"Racism is as American as baseball"

Video: police allegedly left a “bait truck” filled with Nike shoes in a black Chicago neighborhood
A community activist questions how residents can trust police after the reported bait truck sighting in Englewood.
By Nadra Nittle Aug 7, 2018, 4:20pm EDTSHARE
bait-truck-draft-2.0.1533673194.jpg
Christina Animashaun/Vox; Chris Sweda, Douglas Magno/Getty Images; Google Maps


A partly open truck loaded with Nike Air Force 1 sneakers and Christian Louboutin shoes reportedly showed up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago last week. Local activists say it was a “bait truck” placed by law enforcement to lure would-be thieves to their arrest. The truck was parked near a basketball court and traveled to other sites in the predominantly black community on the city’s southwest side, according to Charles Mckenzie of the crime prevention group God’s Gorillas.

An August 2 video Mckenzie shot captures residents confronting officers about the truck; it has made the rounds on Facebook, Instagram, Lipstick Alley, and the World Star Hip-Hop site.


Another video, shot by self-described “crime chaser” Martin G. Johnson, reportedly shows the bait truck at a different location the next day. In both videos, community members accuse officers of trying to set residents up to steal.

The Chicago field office of the FBI told Vox it would not comment for this story; the Chicago Police Department has not responded to a request for comment. But over the past decade, law enforcement agencies in the US have increasingly turned to bait devices to reduce crime.



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These items, be they unattended vehicles or packages, are intended to be stolen. Police typically leave them in high-crime neighborhoods in spots where thieves are most likely to take them. A parked bait car, for instance, would be left in an area where car theft is a problem. Bait devices are rigged with surveillance equipment and tracking devices so that authorities, usually waiting nearby, can quickly catch offenders who make off with them.

But as the Black Lives Matter movement has drawn widespread attention to anti-black policing and the disproportionate number of African Americans in prison, reports of a bait truck in an impoverished community of color have predictably sparked outcry. The Englewood residents seen in video footage regarded it as another hostile act by law enforcement instead of a bid to cut down on crime. Moreover, the placement of the alleged bait truck near a basketball court filled with kids signaled, to some, a ploy to ensnare vulnerable youth in the criminal justice system rather than career criminals.


“There were a lot of young guys playing basketball,” according to Mckenzie, who said he spotted the bait truck while driving nearby. “Why would they do that in the poorest communities to people who don’t have anything better?”

Mckenzie said that many Englewood residents have nothing to lose, making the temptation of unattended pairs of expensive shoes too great for many to resist. Englewood’s poverty rate is at least 40 percent, by some estimates, and more than 60 percent, according to others. While the community is known as a high-crime area, in 2017 shootings and homicides in the neighborhood dropped by 44 percent and 45 percent, respectively, the Chicago Tribune reported. Car theft also went down.

Mckenzie, 29, said that he had never before seen a bait truck in Englewood. But as cargo theft across the country becomes a growing problem, law enforcement agencies have used bait to catch thieves. Although they might reduce crime, critics wonder if “sting trailers” are simply creating crime, turning tempted bystanders who wouldn’t ordinarily steal into offenders.

[paste:font size="4"]Federal and local law enforcement agencies are using bait as a crime deterrent

Reports of bait trucks in Englewood might be rare enough to generate community outrage, but police have used bait devices there previously. An unsuccessful police operation using a bait car in Englewood even ended up on the since-canceled TruTV reality show Bait Car in 2012. Police may leave bait cars unlocked, place the keys inside, or leave packages inside to make them more alluring to thieves.

In the Bait Car episode that took place in Englewood, the car itself was the bait, but the thieves ended up taking the police surveillance equipment in the trunk rather than the vehicle. They managed to escape before the authorities could apprehend them.

