Is Racial Profiling Still Prominent n In The Houston Area

Is Racial Profiling Still Prominent-In The Houston Area called Bellaire? I don’t think you will be able to tell Robbie Tolan who sits in a Houston, Texas, hospital bed with a bullet from a Bellaire police officer, lodged in his liver anything different.

Robbie Tolan, 23, the son of a famed baseball player Bobby Tolan, was shot in his own driveway, in front of his cousin and parents, on December 31, 2008 by a police officer in his driveway. He was unarmed and was not aggressive in any manor until one of the police officers pushed his Mother up against the house.

Some of you might be thinking that surly there was a good reason why this unarmed young man and his unarmed cousin ended up on the other end of a Bellaire officer’s gun, suspected of a car thief…well, if you find it then let the rest of us know about it.

The question looming is was it racial profiling? The allegations of racial profiling are heard many times. In fact one of our readers accused me of it last week…Having lived in Houston and knowing the area that this incident took place…I would say that there is a pretty good chance that it was racial profiling. That area is predominately white. In it’s hay day it was all white. It was like a little Hollywood in the 50′s. The police are notorious for stopping you and giving you tickets. OK, so that is not a bad thing, because crime is not an issue in that area. Trust me, Houston can be a dangerous place if you are in the wrong area at the wrong time. Car jackings where quite common when I lived there.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that if these had been white kids this does not happen,” said David Berg, Robbie’s attorney.

It was 2 a.m. on December 31 when Robbie and his cousin, Anthony Cooper, were confronted in the driveway of their home by Bellaire, Texas, police officers. The officials say they suspected the two young men were driving a stolen car.

Robbie’s relatives say the two young men had just arrived from a late night run to a Jack-in-the-Box fast food restaurant (that was the true crime, anyone eating there…). While they were walking up the driveway, approaching the door to their home, Anthony Cooper said an unidentified man emerged from the darkness with a flashlight and a gun pointed at them.

“We did not know it was a police officer,” said Cooper. “He said, ‘Stop. Stop.’ And we were like, ‘Why? Who are you?’”

The officers then ordered both men to lie down on the ground, spread eagle. Robbie’s parents hearing the commotion came outside. Police will only say an “altercation” took place. Robbie’s family say it involved his mother.

“The cop pushed her against the wall,” said Robbie’s uncle, Mike Morris.

Relatives say Robbie then started to lean up from the ground to ask the officer what he was doing to his mother. That’s when the family says Robbie was shot. The bullet went in his chest, the bullet piercing his lung and then finally lodging in his liver.

But Robbie’s SUV wasn’t stolen. Running the licence plates would have solved that issue, don’t you think? Both men were unarmed and relatives say they were hardly a threat to the police officer. Anger over the shooting has been building over the last week and those nasty words “Racial Profiling” are on the horizon.

Quannel X, community activist states, “He was the victim of the worst case and worst kind of racial profiling.”

The Bellaire Police Department (they have their own little municipality going) has called the shooting “tragic” and put the officer involved in the incident on administrative leave.

“Anytime someone is injured we take it very seriously,” said Byron Holloway, Assistant Chief of the Bellaire Police Department. “But any allegation of racial profiling, I don’t think that’s going to float.”

The police department is investigating and the district attorney’s office, in Houston, is also looking into whether charges will be filed against the police officer, who shot Robbie.

What about the policeman who shot Robbie? He is a white, 10 year veteran of the force, whom police say has an excellent record. However, the Bellaire Police officials are no longer talking publicly about the case. Holloway says they’re investigating how the officers on the scene mistakenly determined that the SUV Robbie and his cousin were driving had been stolen. I can’t wait to see how that rabbit is going to be pulled out of the magician’s top hat!

Robbie is still in a Houston hospital. Relatives report that he is in severe pain but is expected to recover. Robbie’s attorney says that Robbie’s baseball career might be over. But his father, Bobby Tolan says that he isn’t worried about that…”I’m not concerned about his career as a baseball player. I’m concerned about his health.”

Is Racial Profiling Still Prominent in The Houston Area…I say let’s call it Bellaire Bigotry…

~The Baby Boomer Queen~