Citing complete lack of evidence, PAPD blames designer purse theft on “black males in their early 20's.”
Once again, faced with zero evidence to identify a criminal, the Palo Alto Police Department points its crooked finger on the same individuals that US Police Departments have targeted for centuries: young black men. We must put a stop to this intolerable, deadly practice.
The Palo Alto Police Department issued a press release earlier today, announcing that high end consignment store The Real Real, located on the corner of University and Waverley in the tony Palo Alto downtown shopping district, was robbed by seven black men in their early 20's.
According to the PAPD, the robbers were wearing full facial masks and hooded clothing with the hoods pulled all the way up. Nonetheless, despite their full facial coverings, long sleeves, and gloves, the PAPD concluded that all seven robbers were black males in their early twenties.
Citing the only employee witness (“a woman in her twenties”) (who almost certainly was hiding under the counter), the PAPD said that the robbers stole 20 high end purses by “ripping handbags from security cables.” The robbers then “pushed out of the way” the only other witness, the store’s security guard, who claimed he saw suspects run “east on University” before escaping on Waverley — which is not a run, given that the store is located on the corner of University and Waverley. Not surprisingly, the second witness saw neither the suspects nor their vehicles on Waverley St — likely because he was only looking for seven black males in their early twenties.
The PAPD noted without regret that it will not release surveillance video footage, because “the footage would not aid in the identification of the suspects” given the fact that the suspects were fully masked and hooded. Yet, despite the admitted irrelevant nature of the videos, the PAPD nonetheless used them to conclude that the crime was committed by seven black males in their early twenties.
In the PAPD’s own words:
No one is served, and no business is protected, when our police force pursues only black suspects in our white segregated city. While our racially biased police officers shake down innocent minority individuals, they enable actual perpetrators to go free.
What young black men are being interrogated by the PAPD as I type this post? Whose children will have to stay indoors — again — lest they face danger at the hands of police officers looking for young black males to blame for a crime the police lack any evidence to connect them with?
At what point do we, as a community, demand that the Palo Alto City Council and City Manager Ed Shikada end their complicity with a police force that even the FBI concluded to have significant issues of racial bias and abuse?
We cannot wait any longer. As long as the PAPD is in charge, our community is not safe. We deserve better.
