A stuffed monkey found hanging by a noose Saturday at St. Louis Fire Department Firehouse 13 is connected to a pattern of harassment waged by a powerful member of Firefighters Local 73 against a black firefighter, according to the Firefighters Institute of Racial Equality.
The black firefighter, Romondo Battle, is stationed at Firehouse 13 (located at 1400 Shawmut in the city’s West End), where the monkey was found hanging.
His captain is Bruce Williams, a former president of Local 73 and member of the union’s powerful pension board who was disciplined in September 2002 for using the n-word while on-duty.
On September 21 of this year, Battle filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It complains that Williams repeatedly has harassed Battle over whether or not he lives in the City of St. Louis, as City firefighters are required by law.It further claims that on August 24, Battle ordered a unit of firefighters from Firehouse 13 to break into Battle’s dwelling downtown on S. 10th Street.According to Battle’s complaint, Williams ordered firefighters to check Battle’s house because he had not reported to duty or called in sick.
However, Battle claimed he called in sick at 6:30 a.m. that day to Firehouse 28, where he was assigned on Aug. 24. According to Battle’s complaint and a neighbor’s eyewitness account, Williams had Battle’s dwelling entered (through an open window) at approximately 1 p.m., long after Battle was supposed to report to work - and responding in a truck from Firehouse 13, which is nowhere near Battle’s downtown dwelling.“To break into somebody’s house - after there was a change in policy not to do that when a firefighter calls in sick - is beyond me,” said Wayne Luster, vice chairman of FIRE.“And for it to be downtown - that’s way out of their responding area at Firehouse 13, which tells me (Williams) purposely was trying to see if Battle lived in the city of St. Louis.”Battle hails from East St. Louis. He or any City firefighter would face termination if discovered to be living elsewhere than St. Louis city.
On Tuesday Williams was transferred from Firehouse 13 to Firehouse 31, according to department officials. Firehouse 31 is a quiet, southern engine house often requested by older white firefighters.
Black firefighters also claimed that the apparent hanging of the stuffed monkey - which has notably long legs and arms, like the lanky Battle - is related to Battle’s filing a complaint against his captain, Williams, who previously was disciplined for making a public, racist remark.
FIRE also connected the incident to the atmosphere in the department left by the demotion of Fire Chief Sherman George (the city’s first and only black fire chief) and promotion of Battalion Chief Dennis Jenkerson, a white member of Local 73, to replace him.
“How did we get to this hanging noose in an Engine House? We believe that as a result of the removal of this City’s first African-American fire chief, an energized atmosphere of defiant intolerance has been created,” said Captain Abe Pruitt, also a vice chair of FIRE.
“Because Fire Chief Sherman George was successfully forced out against the wishes of most of St. Louis, some firefighters have come to believe that it is ‘open season’ on African-American firefighters.”Local 73’s current president, Chris Molitor, told KMOV Channel 4 that the monkey had been found at a fire site, taken back to the station and hung to dry out.“
That’s hard to believe,” said Luster of FIRE.The FBI is investigating the situation.Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said he had no further comment other than that the FBI was investigating “and that’s what they are paid to do.”
Jenkerson declined to comment on the alleged harassment of Battle by Williams.Public Safety Director Charles Bryson told KMOV that all members of Firehouse 13 are being interviewed.Bryson hinted during a television interview that he was concerned that the incident could be a hoax, similar to ones perpetrated by black firefighters in other cities. This comment came before any report on an investigation.Bryson also said the apparent noose was just a rope that is used to practice tying knots. Molitor said nothing of the knot-tying rope in several televised interviews.
Bryson is a black man promoted to George’s superior when George was facing a publicly announced deadline to make a contested set of promotions or he would be disciplined. On the day he was promoted, Bryson said he would enforce that deadline.Neither Bryson nor mayoral spokesman Ed Rhode have returned calls or emails to the American in more than a month.Molitor did not respond to a request for comment from the American.
FIRE is calling for the following actions in regard to the incident:-- A federal investigation and “a thorough investigation on this issue as (Mayor Francis G. Slay) did with the African-American testing company, Blockett and Associates.-- Punishment for all parties responsible and a written message to each engine house that these types of acts will not be tolerated.-- FIRE being involved in all discussions on how the Fire Department moves forward.“The use of a monkey, the use of a noose, the hanging, and the North Side location (of Firehouse 13) make the perpetrator’s message crystal clear - hate and intimidation directed at African Americans,” said Pruitt of FIRE.“We at FIRE have said time and time again, unless and until the issues of race are dealt with head-on, honestly and with the inclusion of all parties, we as a city will continue experience these types of crimes.
