In Studio City, California, a black woman hanging out with a white guy is probable cause for suspicion of a crime having been committed?
[UPDATE 9/15 – Police were reportedly called by someone claiming Watts and her boyfriend were having sex in the passenger seat of their car with the door open. Watts says that they were making out and saying they were having sex is ridiculous.]
Actress Daniele Watts may have been illegally detained and assaulted by Studio City police, and she posted about it on her Facebook page:
“Today I was handcuffed and detained by 2 police officers from the Studio City Police Department after refusing to agree that I had done something wrong by showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place.”
Knowing there was no reasonable reason to suspect her of anything, Watts refused to present her I.D. The men in blue (ok, black) cuffed her and tossed her in a cruiser, cutting her arm in the process.
What, one might ask, was the crime of which Ms. Watts was suspected?
Her chef boyfriend, Brian James Lucas, while being questioned by the police during the incident decided to present his identification to the requesting officer. Lucas posted his account of the incident on his Facebook page:
“From the questions that he asked me as D was already on her phone with her dad, I could tell that whoever called on us (including the officers), saw a tatted RAWKer white boy and a hot bootie shorted black girl and thought we were a HO (prostitute) & a TRICK (client). So they handcuffed her and threw her roughly into the back of the cop car until they could figure out who she was. In the process of handcuffing her, they cut her wrist, which was truly NOT COOL!!! Of course, they had to let her go eventually cuz we weren’t a threat to anyone.”
So some jerkoff saw a white, tatted dude being affectionate with a black woman, and thought, “well obviously… prostitute”?! Wow, if this is true, that person has some major lack of I.Q. and terminal racism issues to deal with.
Daniele Watts and husband Brian James Lucas
To those saying “she should’ve just given her I.D.”: piss off, sheep. This woman knows her rights and bravely exercised them. For that she was allegedly illegally detained and assaulted. You do NOT have to produce ID if there is no reasonable suspicion of you having done something naughty.
The United States is not a “Papers Please” country.
The Police Need Better Training On Profiling and Citizens’ Rights
Cops have horrible jobs, are frequently heroic, and often deal with great personal danger. But they also must be held to a much higher standard. Police powers and actions must be scrutinized and cops must be held accountable because of the immense power granted to them by our republic.
They are citizens, entrusted by the rest of us citizens, with the powers to suspend the Constitutional rights of citizens in pursuit of the protection of our society, our property, AND OUR RIGHTS!
Bad cops need to go. Good cops – of which there are many – need to speak up.
Maybe they need to leave their armored vehicles in the garages and get out and mix with the people of whom they are trusted with policing.
So far it looks like Daniele Watts was ridiculously profiled, battered and illegally held for knowing – and asserting – her Constitutional rights.
If that proves to be the case, I bet the taxpayers will foot the bill yet again for (ABSOLUTELY justified) lawsuits because of cops treating fellow citizens like criminals instead of people.
Social Media Reaction to Daniele Watts Police Detention Story
On Twitter, lots of people were commenting using the hashtag “#DanieleWatts”. I saw a couple of interesting ones from an L.A. criminal defense attorney:
Area of city where #DanieleWatts detained not known or targeted by LAPD for prostitution enforcement.
— Jerod Gunsberg (@jerodgunsberg) September 14, 2014
I regularly defend prostitution cases. In 100s of cases, I’ve never seen allegation of “kissing in the street.” Ever. #DanieleWatts
— Jerod Gunsberg (@jerodgunsberg) September 14, 2014
Kissing in the streets is evidence that it’s NOT prostitution. LAPD knows this. #DanieleWatts — Jerod Gunsberg (@jerodgunsberg) September 14, 2014
Steve Marmel had this:
“Why didn’t she just show her ID?” Because she never should have been bothered in the first place. It’s not that hard, folks. #DanieleWatts
— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) September 14, 2014
Daniele Watts’ Facebook post about the incident:
Here’s the full post by Daniele Watts’ boyfriend: