I pretty much thought I'd covered this subject from every angle. Found a new one. The LA Times has the full audio (NSFW), of the entire encounter between Daniele Watts, her boyfriend Brian and Sgt. Jim Parker.
We've been over what Daniele said, we've been over what Sgt Parker said - but it's some of the things that Brian says to the Sgt. while Daniele is gone [she walks away at 2:37 in the recording] and they're having a very "buddy buddy" conversation waiting for the other officers to bring her back that is fairly interesting.
What I note just immediately is that Sgt Parker's tone with her White Boyfriend is entirely different from his tone with her. His voice is literally different. He's relaxed with Brian, conversational and polite. With her he sounds like he's talking to a three-year-old. With a kind of "sing songy" saccharine soothy voice. The contrast is striking.
In fact, it's really sickening.
I'm not saying this is racism, but this could very well be deep seated misogyny at work, in real time. It's amazing to hear the shift and changes from how he talks to Brian, which is almost identical to how he talks to the other Officers - as equals - and then how he treats Daniele like a annoying spoiled brat child from the first second they begin to communicate. There is no delay, there is no pause it's BOOM on comes the saccharine - it's immediate.
Sgt Parker accused Daniele of "using the Race Card" after she said this...
“Do you know how many times I’ve been called, the cops have been called just for being black?” Watts said. “Just because we’re black and he’s white? I’m just being really honest, sir.”
“Who brought up the race card?” Parker said.
“I’m bringing it up,” she said.
“I said nothing about you being black,” the sergeant responded.
First off anyone who calls it the "Race Card" is suspect in my opinion. That shows a lack of understand and perspective of the reality that all the relevant stats back up. It's denial that racism is even possible, and that's clearly not always the case. The second point is that she wasn't talking about
Him, she was talking about Police being called on them. He immediately took this personally when he wasn't even the subject of her question, which - by the way again - was
a question not a statement, or an accusation of bias on his part.
Not more than a minute later, while talking to the Sgt. while he's on the radio, Brian says this.
Parker: [To radio] L30 is there a female officer coming? Another unit?
Brian: This is a very sensitive subject to her. I mean, We're black and white, and this is like the third time that we've gotten accosted...[by Police]
Parker: Ok [To Officers on Radio. Then back to Brian changing subject immediately] . So you have her ID?
Oh, ok, third time. That's enough to be more than a coincidence, that's a
pattern but what struck me further was later in the conversation when Parker asked him how long they've been together and Brian says
about 15 months.
Three Stops in 15 Months, is a bit more than the average. A lot more.
I've been in an inter-racial marriage for 23 years and I haven't been stopped three times in a row for that yet. [I would say I'd had that experience once in Manhattan Beach when Bobby Blotzer of Ratt decided to loudly sing Sinatra at 3.a.m. outside Don Dokken's house after a Alice Cooper show at the Universal and the cops showed up, and another time in West Hollywood on the way to a show by Flesh, which was a band featuring one brother each of Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone of Extreme] But then, I don't hang out in Studio City all that much, anymore.
Here's something people from other parts of the country may not get, but different parts of this town are really like different universes. Los Angeles really doesn't have any city cohesion, it doesn't have a unified identity other than lots of entitlement and tons more obliviousness to your fellow man. People here are all about themselves, so frankly it's really weird that somebody, apparently in Studio City, has a stick up their ass about this couple. In fact, it might be the same guy because apparently Danielle is working on a job nearby so she's there fairly often.
I think the issue is something - or more likely someone - specifically in Studio City who keeps calling the cops on them, because he just doesn't like them. Or her. Or him. Or both of them together. That was the point of her comment about "how many times" police have been called on them.
There's a bit where Sgt Parker argues she is seeing the issue as too "Black and White" - not meaning literally, but figuratively. He argues what if the Officer that had come out to talk to them had been Black? I think that's irrelevant her question and complaint was about who called about them and why, not the Officer who responded to the call.
It wasn't about YOU Jimmy.
Then he goes on to argue what if the person who called had been black and she isn't seeing the "full perspective", but that's exactly what racially ignorant people would say. That BS doesn't work for me because the couple is interracial, so yeah, a black person could have been put out that Brian is White and that's why their calling. So that doesn't change anything, it could go either way easily but apparently Sgt Jimmy doesn't think she's smart enough to consider that possibility, which is yet more of his condescending crap.
During their conversation Brian says that somebody from the local office had come out and asked them to stop (he also say they weren't doing more than kissing) and that a) the guy said he "Didn't want his employees staring at them instead of working", b) he was pretty nice, but c) Brian probably figured he called the cops anyway and d) THEY STOPPED as a result of his complaint.
So that's an entirely different spin on things. Guy complains, they stop - but he still calls the cops? Or the other way around, he calls the cops first then decides to personally intervene, but doesn't bother to tell them he called the cops so they'll not just stop but leave - which is supposedly what he wants, but doesn't ask for? Or is he just trying to Fuck with them because he figures he can? And he's not calling the cops because they're having sex in public and he feels that's a crime - like say, really extreme jay-walking in a vertical direction - or that it's icky, No, it's because it's a distraction to his employees?
What exactly is so distracting about it? They. Just. Can't. Resist. the. Sexy View? What are they made of pudding?
Can't they close their blinds and control themselves? Why's he got a make it an issue with the couple and not simply tell his employees to stop screwing around watching them and keep doing their work? Are they completely powerless before Daniele's magic magnetic kissy/sexy time?
