Two cops in a police car patrolled a wealthy neighborhood
at 2 AM. They saw two young black guys driving along
very slowly in an old car. Kowalski, who only had
a high school diploma, said, "We better watch those
guys."
Smith was Kowalski's partner. He had a college degree
in sociology.
Smith smiled knowingly. "Those men are American citizens
traveling at a legal speed on an American street.
We don't want to be part of the problem. We don't
want to harass men because of the color of their skin
or the price of their car."
A call came in a few minutes later. A car had been
seen speeding on a nearby highway. Kowalski, reflecting
his mere high school background, wanted to go after
that car.
Once again, the Cop With The Degree smiled knowingly.
"The driver of that car was speeding a few minutes
ago. That does not mean he is speeding now. You can't
bring up past offenses in court, where everybody has
an advanced degree. So why should you and I jump to
conclusions here?"
About then they came upon an old lady driving an
expensive Cadillac. The Cop With The Degree turned
on the blue light. Kowalski was puzzled, so the Cop
With the Degree explained, "Random check. All over
town cops are stopping young black men like the ones
we passed a little while ago. We're going to balance
the equation."
On the bullhorn he said, "Step out of the car." It
turned out that the car was not registered in the
woman's name. Kowalski wanted to let the woman go,
but The Cop With the Degree knew that they would have
held the black guys until they found out what was
going on. So in a couple of hours they chased down
the woman's daughter and found the car did belong
to her and let her go.
At the end of the day, Kowalski had failed to learn
anything from his educated partner. His only comment
was, "Either he's crazy or I am."
But things worked out well in the long run. Kowalski
was a hard worker, so he managed to send his son to
college. The younger Kowalski got a degree and was
ashamed of his unenlightened father. He is now a police
lieutenant who thinks just like Smith.
For some reason, the crime rate has gone out of sight
in that town. Kowalski Junior will soon make captain
and work directly under Police Commissioner Smith.
Smith is a member of the Mayor's Emergency Task Force
on Crime. The Mayor's Task Force on Crime has been
formed to study the alarming increase in felonies.
The Task Force has provisionally decided that the
solution to the problem of crime lies in education.
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