.
Our generation needs to help ensure things like this don't continue to happen. Far too many good kids are pooled in with a few bad eggs and everyone is left with yolk on their face. I have never met Katie Platte but you can bet I'm pulling for her. I'm sure when she was forced to blow into that machine to prove her innocence, she felt violated the same way I did when I was being frisked in the middle of a parking lot. What would have happened had someone I known seen that incident occur? What would have happened if I had a job interview that next morning with someone who saw me being treated like a criminal? At that point, my story would have no longer mattered and I would have been lumped in with the scum the police weren't catching while they were busting our chops.
So, to Katie I say good luck. I'm pulling for you. And when I hear that you won your lawsuit, I'm going to run out and get a tape so I can record the story on the news. But this time I'm gonna buy it at Wal-Mart.