Friday, March 20, 2015

Racial Profiling?

Victor Nunez Ortiz appears before Amherst School Committee 3/17/15

If Amherst police had paid me a visit because a Crocker Farm School (where my daughter does attend) employee had given them a description of an gray-haired chubby Irish guy, I would probably be a little unhappy with the reality check, but would not argue that I don't fit the profile.

In fact Victor Nunez Ortiz seems to argue that he did fit the profile and as a result was being profiled.



Which becomes a chicken and egg scenario. If police stop you simply because you're not white and they had no lead whatsoever on the race of the Perp, then that strikes me as profiling.

But if police stop Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because they have a description of a very tall black man, that strikes me as being good police work (as long as they let him go after finding out who he is).

 Last nights League of Women Voters Candidates night

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really? So why did they apologize?

Anonymous said...

Who apologized? The school? They are apologetic for everything,, even when they are right.

Larry Kelley said...

Did they?

And how would you know?

Anonymous said...

I'm still not understand how the episode Mr. Ortiz experienced can motivate him to do the FULL exhausting job of School Committee member.

His experience, quite frankly, seems a bit off the topic. The School Committee job is about education, not law enforcement.

And, also, how is it that he couldn't get his nomination papers in on time? Does this bode well for his responsiveness in meeting the demands of the job?

Are these candidates running for School Committee or ACLU Board Member?

Dr. Ed said...

If the APD truly already knew whom they were looking for when he called the station, as he alleges, then one does have to question their competence.

Once you get the guy you qre looking for, and you know you have him, continuing to question other people is questionable. And a waste of resources...

Anonymous said...

He no longer feels safe in Amherst... because the police were thorough? In addition to being 100% wrong, he seems a tad soft for a man seeking public office. Richard Marsh

Anonymous said...

How much will the mediation cost the Town?

Anonymous said...

If you were a real journalist on the campaign trail, you report on Vera's childish and abhorrent behavior when she led the school committee audience in booing and hissing a community member trying to speak. And you'd have a link to that video evidence.

This woman is nowhere near mature enough to help lead anything, let alone a school district. Does anyone else remember that circus of hate she helped bring to that meeting last fall, when a Muslim religious leader from Springfield was screaming at people about Jesus ?

What will Vera hiss about if she gets elected. We are supposed to take her seriously? She is a clown.

Larry Kelley said...

Probably hiss about Cowardly Anon Nitwits.

Larry Kelley said...

Sorry you're right.

Not all of you sound alike.

Anonymous said...

What crime was he being profiled for? I think I missed something.

If he attacked the school or something, why hasn't he been locked up?

Anonymous said...

We have a School Committee, we should have a PD Committee, that hires the APD Chief, sets policy for the APD, votes on its' budget, and evaluates the APD Chief's performance.

Mr. Nunez Ortiz would be perfect for that job.

Anonymous said...

So we have a pissed off man, a "community activist" and a former teacher running for the open positions. No matter who wins the race, we are going to get some interesting meetings in the future.

Anonymous said...

"Who apologized? The school?"

The Chief of Police apologized. It says so in his complaint.

Anonymous said...

Not sure how this is profiling if the cafeteria staff indicated to police that they thought it was him as noted in the MCAD compliant under #2. If a staff member thinks they recognize a person, doesn't it just make common sense to look into that person? The APD did not profile this person. While it is critical that profiling is rooted out and addressed openly, the motivation behind this compliant is questionable and I don't think APD should be characterized this way.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ortiz has too much time on his hands.

Anonymous said...

He might not be able to work because of his PTSD.