Calling the police

I realise life is more complex, but this poll highlights a common issue for people of colour who fear getting hostility from the police instead of understanding

Maybe I'm the outlier here but I have called the police multiple times when my ex was out of control aka punching holes in my door, slashing my mattress, etc. That calmed him down real quick and kept me safe.

To add, of the times I called, I had no problem outside of dumb DV laws

@Melanie Thanks for sharing your experience.

I’m not sure which to select. I’m white, but I absolutely don’t trust the police as a whole & in situations where others have called the police they’re useless anyways. I’m a strong believer in “tell the police nothing & the EMTs everything.” And this is not to say I don’t recognize white privilege! I just think a general distrust of police has really started to resonate for a lot more people.

@Paige thanks for sharing your experience. You make valid points.

Similar to Paige. I have no problem calling the cops if I need to. But I absolutely don’t trust them 100%. Even my husband who is a lawyer always tells me not to fully trust them.

I work in law 15 years now and the police are a last resort for me. Even when I have called (DV) they literally told me it was his house until thing got VERY severe. They have little actual legal education before they’re deputized and I find it abhorrent

Depends. Who is more scary, the police or the person who did the crime. There are other resources also depending on the crime, like domestic violence organizations, women centers etc. I had to call the police before for someone breaking my door. I mean... I was already risking getting hurt by the intruder. So I guess it depends.

I've never trusted the police and I wouldn't call them unless it was a life or death type of situation.

I’m black and would call them but I’m in England not America

I’d call them but they barely even turn up to calls. The police here are as useless as a chocolate teapot. I also don’t trust the met police as a woman at all.

I’m presuming your American so I have no experience with police over there but I’ve only had to call the police once as a teen when a man approached me for directions and I didn’t know so he thanked me anyway and then asked what colour my knickers were. I walked off straight away and called the police who picked me up and took me to the station. All the people I spoke to were white and they were very friendly and helpful. They found him within the hour due to CCTV and turned out he was a mental patient that had escaped. I don’t know how my experience with them would be as an adult though.

I’m assuming you are American by your “white privilege VS being black” correlation to someone’s safety, which honestly speaking sounds quite ignorant.

@Erica wrong assumption. I'm not American. But what happens in the States is a repeating pattern in other countries with black populations so objectively speaking there is statistical evidence to corroborate my point. Respected organisations like the United Nations show concern for things like this. Even the police sometimes admit there's a problem. There's therefore no case for ignorance, though of course there are exceptions and some places have different trends.

@Sarah I understand. I think many people who aren't white, male, heterosexual and able-bodied approach the police with less confidence. And of course some police are excellent but you just have to hope they are who you end up dealing with.

I do hope you understand how your statement may come across to black people, especially those that have lost loved ones due to police bias. Saying Yes- white privilege VS no- welcome to being black when black people are dying does sound very ignorant.. Calling for help is a right, nothing to do with race ! Somethings go without saying x I’m black in England neither myself or family have had any issues calling police.

It's not the fact that I don't trust the police, it's more so that they're useless half the time 🤷🏽‍♀️

This poll doesn't highlight anything lol, your voting options are mandatory yes for white people and mandatory no for black people. You should have had 4 options, a y/n for white people and for POC

@Erica I'm not sure I've understood how you've interpreted the wording of the poll. You are likely to be aware there is a character limit for each option which affects what you say. For clarity, the first option is that yes you would call the police likely because you could draw down on white privilege to protect you from their biases. This is therefore supportive of a black person who has lost someone due to police bias.

@Ella they were certainly options. They are absolutely valid, too.

That’s not what you said, like Ella said you could’ve had 4 options. Whatever makes you feel better, to each his own

ACAB The options here don’t make any sense

The options make sense because it's not really a question. It's only a poll to increase awareness on how police is unfair with black people. Even tho the topic is valid, I find it a bit inappropriate in this app as well.

@Erica I'm not sure how you have interpreted the poll then.

@Marilyne yes, it is about raising awareness. Thank you for that fair mindedness. I can partly see why it may not seem the appropriate place. This is primarily an app about motherhood so I do get that. But I was up thinking about how motherhood/being female is not something that protects one from the reality of the situation. And my sense of anxiety / discomfort was something I didn't want to silence me so that's why I said something. But I get there are other platforms

It's a poll group..... for posting polls where people vote for their preferred option.... And you are surprised people are getting confused? So this was to "send a message" not actually post a poll in the poll group....

