︎ Back to Homepage
COLLECTION 01.3 // Over-Policing
“This part talks about the police.
It can be police brutality like when they are violent against you. It can be when the police follows you and bothers you or harasses you.
Or if the police stop you and ask to check your document. Or they stop you and bring you to the station to check your document or your fingerprint. They will stop you and bring you to the station just to waste your time… It will waste your whole day.
Or it can be the police stopping you and giving you a fine, a punishment where you have to pay money for breaking the law. If they tell you to leave a place or if they stop you and ask to search your pockets.
If they give you a fine for selling something or taking the metro without paying or breaking the law. The directions they give you to pay the fine are mixed directions so that it is difficult to find the place to pay and it will take up a lot of your time.
If they arrest you for no reason. If they lie about something that you did and they invent a reason to give you a punishment or arrest you.
If you feel like they are always watching you when you are in a public space and that makes you feel like you want to avoid some areas of the city because you cannot be at peace in those areas because you do not feel at peace there because of the police.
If they make you feel nervous and like you are not safe when the police are around.
The police like to see immigrants suffer and sleep in the street.”
It can be police brutality like when they are violent against you. It can be when the police follows you and bothers you or harasses you.
Or if the police stop you and ask to check your document. Or they stop you and bring you to the station to check your document or your fingerprint. They will stop you and bring you to the station just to waste your time… It will waste your whole day.
Or it can be the police stopping you and giving you a fine, a punishment where you have to pay money for breaking the law. If they tell you to leave a place or if they stop you and ask to search your pockets.
If they give you a fine for selling something or taking the metro without paying or breaking the law. The directions they give you to pay the fine are mixed directions so that it is difficult to find the place to pay and it will take up a lot of your time.
If they arrest you for no reason. If they lie about something that you did and they invent a reason to give you a punishment or arrest you.
If you feel like they are always watching you when you are in a public space and that makes you feel like you want to avoid some areas of the city because you cannot be at peace in those areas because you do not feel at peace there because of the police.
If they make you feel nervous and like you are not safe when the police are around.
The police like to see immigrants suffer and sleep in the street.”
Edited by F.S. & E.C.
REF. A.I_01.3_JUL20
DATE:
Summer 2020
AUTHOR:
F.S., Age 21, Serer, from Senegal
PLACE RECORDED:
Piazza Venezia, Rome IT
“I do not feel comfortable when I walk in the city. I always watch out! The way that the police is looking at me is aggressive. They think that the black man is a killer.”
REF. A.I_01.3_AUG19
“Protest”
DATE:
Summer 2019
AUTHOR:
K.G., Age 30, Soninke, from Mali
PLACE RECORDED:
San Lorenzo, Rome IT
“Protest”
DATE:
Summer 2019
AUTHOR:
K.G., Age 30, Soninke, from Mali
PLACE RECORDED:
San Lorenzo, Rome IT
“In my first camp in Rome, we tried a protest! We did not think that things were correct in the center. The police hit us. I do not think that I will protest again.”
REF. A.I_01.3_AUG21
“Difficult and painful moments”
DATE:
Fall 2021
AUTHOR:
F.S., Age 23, Serer, from Senegal
PLACE RECORDED:
Barcelona ES
“Difficult and painful moments”
DATE:
Fall 2021
AUTHOR:
F.S., Age 23, Serer, from Senegal
PLACE RECORDED:
Barcelona ES
“Six different times, I was sleeping in the street of Rome, when the police arrived and woke me up to take me to questura. Once we arrived, they put me in the little jail over there, where I had to spend the whole day - from 6:00am to 1:00am. They took my fingerprints for no reason. Then, when they finally released me, I had to walk all night just to get back to where I was when they picked me up. These were the most difficult and painful moments of my life. What I went through there - it was a crazy time. One day after they released me, I just sat down and cried. “
REF. C.IV_01.3_MAY21
“Stay silent”
“Stay silent”
DATE:
Spring 2021
AUTHOR:
F.S., Age 22, Serer, from Senegal
PLACE RECORDED:
Moguer, Huelva ES
“It is difficult for us to stand up for ourselves as black immigrants. If a white person wants to fight you in Europe, you cannot defend yourself. You should stay silent... Because if someone calls the police, they will come with no question. They will arrest you & put you immediately in jail without asking any questions.”