My Kids Encounter with Police: Tim

Tim’s encounters with police began when he was still in high school. He and his good friend (and future lead drummer for Jimmy Buffet ) Pete Mayer worked at the famous St. Louis Drews Ice Cream Store. They closed it down at the end of the day and so it was often well after 10:00 pm when they were driving back to their home in the suburb of Crestwood It was there that they were repeatedly pulled over by the police. They had proper I.Ds. They had no evidence of liquor. They carried no weapons. They never once got a ticket, yet their being stopped became common. Once they were stopped right in front of Peter’s home. Another time they were on their way to church for a Lenten worship service at which they were to play their instruments.

It was only in retrospect that Tim figured out what was going on. He had a major afro hair style. He thinks that in the dark he was mistaken for being black, A black person driving after 10:00 p.m. in Crestwood got the attention of police and hence the frequent stops. Of course, it was terrible racial profiling.

He was in college when we got the call  (from his sister Peggy ) that Tim was in jail in Valparaiso, IN. He was there because he acted foolishly and suffered the consequences. He lived with his buddies in a music fraternity house. Just a few hundred yards down from them the University had closed down a facility as it was to be demolished and replaced. Looking through one of the basement windows the students had noticed that a pretty good looking piano was visible . Curiosity about the condition of that piano led Tim to investigate. He did it at night. He did it by crawling through a partially open window which he broke as he climbed through. The police arrived. Stupidly Tim hid in a closet. The  police found him. They  made a great deal of  what in my opinion was a rather minor mistake and handcuffed him. And the next thing I knew his fellow-student and sister Peggy was on the phone “Hey, dad. Tim is in jail! What do we do next?” He actually had to go before a judge and did some community service. I have no idea whether or not that piano ever made it to the fraternity house.

Later Tim got very involved in protests against both the Viet Nam War and the proliferation of atomic weapons. He was arrested more than once in more than one state.

He is still active in both music and civil rights activities so I guess his encounters with police have not diminished his commitment.  Now in retirement he chooses to do it in ways that do not result in confrontation with the police.

My Kids' Encounters With Police: John

My youngest son John  had his first encounter with the police while he was  in junior high. Technically it was not the police but the security guards at Disney World. He was excited to be there for his first visit. Two of the three friends with him were visitors from Sweden. The mother of one of his companions was along as their chaperone. The four boys had just enjoyed a ride on one of the big Ferris wheels and were looking for their next ride when they were stopped by Disney police. One of the officers grabbed John, held him firmly and said, “Young man, we are arresting you for throwing pyrotechnics.” John expressed his innocence and amazement and told them he didn’t even know what pyrotechnics were. His three friends all vouched for his innocence. Then one of the officers had a near-by  teenager identify John  saying, “That’s the guy, I guess he threw away the cap he was wearing.”   

” I haven’t been wearing a cap. I threw  nothing,” John insisted..

Then Mrs. Blackistone arrived She explained she was with the boys, asked about the exact time the incident supposedly occurred and then verified that the boys were with her getting a soft drink at the exact time of the alleged incident.  Their protestations did not prevail. John was held for an hour in isolation and then they were kicked out of the park. Our two Swedish young friends could not believe this could happen in the USA. When I wrote a letter of protest to the Disney authorities, they never even responded

It was only a year later when John was stopped again. This time John was not only confronted but actually had handcuffs placed on him and was  forced into a police car. This was all a couple blocks from Redeemer Lutheran Church in San Diego at the very time I was preaching for the second service. That morning. John had gone with me, worshipped at the early service and then while waiting for me to preach at the second service had decided to just walk  around the neighborhood. The  police had stopped John, put handcuffs on him, brought him to the church property. A member of the congregation had called the police and now identified John as the person  he’d seen earlier enter a car in the church parking lot and take something from  that car.

While all this was going on a member of Redeemer arrived back at his car and asked what the police action was all about. He then explained that he earlier had forgotten something he wanted to take into the church with him and so he was the one who had taken something from his own car. Then the “accuser” recognized his error. He admitted it, apologized to John and then looked for me so he could also explain to me all that had happened.

After that John chose not to go with me when I preached at Redeemer.