Black Jogger Detained For "Fitting The Description" Offered Job By Sheriff

Source: (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) / (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Last month, Joseph Griffin was out for a jog in Deltona, Florida when he was stopped by authorities because he allegedly fit the description of a burglary suspect in the area. It’s the age-old story that we’ve been hearing for years from police as a crutch to terrorize people of color.

The police stated on August 27th that they were on the lookout for a man suspected of stealing a weed eater/leaf blower from a shed behind a home. Immediately upon contact, the officer tells Griffin “Hey Buddy, you’re not in any trouble or anything. There’s a burglary that happened — you kind of fit the description, Let me just make sure that you’re not him.”.

That’s probably the worst thing you could hear as a black man jogging in a 90% white neighborhood. Now, according to reports from CNN, he live-streamed the ordeal, which led to the sheriff’s office seeing his stream and reaching out to offer him a job.

Joseph Griffin, 28, who was cleared, told CNN on Tuesday night that he has since been invited by the sheriff to help with bias training.

“It’s a big opportunity that I think could help change the relationship between policing and the community, on both sides,” Griffin told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

Video shared by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office showed how the incident unfolded.

It’s a nice gesture to offer to let Griffin help with bias training, but we all know way more than bias training is needed at this point–especially since Black Lives Matter organizations are in every city and begging to meet with police.