August 31, 2004

Be careful. Be safe.
by Liza Sabater

Two things happened to me yesterday.

I was supposed to attend an event sponsored by Rock The Vote. I was not allowed in due to a miscommunication with my friend and the organizers. She was inside, I was out and there was no way of tracking her down (I did not have her phone number).

All the people they were letting in did not look like rockers at all. This was not your Vincent Gallo Republican. These were the Ann Taylor and pearls type of crowd. So much so that the security detail harrased the Rock The Vote workers themselves. They were not dressed in blue suits, but of course.

And yes, they were profiling more aggressively the people of color. Big time.

It was frustrating beyond belief, especially because the police has cordoned-off Grand Central Station as well. So getting to Cipriani's was a trek in itself.

Then last night, I had a disturbing experience as I was walking up 7th Avenue, trying to go to 34th with a bunch of dancemobbers.

The closer you get to the Garden, the more cops there are. And I'm guesstimating the average age for our men & women in blue is 25. And there are more men than women. And they are all standing there, bored out of their minds, sweating like pigs and waiting for some action.

So what happened to me? Nothing traumatic. Just what happens to any Latina babe on a hot night. I got cat-called. Aggressively may I add. Only problem was that the guys smooth talking me were cops. All 6 of them. In their 20's. On duty and uniformed. Guns in their holsters.

This is the first time in years --and I've lived in NYC almost 20 years-- that I see so many cops in the streets. The difference from the 80's to now is that most of the cops are kids. Bored "somewhat angry 'cause their sweating for nothing" young-uns with guns. The fact these cops (they were equal opportunity lovers : the guys smoothing was black but there were white guys in the chorus as well) did not have the ethical foresight to just check me out silently says volumes of the kind of training they've received.

To add more to the fire, earlier we had spoken to a rather nice officer on 23rd & Seventh. Barlow asked him something about getting past the Garden. The answer? I quote : "I have no idea. Every hour now they've been changing the orders ... It's just getting confusing to follow what I'm supposed to be doing. Just go and see what happens." Undertrained, overstressed, bored-out-of-their-wits, horny and miscommunicated cops are on the streets.

So there you have it. Night one of the RNC.
Be careful.
Be safe.

Posted by Liza Sabater in 2004 RNC, Activism
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