In 2008, the Chicago Police Department made headlines for using a bait car to cut down on auto theft in high-crime areas. The city is not alone. Dallas police use bait cars to reduce auto theft, and Philadelphia-area police have used bait cars for several years too. In San Francisco, authorities use bait bicyclesto deter bike thieves. Bait bikes have GPS tracking devices and are positioned in areas where they’re likely to be stolen. Authorities in other cities have used trucks, rigged with monitoring devices, to make bait out of UPS boxes, handbags, sneakers, food, beverages, and electronics.

baitbikesanfrancisco.jpg

San Francisco’s bait bike program was implemented to reduce bicycle theft in the city.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The FBI reports that about $27 million in property was taken as a result of cargo theft in 2016, the most recent year for which data is available. The federal agency defines cargo theft as the criminal taking of “goods, chattels, money, or baggage” included as part of a commercial shipment. Cargo is a wide category and can include an eclectic mix of goods — such as cars, bicycles, alcohol, apparel, food, livestock, drugs, electronics, and general merchandise. More than $732,734 of goods the FBI broadly categorized as “merchandise” was taken in cargo theft incidents in 2016, and more than $390,000 of apparel-related cargo was stolenThe FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program only began collecting data on cargo theft in 2012. The agency reports that cargo theft is on the rise and offenses may even pose a threat to national security. “Often cargo theft offenses are part of larger criminal schemes and have been found to be components of organized crime rings, drug trafficking, and funding for terrorism,” according to the FBI.

But the use of bait devices raises civil liberties concerns. In 2015, American Civil Liberties Union senior policy analyst Jay Stanley described to Mic how and why bait devices are supposed to be used.

“The basic criteria should be if police are trying to catch crime happening on its own, or are they trying to create crime where it otherwise wouldn’t happen,” Stanley said. “I don’t think a bait object — if used in the way everyone imagines it’s used, which is to catch a thief — is a civil liberties problem.”

Mckenzie, however, fears that bait operations could lead to the arrest of people without criminal records. He said that he watched officers arrest two people who attempted to steal from the bait truck last week. Their arrests and his belief that some shoes in the truck cost hundreds of dollars alarmed him.

“Anything over $500 is a felony, and they’re going to get some guys who don’t [already] have a felony and charge them,” he said.

Whether local law enforcement agencies or their federal counterparts engage in bait stings, the potential to erode public confidence in policing exists, Joh asserted in her article “Bait, Mask, and Ruse.” The problem is that more often than not, such operations don’t target specific individuals but “amount to generalized ‘fishing’: attempts to find out if anyone will be tempted by the proper enticement,” she wrote. “Police are not bound by probable cause or reasonable suspicion requirements before they engage in a sting.”

Mckenzie, an ex-gang member who’s participated in anti-violence groups, predicts that the alleged bait truck in Englewood will harm community-police relations. He doesn’t view all police officers negatively, he said, but using sting trailers gives the impression that the authorities are there to hurt the community rather than help.

“How do we supposed to trust [police] if they setting us up like this?” Mckenzie asked. “How can we trust them?”
 
Video: police allegedly left a “bait truck” filled with Nike shoes in a black Chicago neighborhood
A community activist questions how residents can trust police after the reported bait truck sighting in Englewood.
By Nadra Nittle Aug 7, 2018, 4:20pm EDTSHARE
bait-truck-draft-2.0.1533673194.jpg
Christina Animashaun/Vox; Chris Sweda, Douglas Magno/Getty Images; Google Maps


A partly open truck loaded with Nike Air Force 1 sneakers and Christian Louboutin shoes reportedly showed up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago last week. Local activists say it was a “bait truck” placed by law enforcement to lure would-be thieves to their arrest. The truck was parked near a basketball court and traveled to other sites in the predominantly black community on the city’s southwest side, according to Charles Mckenzie of the crime prevention group God’s Gorillas.

An August 2 video Mckenzie shot captures residents confronting officers about the truck; it has made the rounds on Facebook, Instagram, Lipstick Alley, and the World Star Hip-Hop site.


Another video, shot by self-described “crime chaser” Martin G. Johnson, reportedly shows the bait truck at a different location the next day. In both videos, community members accuse officers of trying to set residents up to steal.

The Chicago field office of the FBI told Vox it would not comment for this story; the Chicago Police Department has not responded to a request for comment. But over the past decade, law enforcement agencies in the US have increasingly turned to bait devices to reduce crime.



These items, be they unattended vehicles or packages, are intended to be stolen. Police typically leave them in high-crime neighborhoods in spots where thieves are most likely to take them. A parked bait car, for instance, would be left in an area where car theft is a problem. Bait devices are rigged with surveillance equipment and tracking devices so that authorities, usually waiting nearby, can quickly catch offenders who make off with them.

