A frightening police stop for a food service manager
It happened a few months ago, on a Wednesday night. School food service manager Steven Brinkley left a Masons’ meeting and was driving his SUV to his suburban Philadelphia home, wearing a black...

A frightening police stop for a food service manager

It happened a few months ago, on a Wednesday night. School food service manager Steven Brinkley left a Masons’ meeting and was driving his SUV to his suburban Philadelphia home, wearing a black suit, a white shirt and a black bow tie, when he noticed police lights and heard a siren. A Delaware County (Pa.) police officer pulled him over. Brinkley knew his taillights were working, and he knew he wasn’t speeding, so he asked the officer why he’d been stopped. Instead of answering, the officer took Brinkley’s car keys, handcuffed him, put him in the police car and drove him around for about 20 minutes.

Finally, the officer stopped in an unfamiliar neighborhood, told him to get out of the cruiser and uncuffed him. Then he threw Brinkley’s keys on the ground and told him to find his way home “as best you can.”

He found a convenience store and paid someone $5 to borrow a phone and call his wife, who came and got him. He told his wife, and only his wife, what had happened—until an AFT forum on race in January. “Who was going to believe me?” he asks.

Brinkley’s own reaction shows how far we still have to go. How many others never speak up because they fear they won’t be believed?

(Photo by Nico Pavan)