At the university where I worked, a colleague mentioned that he had been stopped by the campus police four times in his time there (which was longer than my time). He was surprised to learn that I had been stopped thrice over a shorter period, and I am so white I can be seen from great distances. We regularly had to come in at night for patches and upgrades then and it was just a fact of life.

Even in my neighborhood, if I go out walking at night, I get stopped by the police, approximately once every two years. This is with a grey sweatpants, a white T-shirt, and a long white shirt, hardly burglary attire.

I wonder how much of it is a function of being male and, if large, apparently threatening-looking.