But as the Black Lives Matter movement has drawn widespread attention to anti-black policing and the disproportionate number of African Americans in prison, reports of a bait truck in an impoverished community of color have predictably sparked outcry. The Englewood residents seen in video footage regarded it as another hostile act by law enforcement instead of a bid to cut down on crime. Moreover, the placement of the alleged bait truck near a basketball court filled with kids signaled, to some, a ploy to ensnare vulnerable youth in the criminal justice system rather than career criminals.


“There were a lot of young guys playing basketball,” according to Mckenzie, who said he spotted the bait truck while driving nearby. “Why would they do that in the poorest communities to people who don’t have anything better?”

Mckenzie said that many Englewood residents have nothing to lose, making the temptation of unattended pairs of expensive shoes too great for many to resist. Englewood’s poverty rate is at least 40 percent, by some estimates, and more than 60 percent, according to others. While the community is known as a high-crime area, in 2017 shootings and homicides in the neighborhood dropped by 44 percent and 45 percent, respectively, the Chicago Tribune reported. Car theft also went down.

Mckenzie, 29, said that he had never before seen a bait truck in Englewood. But as cargo theft across the country becomes a growing problem, law enforcement agencies have used bait to catch thieves. Although they might reduce crime, critics wonder if “sting trailers” are simply creating crime, turning tempted bystanders who wouldn’t ordinarily steal into offenders.

[paste:font size="4"]Federal and local law enforcement agencies are using bait as a crime deterrent

Reports of bait trucks in Englewood might be rare enough to generate community outrage, but police have used bait devices there previously. An unsuccessful police operation using a bait car in Englewood even ended up on the since-canceled TruTV reality show Bait Car in 2012. Police may leave bait cars unlocked, place the keys inside, or leave packages inside to make them more alluring to thieves.

In the Bait Car episode that took place in Englewood, the car itself was the bait, but the thieves ended up taking the police surveillance equipment in the trunk rather than the vehicle. They managed to escape before the authorities could apprehend them.

In 2008, the Chicago Police Department made headlines for using a bait car to cut down on auto theft in high-crime areas. The city is not alone. Dallas police use bait cars to reduce auto theft, and Philadelphia-area police have used bait cars for several years too. In San Francisco, authorities use bait bicyclesto deter bike thieves. Bait bikes have GPS tracking devices and are positioned in areas where they’re likely to be stolen. Authorities in other cities have used trucks, rigged with monitoring devices, to make bait out of UPS boxes, handbags, sneakers, food, beverages, and electronics.

baitbikesanfrancisco.jpg

San Francisco’s bait bike program was implemented to reduce bicycle theft in the city.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The FBI reports that about $27 million in property was taken as a result of cargo theft in 2016, the most recent year for which data is available. The federal agency defines cargo theft as the criminal taking of “goods, chattels, money, or baggage” included as part of a commercial shipment. Cargo is a wide category and can include an eclectic mix of goods — such as cars, bicycles, alcohol, apparel, food, livestock, drugs, electronics, and general merchandise. More than $732,734 of goods the FBI broadly categorized as “merchandise” was taken in cargo theft incidents in 2016, and more than $390,000 of apparel-related cargo was stolenThe FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program only began collecting data on cargo theft in 2012. The agency reports that cargo theft is on the rise and offenses may even pose a threat to national security. “Often cargo theft offenses are part of larger criminal schemes and have been found to be components of organized crime rings, drug trafficking, and funding for terrorism,” according to the FBI.

But the use of bait devices raises civil liberties concerns. In 2015, American Civil Liberties Union senior policy analyst Jay Stanley described to Mic how and why bait devices are supposed to be used.

“The basic criteria should be if police are trying to catch crime happening on its own, or are they trying to create crime where it otherwise wouldn’t happen,” Stanley said. “I don’t think a bait object — if used in the way everyone imagines it’s used, which is to catch a thief — is a civil liberties problem.”

Mckenzie, however, fears that bait operations could lead to the arrest of people without criminal records. He said that he watched officers arrest two people who attempted to steal from the bait truck last week. Their arrests and his belief that some shoes in the truck cost hundreds of dollars alarmed him.

“Anything over $500 is a felony, and they’re going to get some guys who don’t [already] have a felony and charge them,” he said.

Whether local law enforcement agencies or their federal counterparts engage in bait stings, the potential to erode public confidence in policing exists, Joh asserted in her article “Bait, Mask, and Ruse.” The problem is that more often than not, such operations don’t target specific individuals but “amount to generalized ‘fishing’: attempts to find out if anyone will be tempted by the proper enticement,” she wrote. “Police are not bound by probable cause or reasonable suspicion requirements before they engage in a sting.”

