The card I pulled is "Find Your Backbone." This card is about struggling with self and boundaries or my own voice. This card is perfect.
I recently was pulled over by Huntington Beach Police Department, and it really hurt my feelings and embarrassed me. I didn't know I had done anything wrong. The officer got out of his car and yelled at me. He made me feel so small. He did not identify himself. He implied I was drunk or high on dope, or that maybe I was on my cell phone. After all the questions and insults, he told me he pulled me over because I had run a red light a few lights back. I have no idea why he waited so long to pull me over. He let me go without a ticket, but yelled at me to "Go Home and drive better." I was grateful to leave, but by the time I got home, I was mad. My entire day was ruined. I had a good work day, and then I got home and couldn't stop overthinking about the situation.
The following day, my husband told me I needed to report the incident. Other people on my social media concurred that this situation was reportable. I didn't really want to report it. I felt it is what it is. But, with pressure of everyone telling me what was wrong with the situation, I decided I should report it.
Sunday, I went to the police station, but they were closed. I went home and wrote a letter to both Huntington Beach Police Department and POST (a police officer training site that takes complaints on police very seriously). POST responded with a form, saying there was a proper protocol to reporting an incident. Huntington Beach Police Department's Internal Affairs reached out yesterday, Tuesday.
After speaking to Internal Affairs, I felt much better about my decision to report. The officer at Internal Affairs explained that the story I told him is definitely police misconduct and gave me 2 options on how to handle this report. I could 1) do it the easy-peasy way and have them reprimand the officer and give him a slap on the hand or 2) I could do it the hard way, and go to the police station, fill out a lengthy form, do an audio interview, and possibly have to go to court.
I decided to go with option 1. The police officer warned me and go about my way. I want him to be warned and go about his way. Eye for an eye.
I'm true to myself, reclaiming my personal integrity, no matter how frightening it could be. I stuck to my convictions in a non-aggressive, loving and grounded way. I figure, I wouldn't want to get into deep trouble or have to go to court over a fixable error at my job, and I know I have made mistakes. I wouldn't want to be embarassed and have to tell my husband that I was suspended or lost my job because of my attitude. So, I decided to not go the hard way and hopefully the reprimand will be between officer to officer and then he will rememember to refocus his aggression in a different way.
I found my backbone.
No comments:
Post a Comment