It is police harassment and overreach. Michael Brown, Jr. should be in his college classrooms right now.
The reason "No Jaywalking" is enforced is because studies show nearly three fifths of American pedestrian deaths occur outside of crosswalks. Far fewer occur when the pedestrian is within or near the crosswalk lines. Crosswalks are lines in the road.
This is a pedestrian safety issue, not one to test the patience and overbearing presence of a police officer to a wise guy 19 year old. The police should have been enforcing the fact his safety was at risk and not his status otherwise. Bullying is not allowed. Asking a pedestrian to step to the curb to accept the police citation was all that was necessary.
By Justin A. Heinonen and John E. Eck
...The times and days pedestrians (click here) are most at risk of injury differ from those when they are most at risk of death. Most pedestrian injuries occur between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., with a peak time between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., whereas pedestrian fatalities usually happen at night (i.e., between 5:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.). Most pedestrian-vehicle crashes take place on Friday and Saturday with the fewest crashes occurring on Sunday....
Michael Brown, Jr.'s death is a hideous example of police harassment at the very least. It is a travesty to our police officers.
