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.