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When I was 13 years old, I was home alone and heard a car door slam outside. I peeped through my blinds and saw two officers. One officer walked to my front door and the other went around my house and out of sight.
I immediately called my parents, who then called 911 to find out why they were there. I could hear the fear in my parents’ voices as they instructed me on what to do. My grandfather was on his way to the house. While I waited, I heard talking outside of my window. When I peeked out the window, I saw the first officer with his gun drawn, pointing directly at my window. I ran and hid in the closet and soon after my grandfather pulled up to our house and rushed to talk to the officers.
We later found out that the officers were there because of an issue with our phone line and alarm system. The officers apologized and stated they received an alert of a possible home invasion and I looked “suspicious.” How can a 13-year-old boy look suspicious in his own home?
This encounter opened my eyes to how quickly interactions with law enforcement can turn dangerous. And like many of my peers, the experience forced me to familiarize myself with the harsh realities of racial prejudice and police brutality before I’d even acclimated to the world of high school. My experience is not unique. Far too many people can relate or know someone who’s had the same experience.
There is a shared pessimistic feeling amongst Generation Z’s perspective of humanity's future. In just the last 24 years, Gen Z has lived through catastrophic natural disasters, unprecedented levels of social unrest and, not to mention, a global pandemic that ripped their childhood milestones from them. While many students worried if they’d ever be able to take part in traditional rights of passage put on pause by the pandemic, we were also grappling with the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright and too many to count. This opened many people's eyes to the racial injustice prevalent in the U.S. that was somehow hidden to so many.
Gen Z watched as figures who are supposed to protect were not being held accountable. How can we sit back and watch as systems and people who are supposed to be laying the groundwork for a better country for younger generations continue to exploit and oppress vulnerable communities?
In the last few years, this question has ignited many of my peers to forgo their youth and step into activism roles. My own experience with law enforcement and watching the experiences of others made me feel as if I needed to present a solution. I created The Safety Pouch, a tool to help facilitate safer interactions for both law enforcement and civilians.
The Safety Pouch is a storage tool that allows you to keep all of your driving credentials in one place. The fluorescent orange pouch can be clipped to the exterior window, minimizing movement within the vehicle, allowing more visibility inside the vehicle and the option to keep your hands on the steering wheel. The fact that the Safety Pouch is considered a useful and lifesaving device shines a light on the current lack of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. It shows that we have to go out of our way to buy and create tools to protect us from those whose sworn duty is to protect. The Safety Pouch is a reflection of our society.
While I’ve had people reach out and share that the pouch makes them feel much safer during traffic stops, why did I feel so compelled to create something to solve this problem? This shows the extent that Gen Z has to go through to come up with solutions to problems because of the lack of effectiveness of our elected officials due to political partisanship.
This generation, which can be seen as far more progressive than previous generations, is not taking “wait your turn” for an answer. Our turn is now. The issues that matter to us and affect the whole of our country and world are now.
While I applaud my peers for stepping up to the plate and fighting to enact change in our communities, my hope is that our collective work sustains and coming generations get to enjoy the luxury of their entire youth and their innocence; that the people who’ve been tasked with eradicating corrupt practices are held to systems of accountability that ensure they follow through; that the pressures of fixing the world are no longer on the shoulders of individuals who’ve yet to even really experience it.
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David Price is the Founder of The Safety Pouch, a driving tool intended to store essential documentation, minimizing movement within the vehicle, and facilitating safer and more efficient traffic stops.
