PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Police discrimination in Wilkinsburg
by K. R. Williams Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004 at 2:48 AM

A local youth moving into a new neighborhood discovers that the real discrimination comes from the people meant to stop it, and not the residents.

Ann is a regular youth, born and raised in a small town east of the city. She has taken to the city well, and has adjusted to the way of life here. But when her roommate became controlling and the situation became dangerous, Ann decided to move to a new section of town.

"I lived in Green Tree," She said. "I heard all the bad stories about Wilkinsburg, but I didn't like to listen to that stuff."

She decided to move into a house in Wilkinsburg up on a hillside leading away toward Monroeville. The view was beautiful, and she was very suprised. "The residents treated me wonderful except for a few kids...but that happens everywhere, right?" Ann was enjoying her piece and all was well. But then one day, Ann discovered that her car was broken into. She promptly called the police. They responded, and took a report. When it came time to show the police identification, she showed them a State ID. It wasn't good enough for the officers though, and they soon impounded the car, even after hearing from her father, the man that was on the title. When on the phone with her father, the police said, "He can pick up his car later. We're going to take him to get a psych evaluation." Ann refused, and questioned the policeman's actions after the conversation was over.

"Your kind of people don't usually pop up over here unless there's problems."The officer soon left, and the car was destroyed by a private wrecker when she could not afford the fees associated with the impound. She has no problem with the way the car was dealt with. She does however, have a problem with the officer.

"I've been this way for a very long time."

Ann was originally born as Robert, and never got her identification changed to reflect this because of strict guidelines put in place by the Department of Transportation.

After contacting the Wilkinsburg police and filing a complaint, nothing more could be done, and Ann will simply wait for the next time the police must deal with her.

"Will I handle things differently? Maybe. I guess I'll be more reluctant when showing them the letter my therapist gave me and my ID. I expect this sort of thing from people in a place like my small town...not a suburb of the second largest city in Pennsylvania."

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