Snitches Get Stitches...

It's an odd code, this idea that "snitches get stitches" which seems to pervade the philosophies and mental dispositions of most Black and Latino Americans. I specify minorities because in my experience, White Americans have the common sense to point fingers, make outrageous threats and call the police if they know someone has committed a crime. (Sad, but true). On one hand, witnesses refuse to come forward because even if they do not personally subscribe to the theory that snitches get stitches they are relatively sure that whoever committed the crime does. Yet everyone complains that the authorities fail to respond and produce results whenever something goes wrong.

Why, do you ask, would I be concerned with this as a Community Director? Because a resident just reported to me that someone appropriated the Residence Hall Master Key, went in his room and stole $260 from his hiding place in the ceiling. Clearly this is someone he knows. He had to have told someone else where he puts his money. Still, the master key was involved, and this is something I have to investigate.

The only problem is that he feels that "it could have been... *cough* *cough*" Yeah, one of those. He refuses to name names. he only wants people to know that he knows a crime was committed. On one level I applaud his casual attitude towards the money itself. "It's only money," he says. But still...name the names man! Point the fingers! My hands are tied if you can't even tell where I should begin looking. I can search rooms if the purpose is to restore order. If there is a valid complaint and sufficient evidence, I can look. In this case, his door was locked and the money was hidden somewhere that you needed previous knowledge to locate. But fine, whatever. It's not my money. Snitches get stitches...please. We're not talking about pointing out the murderer. I don't care who killed Pookie or where Nino Brown's been hiding the drugs. I refuse to ever be afraid to name another...college student.

I can do all the things that are within my power to do. I can tighten security even more than I already have. I can change protocol for the handling of the master key. And...that's it, really. There were no names given, no information to check out because he doesn't want to be involved in the naming of names. Pfft. Me, I point fingers, and make outrageous claims like "This is a citizen's arrest." Then again, I guess that's why I still have all my stuff.

Legal Note: Opinions in this post are my own and not representative of the university I work for or the people I work under. All suppositions, presumptions, theories, hypotheses, etc. are my own. This blog is for entertainment purposes only, blah blah blah. There are purposely no names included in this post, and I have revealed nothing that violates either general expectations of privacy or the University confidentiality agreement, which, actually... I never signed anyway. All of that is to say...don't be trying to sue me.