Police: Handcuffed or Handcuffers? Keeping public order becoming a tall order

The police officers ignored the cell phones and protests and insisted the youth comply. Egged on by the crowd the youth refused. Eventually one officer had the youth stand against the wall while his partner searched the bag. After the crowd dispersed I asked one of the officers. “How often does this happen?” His response: “It’s like Big Brother follows us everywhere.” While police may feel that trouble is always lurking ahead there is a growing divide between white and black America on the issue of whether the police are capable of meting out equal treatment on the basis of race. The divide is likely to widen in the wake of theBaltimore riots sparked by the death ofFreddieGray an African American arrested for possession of a switchblade who later died of injuries sustained while in police custody. Within the last year protests erupted in Ferguson Missouri over the fatal police shooting ofMichaelBrown and in New York whereEricGarner was killed by a police choke hold.