In general LA is pretty Liberal, but not all of it. Who in Studio City is this big of a Prude? And a Scold?
Isn't it a loss in productivity for him to walk all the way down there and talk to them, not to mention take pictures and video?
Danielle's observation and reaction, that they've been repeatedly profiled as a Black/White Couple and subsequently accosted by police is backed up by what Brian is saying here - unprompted - to Sgt Parker. Now Brian's goes on to admit that he's already been arrested many times, and has been to prison for Marijuana (Yeah, that's right, the Ex-Con is the White Guy) but he's been all through his probation and all that. He's clean now. He's sober now. He's learned how to play nice-nice with the Po-Po to keep himself out of more trouble.
This is why he's so calm. He's been on the other side of the not calm. They go on to have a nice little conversation about Brian being a celebrity chef, and that that's how he met Daniele - who he says is a celebrity.
I can tell that Daniele is much younger than him - he's says he's in his 40's. So from their discussion it seems she has an expectation of police being one thing, and since she's been in this relationship, it's not been like that. Not once. Not twice, but three times.
Brian says she didn't like it when it happened before and had objected to providing her ID the previous times and those cops handled it well. Or at least better than this time. According to Brian they didn't push her on it and it was no big deal.
This guy pushed it.
Parker goes "Thank you for playing the race card, it's not like I haven't heard that".
Obviously he has heard that. Many times. And he's burnt out on it, a bit sensitive to it. How exactly is his overreaction and oversensitivity justified, but her's isn't? He goes on to say to Brian that this is just "her crutch". That she's just using this as "an excuse".
How exactly the fuck does he know that?
He doesn't know that. He's just assuming that.
This apparently didn't happen the first time police were called. Or the second time. No, it's the third time in-a-row that has her going over the edge with "Oh NO - not This Shit Again!" syndrome.
If you don't understand this past history, it's easy to just go "Oh she's SO Emotional!!!" Yeah, she is - with reasons.
It also happens, apparently just moments after she hears from her father that her step-mother is dying.
Let me give you a test.
Ever been punched? In the face. Not enough to draw blood, but just enough to be annoying. Just enough to sting. But not just once, not even twice - but three different times, by the same dude? In the same spot? Don't you think after a while you'd flinch? Don't you think you see him and just think "Oh, god I know what's coming next..."
And then preface it with this: "Hello honey, your step-parent is dying!"
So with that in mind now it's time to do a temperament test on how well you can keep your cool when the cops come at you for that third time in a row right after you get the "dying" message? And oh, yeah, you're already so hyper-sensitive to this issue you already spent extra research time in college to look it up. And, you're an actress who's recently been in a movie about extreme Racial Violence.
Ok, take a deep breath.
Ready? Go!
....
Yeah, I'm not guessing everyone in the world would pass that test and remain calm, cool and collected. I'm not making an excuse for her getting distraught - people do that - I'm just saying look at the all the combined practical realities of the situation. Under these circumstances her reaction makes perfect sense, particularly since she's right on the law and constitution and he's wrong.
Parker's reaction also makes sense.
I get that Parker probably has heard that claim many times before - but it's also true, based on what Brian says casually, matter-of-factly - that she's had to deal with cops especially when she's out in public with Brian [apparently near Studio City] at a higher rate than is normal or reasonable.
That's justification for a "reasonable suspicion" that - as Bubbles says on Trailer Park Boys - "Something is Fucky, here!"
Vyan
[Just for clarification, I had thought in previous posts that the questions about "who is she to you" had taken place before the audio tape, but no - it's included. It happened after she left. Also apparently Brian didn't have her ID or passport, he says during this section that he thought he did, but it's actually in her purse - which means that he didn't give it up, they got it by searching her and that again brings forth 4th Amendment questions.]
Ok, for now, I'm done with this subject.
9:45 PM PT: Fixed the title. Finally. Sorry was away in a twitter fight over this very story.
9:50 PM PT: Oh, and for the record I've now been tweet-told that I'm a "Racist, Sexist who Hates Cops" because I think bad police practices and bad cops are - mm, Bad m'kay? (My Ex-Roomate who was a Member of my Wedding Party was a Cop - YES, I'm playing the "I Have a Cop Friend, Card") and also my wife, of 23 years, is White, so I think she's in for a surprise....
Hey honey, Guess What? (Quotes Above)
She's says "DaFuq!?"
It never amazes me the lengths people will go to justify and excuse really lousy cop behavior and instead blame the people they're humiliating, brutalizing, and or killing.
Tue Sep 23, 2014 at 6:45 PM PT: Just to clarify, thanks to a fairly long and intense twitter battle over this I now know that one of the police interractions that Danielle & Brian had wasn't in Studio City. It was in Texas. Via Instagram.
We just got pulled over for speeding & were actually "profiled" as a bi-racial, queer couple by a rookie Texas State Trooper. It was quite an interesting but growing experience. Will expand on the whole story in the comments of FB post soon or in new post. We turned it into a magical experience & are YES we are ok and spirit even supported us in a RAWKin' cool way that we couldn't even plan.
Fri Sep 26, 2014 at 10:29 AM PT: I thought about doing a fresh diary on this, but I'm kind of over this subject. I've found Brian Lucas' Facebook posts where he talks about the two previous stops, one was in Texas, the other was in Loma Linda. at his father's house.