{"id":6173,"date":"2022-02-10T18:58:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T18:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=6173"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:59:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:59:22","slug":"black-football-players-say-durham-sheriffs-office-gave-distorted-and-insensitive-account-of-traffic-stops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2022\/02\/10\/black-football-players-say-durham-sheriffs-office-gave-distorted-and-insensitive-account-of-traffic-stops\/","title":{"rendered":"Black football players say Durham sheriff’s office gave distorted and insensitive account of traffic stops"},"content":{"rendered":"
On a Monday morning last October, Duke football players shuffled into the team meeting room. Mondays are usually their day off, but they had guest speakers arriving bright and early.<\/span><\/p>\n
Representatives from the Durham County Sheriff\u2019s Office delivered a message that would leave many of the players offended and unsettled: Cops are more vulnerable than Black men. So, behave.<\/span><\/p>\n
The sheriff\u2019s representatives showed the players a PowerPoint presentation that contained misleading statistics and an incomplete account of legal rights at traffic stops, according to legal experts. A copy of the presentation was obtained by The 9th Street Journal.<\/span><\/p>\n
The incident provides a glimpse into how the office, led by Sheriff Clarence F. Birkhead, conducts community outreach. In this case, Birkhead and other officials angered a group of mostly Black college athletes.<\/span><\/p>\n
The 9th Street Journal interviewed five Black players who provided details about the meeting and said they and other teammates were bothered by the presentation because it distorted the facts of police shootings in which Black men were unjustifiably killed.<\/span><\/p>\n