Recently an Indian grandfather, who was
visiting his son and family in Madison, a small town in Alabama was manhandled by a cruel police officer. Mr Patel, who was left partially paralyzed and needed multiple surgeries, was taking a morning walk in the neighborhood when a police officer approached him. Mr.
Patel's mistake- he didn't know English and failed to understand the
question or instructions that was given to him. In a video that has
gone viral ever since, Mr. Patel is shown repeatedly saying “no English” and this police officer instructing him in English “do
not move, if you move I will put you down- do you understand?"He must have been so out of mind to think that a person
who doesn't know the language can understand the instruction he is
giving in English. The police officer was later suspended and is facing a possible termination.
The atrocious stories of police
officers mishandling the situation is abundant, in some cases costing
life to the people involved. Is it the lack of training they receive? lack of empathy? Racism still prevalent and police officers are not immune to it? Or is
it that the police that control a gun laden population needs to
be brutal to keep things under control? After all, they risk their life to be in the street. All these incidents that I read and hear in the media is slightly against what I have experienced in
my fifteen years of stay here.
First time, it was through a 911 call.
It was my first month in this country- not long enough for me to
learn about emergency calls. Lying on the sofa, I dialed 01191 which is
the international code and then the country code for India. I stopped
half way through as my son interrupted me, dialed again only to miss
it, and dialed one more time before I finally got the line through. It was Vishu, a
festival day in Kerala, I was talking to my mother in law.
Two minutes into the conversation, I
saw a police officer peeping into my room. He asked if I am okay.
Confused, I nodded but continued talking as I walked up and down the
room about the presence of police in the house. When I glanced
through the door, I saw my husband trying to explain something. I saw
him leading these officers to the door and waving while I continued
talking oblivious to what is happening. Entering the room, the furious husband snatched the phone from me and told his mom that I
called these police officers. It took a while for me to comprehend-
by mistake I have dialed 911 and these officers were responding to that call. Then I vaguely remembered that I was getting a phone call
which I never cared to take as I was conversing with the folks in
India. They wouldn't leave when Vinod informed them there is nothing
wrong and we didn't need help. They insisted they see other people in the house and made
sure everything is okay before leaving.
Even though it is one of those embarrassing incidents in my life, I derived enormous strength from the feeling of security knowing that I would get
help in a phone call within minutes. There were times I lived alone with my son when he was still a child. For someone who was
extremely fearful of dark and experienced an overprotective childhood in a joint family,
living alone in a foreign country is made possible because deep inside, I
knew my safety is only a 911 call away. Whenever I sleep alone, I have
my phone beside my pillow- just in case if I need to make that call. I feel
protected and safe in a way I never would have if I was staying alone
in India.
Years later, as I hurried into my
car to get to work one fine morning, I noticed my car was unlocked. I had the habit of
forgetting to lock it at times, but in safe Winchester neighborhood,
breaking in the car was unthinkable. In a panic I realized that some one has gone through my stuffs and the GPS is missing. I was late to work and was a testing proctor for that
day, so I drove away distressed. My parents were visiting me at
that time, I saw panic in their eyes too. I thought of reporting it
to police once I settle down with the testing. However after an hour
my father informed me that a police officer came home and knocked on
the door to ask if we lost something. They caught a teenager who was
breaking in cars in the neighborhood and confiscated many things
including our GPS. We were asked to wait for the investigation and
the closure of the case against the boy. In couple of weeks, we got a
call to collect my GPS. As I walked
into the police station with my husband, I was anxious, but was
politely received and was handed the GPS and made me sign
some papers.
The role of the police of a state is to
protect its citizens. There are a lot of good police officers out
there who relentlessly put their life in danger and protect the
people. And then there are few like the one in Alabama who will exert
their power over a fragile old man. But it is soothing to know that
they are few and far between.
