Mitrice Richardson – Police to blame for missing girl?

A 24 year old woman is missing, and LA Deputies are the last ones to have seen her. She was picked up for being intoxicated and apparently not being able to pay her bill. Her family has said that this is very uncharacteristic of her normal behavior. She was booked for not paying the tab and for possession of pot under an ounce. And then released. No phone, no money, no car. In an area of town she did not know, that has been dubbed “the lost hills”. Police have said she was released because the jail was overcrowded, or was it because she was black? Would they have released a young drunk white woman the same way? I have a hard time believing that. It was wrong, period.

Her mother says that she is normally the designated driver, she is also bilingual and volunteers her time with nonprofit organizations. This is not the type of person that goes out and eats, drinks, and then refuses to pay the bill. What is missing from this story here? Witnesses at the restaurant say she was talking gibberish and acting disorientated, and her family believes she may have been having a mental crisis of some kind. But instead of receiving help, she was arrested and then tossed out into the night. She has not been seen since.

Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney representing the family, said “If Mitrice Richardson’s name was Spears or Lohan, they would have escorted her home… It’s a double standard.

What is the standard practice of police in Ottawa? Perhaps our jails do not get that “overcrowded” and don’t have that problem. I think police have a lot of explaining to do why they released this young woman in the middle of the night with nothing. And now she is missing. I wonder if they accept any responsibility.