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In Atlanta last April, a woman named Raquel Nelson, with her three children in tow, jaywalked. They were hit by a car and her four-year-old son was killed. Astonishingly, she was convicted of vehicular homicide, although public outrage has helped her secure a new trial.

This is an extreme example of something we see in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and around the country: blaming the victim when our automobile-dominated transportation system, which is inherently lethal, kills or injures someone just trying to walk from one place to another in the urban environment.

Raquel Nelson did nothing wrong when she jaywalked. In all likelihood, the motorist driving the car that killed her son was breaking the speed limit. But even if, although I find this hard to imagine, the driver was doing everything they could reasonably be expected to do, the proper conclusion in that case is that no one is to blame. It is just another tragic instance in which our insane transportation system proved to be far too dangerous.

So I am writing because between 6 and 11 Carrboro Police cars have been sitting in front of my house for the past 90 minutes conducting a "license check".  I live on Barnes Street and it is predominantly non white.  I have owned a house here for 7 years and never had this much police presence here even when we worked with the CPD community officers to help with gang violence.

I have a lot of respect for Carrboro Police and have dealt with them first hand on many issues, but tonight has been a different story. When I approached them from my yard to ask what was going on, I was met with the polite but aggressive responses that included..." What , are we bothering you?'

I replied, "Yes, you have woken up my children and there are 8 police cars sitting directly in front of my house and the lights are flashing in my windows."

These officers were by no means sympathetic nor friendly and just now - at 12:15am with the lights still illuminating inside of my house I went outside and they pointed and laughed at me.