Trails in the Sand by Peter Traceit, the Street Detective
Pete learned that there was no school for students today and no board meeting scheduled. That doesn’t mean that there is no dirt to wallow in.
Ol Traceit has been tracking social media and is quite intrigued with the attention that has been given to the arrest of Broward’s top volunteer, Debbie Espinosa. If you haven’t been following the trail, Ol Pete will bring you up to speed. Espinosa and another parent advocate, Deidre Ruth, got into a heated exchange at the Board meeting last week and they were both removed. Once outside things went fine for Ruth and she was eventually allowed to come back into the Board room to speak.
But… woah is Espinosa. Espinosa, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. Ol Pete is told that the officer wasn’t as patient, and he ordered her to leave. Espinosa was attempting to explain that her personal belongings were inside the Boardroom and so was her ride. Things went from bad to worse when Espinosa allegedly made physical contact with the officer and he responded by arresting her for disruption of a public meeting and battery on a law enforcement officer, which is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Holy Hamstrings!
The Street Detective is learning that the arresting officer is a sworn officer for Broward Schools and Chief Jamie Alberti originally supported the actions of his officer until little details caught on camera and witnesses began to dig holes in the sand.
While there has been overwhelming support of Espinosa, which will probably work out in her favor, the sad part is this woman will forever be saddled with an arrest for battery of a law enforcement officer on her record. If Peter Traceit is being fair here, why wasn’t the other woman arrested and charged for disruption of the School Board meeting. Ruth was not only spared an arrest, but she was allowed back in the Board meeting and allowed to speak.
The Detective has learned that Alberti has called for an external investigation of the incident, but only after he was criticized for committing to launch an internal one. One social media jokester labeled it as the fox guarding the hen house. There is a strong call for conflict training and The Street Detective thinks it’s warranted. What occurred with Espinosa and her arrest last Tuesday has more mud on it than a dirt bike on a wet obstacle course.
But Ol Pete would be remiss if I didn’t connect this whole thing with the PROMISE program that was officially buried at the same Board meeting. Ol Pete will re-pete… the PROMISE program, as it was originally intended was dead a long time ago. The writing was in the sand to scrap the program and start building a fresh sandcastle. But Ol Pete couldn’t compete with a whole lot of folks who wanted to fight to keep the program, thought it looked nothing like it did before. The new promise was not keeping students from having a record and once that line in the sand had been washed away, it was time to start over.
But let Peter Traceit get back to the parallel between the Espinosa arrest and the school to prison pipeline the PROMISE was created to address. While the district is looking to have conflict and escalation prevention training for their police due to what occurred last week, they need to acknowledge that same rush to judgment and lack of training last week is what Broward Black and Brown students face every day. It is why the arrested and suspension of Black and Brown children far exceeds that of White students. The pervasive problem that permeates the schools simply reared its head at the Board meeting with a White woman. This is akin to the crack epidemic. Comedian Richard Pryor said it best, “No one was alarmed at crack until it crossed over into white communities and it became an epidemic.”
The mishandling and fabrication of the facts to unjustly arrest someone just crossed over to a White woman and now there is a need for training. The Street Detective is here to make it clear that there has always been a need for training. It is why the percentage of Black students in the PROMISE program mirrored the percentage of them being arrested and suspended prior to PROMISE. The PROMISE program essentially moved the students from one space to another. Peter Traceit, The Street Detective wants it to be known that in this article, all jokes are set aside. Peter Traceit is as serious as a heart attack. Without a commitment to real change in the attitudes of people in the way they see Black and Brown students, it doesn’t matter what program you have and what you call it and what’s written in it. You can’t legislate the fair and equitable treatment of people. It has to be in your heart. And when it’s not done people, I and the organization have to be able to call it out without fear of retribution.
Pete was so proud as Alfreda Coward hammered away, digging her path to victory last week. She reminded the Board and Superintendent that they said they wanted to increase their commitment to do business with minority owned businesses and then turned around and attempted to reject the bid of a Black, female owned business where one of the owners (Kimberly Coward) is a decorated veteran who served as Captain in the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAG). It makes . Peter Traceit, The Street Detective furious when thinking about what was about to happen to these two decorated women.
Alfreda Coward was courageous. Peter Traceit knows there are other courageous folk in the school Board, but organization politics have scared them into silence.
Detective Traceit is calling you out. It is time that Black people rise up and speak up for our children. There is strength in numbers. Right sizing is just around the corner and some of our school doors will be closed because they sit with 200 or 300 students. But they are not alone. There are schools in White neighborhoods with the same plight and it will get worse. Enrolment in Broward schools is expected to continue to decline.
Many of the school buildings sit on prime property and when sold, has the potential to do a lot(and not necessarily good) for our communities. Pete is challenging you. Let’s not sit idly by while the proceeds from the sale of properties in our communities benefit other communities.
Detective Traceit is on a roll. Peter Traceit, The Street Detective is sick and tired of being sick and tired. Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time if we do not give up.” —- Galatians 6-9.
Let’s stay in the fight for our children.
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