It's a matter of law and constitutionality. And yes, if done for the wrong reason and/or outside legal jurisdiction, it very well can be and has been used as a race thing.
Oh no doubt it can be and probably is sometimes (perhaps even a lot of the time?). But that doesn't mean it is every time, in this instance I don't see anything that struck me as racial profiling or belligerent on the part of the officers in the video.
Out of curiosity, what does Australian law say about asking for ID without probable cause?
I wasn't actually sure before I looked it up. The resources I found describe it remarkably similar to how US law was described (i.e. they can only demand it under certain situations - mainly that they have reasonable suspicions of something). If they ask and they don't have the right to demand it you can just refuse, if they have the power to compel you they have to tell you first in order to enforce it.
There does not seem to be any legal issues with them asking without the right (they just have to stand there awkwardly when you say no). From what I can gather of US law it is similar there (with some variation by state),
They could have driven past her and told her to be careful and left it at that.
Uh or they could not. It seemed they wanted to have a better conversation than 5 seconds through a window. I'd find such behaviour unprofessional for anything longer than 5 words and even then it could be construed as impolite.
You'll note in my first comment to Nick I said they didn't have a reason to ask for her ID, I understand that cops will interact with the public in various ways outside actual law enforcement.
The question should really be - "if the person was white would they have asked for ID?". My proposal is that
in this particular instance the answer is probably yes.
They clearly knew she was just exercising (they even said this), and clearly had no use for the ID apart from paperwork. What persecution do you think they were visiting upon her with that ID? (I'm not saying she has to give it. The law not compelling it exists for a reason here. I'm referring to motive)
Well, I'm not really concerned with your opinion of my reaction. :chuckle:
Fair enough :chuckle:
But I have a serious point I'm trying to make - there is little more damaging than a bad argument for a good idea/cause. By perpetuating bad arguments you provide opponents like Nick (and basically anyone not yet convinced) easy targets which they can pretend are representative of the whole idea. There are far FAR better examples of the current issues than this one here.
Her reaction in the video was, as I said, polite and assertive, and good for her.
I agree she was polite and assertive and even within her rights to have gone on to just say no to providing her ID. I just stated the obvious that she reacted defensively (i.e. she reacted like she thought they were accusing or doubting her right to be there) which was not meant to imply any belligerence on her part within the video (and I have already said from the video her reaction does not appear racist either and that they were understandable even common)