Mckenzie, an ex-gang member who’s participated in anti-violence groups, predicts that the alleged bait truck in Englewood will harm community-police relations. He doesn’t view all police officers negatively, he said, but using sting trailers gives the impression that the authorities are there to hurt the community rather than help.

“How do we supposed to trust [police] if they setting us up like this?” Mckenzie asked. “How can we trust them?”
This is ****ing despicable.
 
This is ****ing despicable.
This is why people don't trust law enforcement and thier evil ways. This doesn't stop crime it just creates more arrests which creates more bodies to send to for-profit prisons.

I've been baited before by two white cops while going to work at at&t. They try entice me to steal an iPhone from a book bag at a nyc subway station. This is when people weee getting thier iPhones jacked from them on the trains and the nypd brilliant idea was to bait people but of course people of color. To arrest them.


Here's a pic
B364B4F5-668F-4025-8E32-C84570A599F5.jpeg


I just laughed and shook my head.

Way to street smart to fall that okey doke.
 
Boston Man Arrested Following Rant At Black Couple Is Being Investigated For Possible Hate Crime
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Over the weekend a white man in #Dorchester, Massachusetts went on a violent and racist tirade toward a black woman and her male companion and now he’s being investigated for a hate crime, according to the Boston Globe.

The viral video that was uploaded to the woman’s Facebook page shows what happened after the couple pulled over on her motorcycle to park and look up directions. The man, identified as #PaulSheehan, approached them and started accusing them of being connected to a shooting up the street. In the video, he refers to the black couple as “animals” and tells them to get out of his neighborhood, where he pays mortgage.
The man’s threats at one point became physical, which is when the woman caught the attention of an officer nearby who was at a crash site on the opposite side of the street. Police eventually arrested Sheehan for disorderly conduct.

Sheehan’s employer issued a statement saying, “We have absolutely no tolerance for this type of reprehensible conduct or language in or outside the workplace. The matter is under investigation, and we don’t comment on personnel matters.”
 
I've seen the bait stuff back when I used to watch Cops on TV... This tactic always rubbed me the wrong way.
Right? You create the problem to begin with that otherwise wouldn’t be there.

I guess in a white town the bait truck will be full of underage kids for the men and antidepressants for the wives and kids
 
I've seen the bait stuff back when I used to watch Cops on TV... This tactic always rubbed me the wrong way.
Can anyone explain why this is legal and not considered entrapment?

I deadass dont know anything about the law.
 
Can anyone explain why this is legal and not considered entrapment?

I deadass dont know anything about the law.

They can get away with this because they technically aren’t encouraging/tricking them into stealing. Just because a car is parked with valuables inside doesn’t mean you were forced to steal

This is extremely tone deaf though, because more likely than not, you will not catch any dangerous criminals in this fashion and you could do this in ANY neighborhood and receive the desired results you’re looking for.
 
Couple threatens woman with gun at Mobile stoplight

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MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) - Caught on camera and exposed ,a woman is speaking exclusively to NBC 15, warning fellow drivers after a couple pulled a pistol on her at a busy stop light in Mobile.

Tyra Jones has seen road rage before but nothing like what she experienced Saturday afternoon.

"The whole time I’m thinking hopefully I get out of this okay and I get my sister out of this okay," Jones said.

Jones was taking her 16-year-old sister to the mall for a back-to-school outfit.

She exited I-65 and made it to the stoplight on Airport Boulevard when a couple in a black Toyota Camry pulled up next to her.

"The Camry pulled on the side of me in the grass and the driver just started waving his gun and calling me names," Jones said, adding "his girlfriend or wife just kept asking me to get out of the car and fight her."

She doesn't know what started it. Jones says she was driving the speed limit and that must have made the other driver angry.

"You are waving a gun at me, that’s going to give me the impression you want to shoot me," Jones said, adding "If you want to shoot me, you have the intent to kill."

Instead of fighting or escalating the situation, Jones kept her gun concealed and reached for her phone.

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4EF8387400000578-6045339-_His_girlfriend_or_wife_just_kept_asking_me_to_get_out_of_the_ca-a-6_1533865331921.jpg
 
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