Avoiding The Rough Ride

Earlier today, I was reading about Baltimore's latest lottery winner. In this case, the Board of Estimates awarded a 28-year-old woman $95,000 for a "rough ride" courtesy of the BCPD. Of course, this settlement comes not long after the $6.4 settlement that was awarded to Freddie's Gray's family. In an effort to strike while the iron is hot, can we expect to see more "rough-riders" coming out of the woodwork in the upcoming months? Keep in mind, this latest payout stems from a 2012 incident.

So, let's try to answer a few questions. First off, do these rough rides really exist? I have to believe that they do. But my follow up question is....what leads up to a rough ride? After all, if you punch a cop or spit in his face, do you really think that it's going to be a smooth ride to Central Booking? Human nature would dictate no....

Hey look, I'm not advocating police brutality. But certain actions can bring a predictable reaction. And sometimes, the reaction isn't so pleasant.

Let's look at it another way. When I occasionally find myself passing through the seedier parts of Baltimore, I sometimes see some rather rude and unpleasant people. Just recently, I saw a guy walking down the middle of Lexington Street with his d*ck in his hand pissing over anything within watering distance*. My first thought was to yell, "Hey asshole, do you think you're f*cking cat? Put your d*ck away before I get out of my car and crack you in the nuts with my Day-runner!"

However, possessing just enough common sense, I chose not to say anything. Because, I knew that if I did, there was a good chance that I'd receive a beat-down (or worse!) by the nearby disenfranchised youth who had already been shooting me dirty looks. It didn't matter who happened to be right or wrong. What did matter is that I assessed the situation and determined that no positive outcome was going to come from me running my mouth. I was vastly outnumbered and unarmed. Plus it was lunchtime and I was in a hurry to get to Chick-fil-A.

This same assessment should be used in these police confrontations. If you are compliant or perhaps even polite to the police officer, the odds of a wooden shampoo or rough ride go way down. So, if you're ever in a situation like this, you have to ask yourself if it's worth the consequences. But on second thought, with all of these large settlements coming down the pipe, maybe it is.......

kw

* http://kensmouthpiece.blogspot.com/2015/08/its-raining-on-eutaw-street.html