It is often said that you should never talk to the police. I think that nothing illustrates this better than the Zimmerman case. This is a case where a man was calling the police as a member of the neighborhood watch- an organization established by the police themselves to encourage neighborhoods to be the eyes and ears of the police and report people and events that appear suspicious or possibly up to no good. By reporting these people, it seemed as if he was helping to improve his neighborhood. He called 46 times in four years. 6 of those calls were made about black males who were acting suspiciously. The fact that 6 of his 46 calls were made about black males is being used to “prove” that he is a racist.
The tapes of his calls are being replayed in the court, and the words he used to report the suspicious activity are being used against him. I repeat- it is almost never a good idea to talk to the police. Remember, it is their job to put people in jail, and they aren’t very particular about who it is that they arrest.