Patti Will Ride

Patti Will Ride

Braille MonitorMay-June 1986
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Patti Will Ride
by Peggy Pinder

We in the National Federation of the
Blind believe that people who are blind
are (except that they cannot see) just
like other people--able to work, able
to raise families, able to contribute
meaningfully to lives of our communities.
But, if you are blind today, two
things will happen to you that will not
happen to others who are just like you
except that they are sighted. These two
things will happen to you some time in
your lifetime. They will happen more in
the lives of some blind people; less in
the lives of others. They happen,
regardless of race, color, religion,
national origin, gender, educational
background, or natural gifts. They
happened to Patti Gregory.

If you are blind, you will suffer
unfair discrimination because of blindness.
The incapacity of the blind is so
deeply held a belief in our society that
its unfair effects touch each blind
person. And, if you are blind, you will
be told that the justification for discrimination
against you is your own
safety, your own protection. Both these
things happened to Patti Gregory.
Patti Gregory is blind. She has been
a member of the National Federation of
the Blind for about six years. A native
of northern Michigan, she holds a
Bachelor's Degree in special education
and a teaching credential in the State
of Michigan. In 1985, she decided to
seek a law degree and applied to the
National Federation of the Blind for a
scholarship. Patti was awarded a $3,000
National Federation of the Blind Merit
Scholarship at the 1985 national convention
in Louisville, Kentucky. She is
now in her first year at the prestigious
University of Chicago Law School.
Many of the law school's students are
potential prosecutors, defense lawyers,
judges, and authors on police procedure
and efficiency. To offer a well-rounded
education to these men and women who
will one day interact with police
departments all across the country, the
law school and the police department
have created a program for law students
to learn firsthand about the experiences
of a police officer on regular duty
assignment. The program is called
"Ride-Along." Law students riding along
with police officers do not simply stay
in the patrol car for eight hours. The
riders accompany officers into homes,
follow them through investigations on
foot, and go wherever the officer is
assigned to go.
Any University of Chicago law student
who takes the first year criminal law
course can sign up for a ride-along with
a Chicago police officer. Patti, who
was taking the required course, signed
up for a ride-along in the fall, 1985,
semester. Every student who rides along
must execute a waiyer completely absolving
the police department from liability
for any harm which might befall the
student while riding along. Patti was
willing to sign the waiver.
Law student ride-alongs are offered
during five weekends in the fall semester and during five more weekends
in the spring semester. Like other
students who signed up for a fall ride,
Patti was assigned a date to ride with
an officer. On the day of her ride,
Patti would be required to execute the
waiver of liability. But the police
somehow discovered prior to her
scheduled ride that Patti was blind and
refused to allow her to ride along. Her
criminal law professor, Professor Nerval
Morris, spoke to the police liaison
officer about Patti's abilities, and the
police department withdrew its objection
to Patti's riding along in exchange for
Patti's promise that she would ride with
another law student. The option of
riding with another law student is
offered to everyone who rides along, and
many law students prefer to go in pairs.
Patti agreed to go with a friend,
Patrice Glinecky, who also signed up for
a ride-along. When these negotiations
were completed, Patti was ready to ride.
But the fall ride-along program was
over, Patti was compelled to wait for
the spring semester.
When the spring ride-along program was
announced, Patti signed up again. She
then went to the nation's capital to
participate in the Federation's annual
March on Washington. On February 6,
1986, the day after she returned from
Washington, she learned that the Chicago
police had gone back on their word. They
again refused to allow her to ride
along.
With a scant few weekends left in the
spring semester ride-along program,
Patti was informed that she would not be
allowed to ride along under any circumstances.
She was reminded that the
police department had specifically
reserved the right to refuse anyone a
ride without giving its reason. When
she had signed up in the fall, Patti was
told that the police department had
this refusal policy because it wanted
to insure that no one with a criminal
record would be allowed to ride along.
Blanket refusal allowed elimination of
these persons without publicizing the
reason.
Patti Gregory does not have a criminal
record. She has never had her fingerprints
taken. Her facial features have
never been recorded photographically,
along with a number across her chest for
a mug shot file. She has never been
questioned as a criminal suspect. Her
name has never been recorded on a jail house
booking sheet. Yet, she has been
barred from riding along with a Chicago
police officer as though she were a
criminal.
Patti Gregory is "clean" of any criminal
record. She is merely blind. For
this reason, the police refuse to let
her ride along. They say it wouldn't be
safe.
Patti is independently mobile and
would have used her white cane as a
travel tool to get around safely during
the ride-along. She goes where she
pleases, safely and efficiently, including
her recent trip to Washington, D.C.
But the police say it would be unsafe.
They say they would not be able to protect
Patti if violence began. They say
that the officer with whom Patti would
ride would not be able to perform official
duties because the officer would
constantly be worrying about Patti's
safety and would therefore not protect
other citizens or perform required
duties. No doubt they have said to one
another: "I just could never live with
myself if anything happened to that blind woman." Certainly someone at the
police department has commented: "We'd
be liable if she got hurt even with the
waiver. After all, no reasonable person
would let a blind woman just walk into
danger." You can be sure that someone
at the police department has gently
murmured: "You know, it's our responsibility
to protect these people. I think
it's nice that the law school lets her
go there, but, after all. . ."
Although the hierarchy of the police
department would probably not recognize
it, there is irony in what they have
done. They are sworn to uphold the law
and defend the rights of citizens. Yet,
apparently they do not comprehend the
most basic rights which free Americans
prize. Patti Gregory is an American
citizen, a fully responsible adult. As
such, she has the right (just like other
citizens) to waive liability, assess
danger to herself, and accept some risk
when she believes it will enrich her
life and further her education. To take
reasonable chances in the interest of
making possible gains is the very
essence of freedom and liberty.
But Patti Gregory's encounter with the
Chicago police is not finished. At this
writing she is negotiating with them to
give them an opportunity to be persuaded.
The police have offered her
what they call an alternative. They
have suggested that Patti go to Central
Intelligence rather than ride. Central
Intelligence is where the police department
receives and sends all the police
radio messages which control and direct
individual officers during their duty
assignments. From this vantage point,
Patti could hear all radio transmissions--and
participate in nothing. Of course, she has declined. She wants
to ride along like her fellow law
students.
Before it is finished, the odds are
that Patti will ride. Her membership in
the Federation and her drive and determination
make it a virtual certainty.
In the short term she may be the object
of irritation and the subject of annoyance
and comment, but in the long run
she will prevail--and not only she but
also society in general and the Chicago
police department in particular will be
better for it. Patti will ride.(back)(contents)(next)