@Ella I agree it’s a shitty poll only allowing for her bias opinion that if your black your not safe with police and if your white you are privileged and are safe

@Ella Based on the responses people have sent, I can see that not everyone is confused. They have gone as far as to respond via comments to make their response more representative for them. This is a far more inclusive approach than the limits of four 30-character options. And I'm not surprised by anything on here so far. I think people have objected to the trajectory of my poll, but it doesn't seem like anybody is confused. I corrected one person on my intended interpretation, yes, but that's not odd for any poll, and as they haven't chosen to clarify whether my intended interpretation is what they actually understood, I don't know what else to say about that. Without my prompting, the majority of people got the poll as intended, whether they choose to approve or not is an entirely different thing. Judging the poll from a place of approval is arguably another form of bias.

So, yes I designed a poll to measure sentiment on how white privilege affects confidence to call the police. If I had, simply typed 'yes' and 'no' as options, it seems this perhaps would have been less controversial, but then if I had just had one-word options, I could have been charged with drawing unsubstantiated conclusions about white privilege. I honestly do not think anyone would respond to a poll they didn't agree with so on that assumption, I sent it

@Chloe I deliberately used the word 'probably'. This is a word you use to sound less biased. And sadly, statistically, in some contexts (note that I also used a hypothetical situation in my poll 'if you were would you' - another way to avoid reckless absolutist statements ), it is the case that if you're black, you're probably going to have difficulties. Just like black mothers in some contexts probably have worse health outcomes. The facts shows that and there are government efforts now to deal with it. I used a hypothetical context and used the word probably. You have changed those more careful sentences into facts with your own phrasing that I never consented to. This is an unethical way to relay my message. You wrote: "If your black your not safe with police and if your white you are privileged and are safe". These are your words not mine. These words of yours represent a bias dressed up as fact.

In today's day and age, you should take responsibility for how you represent others. it's reckless to suggest I have stated that it is 100% the case that this happens. I have no issue with saying probably. And I said it so I could stand by my poll. Please don't misquote me.

@Chloe Thank you, but somehow she doesn’t “understand “ how it could’ve been interpreted

@Erica i think this is an indirect way of agreeing I didn't write it as a fact that is always true. There is no way with the 'probably' and hypothetical context, it could be described as me saying it's 100% true. It's worrying that this level of hysteria has arisen over something that was never said. That impulse to define the topic as it's assumed to be, and not as it was given, is a little scary.

And for the record, yes, I do think that if you're black, you're probably likely to feel less safe when you call the police. In other words, you possibly do call the police and when you do, you feel less safe. Imagine if I were a school kid,and some kids didn't listen to what I'd actually said, they'd be bullying me from now on. This would teach the school kid they can't say what they want to say even when they think carefully about how they say it. That's not okay.

What about if I'd said this in real life in my neighborhood - rumours would have already been spreading round to people in my community that I am saying things that are not quite true. Come on guys that's not okay. We all have a responsibility to first check we've interpreted someone correctly before exacting social sanctions. You're free to not approve of my poll. That's absolutely fine and I can respect that but put forward an argument about why you disapprove. don't rewrite my poll in a misleading way that makes it easy to rip apart. That's using a straw man argument which is more problematic than the poll itself.

My new poll: If you were concerned about white privilege, would you feel safe creating a poll to get a sense of others sentiment about it? Yes, I live in a world where I can expect reasonable responses No, I live in a world where certain topics are so heavily charged people draw conclusions based on assumptions

And the use of 'sh*tty' is effectively a dog whistle to up the ante. It casts what I have said and by extension me in a really negative light and effectively gives the permission for anyone inclined to aggression to get abusive by joining in. That is also not okay

If your point is that this poll seems to make a statement and only seeks evidence for that statement, and you accept that respondents are free to opt out of the poll if they wish, or add comments that are more representative of their own particular life experience, but you're still not convinced it's a poll that is styled in a way that is fully representative, then say that. That's fine. But don't suggest it deliberately sets out to confuse and the creator is refusing to understand some other interpretation (that still hasn't been categorically stated by anyone yet so it remains a mystery what this alternative interpretation that is so bad is), or that it has made zero attempt to be unbiased and has used only crass stereotypes, making absolutely no room for exceptions.

🙄🙄 No one is "hysterical" babe

@Ella ...until they are.

@Ella was and still am fine with your input. Thought you were speaking plainly. Couldn't ask for anything more