June 4th, 2020
I just was reminded of a personal story about how police are so different in America vs. other countries.
This story is going to sound like the ultimate white privilege - that's not my intention. It's just a story about how the police system in America is different.
--
When I was 19 years old, I went to Germany for Oktoberfest.
I have German friends that live there - and they showed me how to drink like a true German - our goal was to drink as many Maß's as possible and get super drunk.
After the festivities, we took the train back to my friend's town - most of us passed out on the train.
When we got back there was a half-mile walk back to my friend's place. When I got off the train and started walking, I saw a German cop.
Instinctually, I got scared that I would get caught for underage drinking. Realizing I'm actually in Germany, I realized I wasn't breaking the law.
My friends and I were laughing and stumbling around and were clearly drunk to anyone who was sober.
The cop yelled at us in German.
My friends laughed and called the cop over to us.
I had no idea what was going on.
The cop pulled out a breathalyzer. I freaked out.
My German friend yelled, "We're going to see who is the drunkest!"
The cop proceeded to breathalyze all of us.
We all laughed as the cop breathalyzed us and showed us the numbers.
Then, we just walked away and went home.
I'll always remember this story.
--
Flashback to when I was 16 years old, when I was busted for underage drinking.
I came from a small town with lots of cops, and no crime (aka cops get bored).
My friends and I were doing normal teenage things - sneaking out of our house and drinking beer.
We were drinking in some parking lot and the cops got called on us.
When the cops arrived, they handcuffed me on the back of the car.
They handcuffed all my friends too.
They made me blow into a breathalyzer, and I blew a .02 - which is the equivalent of drinking half of a beer.
Multiple more cops arrived on the scene.
They searched my car and tore the thing apart, looking for drugs or anything they could.
They booked me and my friends with multiple underage drinking charges.
Their goal was to intimidate us. Their goal was to do anything in their legal ability to get someone arrested.
It felt as though their assumption is you're committing a horrible crime and it's your job to convince them you're not. That's why we feel uncomfortable when we see a cop driving behind us.
Based on all the protests and black people speaking out, it sounds like you can multiply this feeling by 10x if you're black.
I was committing a crime, and I deserved my treatment, but if black people feel this way with every encounter with police in their life, then I can understand why they are so desperate for change.
This is just my story about American cops vs. German cops.
This story is going to sound like the ultimate white privilege - that's not my intention. It's just a story about how the police system in America is different.
--
When I was 19 years old, I went to Germany for Oktoberfest.
I have German friends that live there - and they showed me how to drink like a true German - our goal was to drink as many Maß's as possible and get super drunk.
After the festivities, we took the train back to my friend's town - most of us passed out on the train.
When we got back there was a half-mile walk back to my friend's place. When I got off the train and started walking, I saw a German cop.
Instinctually, I got scared that I would get caught for underage drinking. Realizing I'm actually in Germany, I realized I wasn't breaking the law.
My friends and I were laughing and stumbling around and were clearly drunk to anyone who was sober.
The cop yelled at us in German.
My friends laughed and called the cop over to us.
I had no idea what was going on.
The cop pulled out a breathalyzer. I freaked out.
My German friend yelled, "We're going to see who is the drunkest!"
The cop proceeded to breathalyze all of us.
We all laughed as the cop breathalyzed us and showed us the numbers.
Then, we just walked away and went home.
I'll always remember this story.
--
Flashback to when I was 16 years old, when I was busted for underage drinking.
I came from a small town with lots of cops, and no crime (aka cops get bored).
My friends and I were doing normal teenage things - sneaking out of our house and drinking beer.
We were drinking in some parking lot and the cops got called on us.
When the cops arrived, they handcuffed me on the back of the car.
They handcuffed all my friends too.
They made me blow into a breathalyzer, and I blew a .02 - which is the equivalent of drinking half of a beer.
Multiple more cops arrived on the scene.
They searched my car and tore the thing apart, looking for drugs or anything they could.
They booked me and my friends with multiple underage drinking charges.
Their goal was to intimidate us. Their goal was to do anything in their legal ability to get someone arrested.
It felt as though their assumption is you're committing a horrible crime and it's your job to convince them you're not. That's why we feel uncomfortable when we see a cop driving behind us.
Based on all the protests and black people speaking out, it sounds like you can multiply this feeling by 10x if you're black.
I was committing a crime, and I deserved my treatment, but if black people feel this way with every encounter with police in their life, then I can understand why they are so desperate for change.
This is just my story about American cops vs. German cops.