On Septembet 28 I received a ticket from the Pennsauken Police for and alleged moving violation. The two officers who stopped me were very rude and arrogant. The ticket was also unjust because I never made the improper pass that they issued me a summons for.
The very next day I went to the Police department and signed a complaint against the officers. The bases of my complaint was primarily how rude and disrespectful they were towards me. I also contacted the Mayor of Pennsauken to inform him of the situation.
On October 20 I went to court to contest my ticket. I told the prosecutor that I wanted to plead not guilty. The prosecutor then tried to offer me an amendment. The amendment was was a joke because I still would have had to pay an even larger fine than the orginal ticket, plus I would have to pay a $250 dollar surcharge to the NJDMV. The prosecutor then angrily stated that we are going to have a trial.
I went in front of the judge and told him exactly what happenend. I told him that it was impossible to make an improper was based upon where my vehcicle was at the time. I then brought to the attention of the judge (George Piperno) that the two Pennsauken officers pulled me over a least 3 miles have the alleged violation. They claimed that the violatin took place at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, but they didn't pull me over until I got to Admiral Wilson Blvd in Camden which is the next city over. After listening to the ignorant testimony of the two officers the Judge said he wanted to reserve his decision for a week. He stated that he was personally going to go look at the area. He said he would mail his decision in the mail within a week. 2 months have passed and I never got his letter in the mail. However, I did contact the court and they stated that the judge found me guilty and wanted me to come back to court and make an arrangement to pay this fine.
The moral of this story is that Pennsauken is an unfair and digraceful place to live and drive. I am a Criminologist who works for the state and was treated like a second class citizen by Pennsauken. This story proves that regardless of your educational attainment and status, African Americans aren't likely to be treated fairly. I feel as though the Judge ruled in the officers favor because they are cops and for no other reason. They sounded like two fools in court and they had absolutely no sound proof that they presented to the court. As an academic and an employee of the Criminal Justice system I want to state that there action were shameful and racist!
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