Know Your Rights When Under Arrest
An arrest can be a traumatic experience.
Last year NBC News reported about the arrest of 16-year-old Trevor Lawrence in Washington, D.C. The Black teenager was standing in line in a sandwich shop when two white police officers entered the establishment and ordered him out of the line. Confused, Lawrence asked for an explanation. The officers gave none.
The officers escorted the terrified teenager outside the sandwich shop, placed him in the backseat of a police car, and drove him to another location. There, the officers hauled Lawrence out of the patrol vehicle and made him stand before an elderly white lady.
“Is this the boy that robbed you?” they asked the lady.
“No,” she replied.
Speaking later about the arrest, Lawrence recalled:
“The fear was crippling. My life was in the hands of someone else. I could go to jail on someone’s word. It shook me to my core.”