AN UNPOPULAR VIEW ON HOW TO IDENTIFY TERROR SUSPECTS

I’m currently taking a beating on Facebook over this issue, so I figure why not put it out there for even more people to hammer away on me.

The bombings in Boston today may very well be the result of a suit and tie white guy who, for a lark, decided to see how many people he could kill and maim by setting off a few explosives.  And, if that’s the case then so be it.

But what today has done is it has really brought some feelings I have to the surface about being suspicious of people because of how they look.

One person on my Facebook was a childhood friend and she took me to task because I used to whine and complain about being stereotyped because I had long hair, wore ripped jeans, and seldom smiled.  Well, she’s right.  I was mad.  But now that I’m 38 and not 16 I can be honest about something.  I had a lack of respect for people in authority and I made sure I also looked the part.  So, if a police officer was investigating neighborhood vandalism, he was merely doing his job by asking the defiant looking guy walking down the street metres away from where the crime took place.  It doesn’t mean I was guilty, but it’s not unreasonable to assume a punk looking kid like me maybe knows something about it.

Guys in our group used to get mad all the time because we would be suspected of drug use.  None of us touched the stuff.  But, if you draw a line from A to B, it’s not crazy to think it.  We all looked and dressed like wannabe rock stars.  What do rock stars do?  They do drugs.  What do fans of rock stars do?  They do as much as they can to emulate their idols.  That means look and act the role.  It doesn’t mean that long haired, tough looking guys are the only ones out there doing drugs or that they must, automatically, be doing drugs.  But, I don’t think a police officer should have to disregard my appearance if he’s searching for drugs. 

That brings me to today and a much more touchier issue because it involves skin color and culture.  Upon hearing that police in Boston have a man in custody and hearing that he is a Saudi National who was seen carrying a couple of back packs near the bomb site, I can’t help but get mad because I think this could have been prevented.  On Patriots Day in the United States, seeing a Saudi carrying 2 (not 1) back packs through a very busy area of Boston is suspicious to me.  But, you are branded a racist for even thinking this guy may be a terrorist.  I think a security guard should be allowed to eyeball this Saudi man and search him using a number of factors that give him suspicion and race should be one of them (but not the only one).  Is the world a worse place if the man is searched and nothing is found?  I would say it isn’t.  Instead, that security guard runs the risk of being fired for being ‘racist’.  To me, if you are defensive about being searched or investigated for a crime then you maybe have something to hide and I, for one, would be inclined to look at you even closer.

I know it’s not the right thing to say.  You shouldn’t racial profile.  But, I guess I’ll use this last example and then you can beat me up on this if you like.  Pretend you are on an airplane and shortly after take-off a couple of guys who could be from Afghanistan get up and start arguing with a flight attendant.  Are you more nervous than if those two people were white, black, or of Chinese descent?  I’m not afraid to say I would be more nervous based on the person’s appearance and I would take action a lot quicker simply based on that fact alone.  The white, black, or Chinese individual gets a much longer rope to work out his dispute.  That’s just the way it is.

Suspecting people based on looks isn’t cool.  It’s not right.  But I think we’ve reached a point in society that it has to be a consideration because there are a lot of radical groups out there based on culture and religious beliefs. 

It doesn’t mean things like today will be prevented.  But, I think it does make our community safer.