”‘Sound the trumpet’The black community’s reaction to Slay’s actions against George led to a meeting of clergy members in preparation for a rally on Dec. 30.“It will be a ‘sound the trumpet’ rally and we expect to attract several thousand people to protest the mayor’s handling of Fire Chief George,” said Pastor B.T. Rice of New Horizon 7th Day Christian Church and a member of Citizens to Support Fire Chief George.“The community is calling on us to act and act strongly.”Also as continuing evidence of his respect in the community, George has been invited to serve as honorary grand marshal for the 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Parade to be held on January 21.
By Alvin A. Reid and Chris King Of the St. Louis American
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
A YEAR LATER, FAMILY, ACTIVIST SEEK JUSTICE FOR SEAN BELL
NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - A year after a deadly police shooting ignited community anger and raised questions about police conduct, activists, elected officials and the family of Sean Bell honored his memory and continued their appeal for justice.
Mr. Bell and two friends were victims of 50 shots fired by undercover police officers after leaving his bachelor party on Nov. 25, 2006.
Three officers indicted for the shooting –Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora, who have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and Marc Cooper, who pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment—are scheduled to go on trial in February.
Police union officials and defense attorneys have said the officers believed Mr. Bell and his companions were headed to his car to retrieve a gun. No weapons were found at the scene.
“I want justice,” said Nicole Paultre Bell, the mother of Mr. Bell’s two young daughters, ages four and one, who legally took his name after his death. “I just keep asking myself, ‘Why does this have to be my children? Why me? Why do we have to be the ones to go through this?’ ” she told reporters.
“A lot of people felt that a year would temper the outrage,” Rev. Sharpton told the press, as hundreds gathered at the scene of the shooting in Queens. He vowed to stand with the family until it gets justice. The shooting sparked several protest marches, the largest led by the Rev. Sharpton and his National Action Network wound down New York city’s famed Fifth Avenue shortly before Christmas in 2006. Many demonstrators saw the shooting as symbolic of excessive force against Blacks in New York City.
This year activists called for Blacks to stay away from traditional shopping the day after Thanksgiving to add economic pressure to the demand for justice.
After pressure from the New York City Council, the New York Police Department commissioned the RAND Corp., a think tank, to look for ways to reduce the risk of “reflexive” or “contagious” shooting by its officers.
A week before the one-year anniversary of the Bell killing, however, NYPD officers in Brooklyn fired 20 shots at 18-year-old Khiel Coppin, who had been diagnosed with a mental condition, hitting him at least 13 times. He died at the scene.
New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum told reporters after the fifth and final hearing of a panel created after Mr. Bell’s shooting, known as the Tri-Level Legislative Task Force on Police Procedures, that “something is terribly wrong” with the way police conduct themselves.
“There’s a lack of kindness,” she said. Ms. Gotbaum’s daughter-in-law died in September while in police custody at Phoenix International Airport.
The panel, which includes state, city and federal elected officials, held its first hearing in January and concluded its work on the first anniversary of the shooting.
Ms. Gotbaum admitted the Bell shooting hit closer to home after her daughter-in-law’s death. “I was always interested in the panel, and I was interested in the issue because I represented people who have been affected by bad police behavior,” she said at the hearing, according to media reports.
The NYPD continues to argue it’s statistics show that officers are more restrained these days, claiming officers fired 540 shots in 2006, down 13 percent from 616 shots in 2005. In 1996, the total was 1,292 shots fired. The NYPD also reports nine people were killed by officers so far in 2007. In 2006, there were 13 fatal shootings, up from nine in 2005. In 1996, there were 30 deaths at the hands of police, according to the Associated Press.
A Quinnipiac university poll, taken after the killing of Khiel Coppin, showed 55 percent of New Yorkers approved of the way Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is performing his duties, 30 percent said they disapproved and 16 percent were undecided.
His approval rating was 52 percent after the killing of Sean Bell. Whites favor Mr. Kelly, with 70 percent saying they thought he was doing a good job, compared with 42 percent of Blacks and 36 percent of Latinos.
Police shootings aren’t the only target of community anger and scrutiny. Another reason the police department commissioned the RAND report was to counter complaints by Blacks and Latinos that NYPD’s stop and frisk policy was racist. Blacks comprised 53 percent of those stopped, 29 percent were Latinos and 11 percent White. More than 500,000 people were stopped for questioning in 2006, according to police department statistics.
While the study acknowledged that Blacks were stopped at a rate 50 percent greater than their representation in the census, RAND argued that using the census as a benchmark was unreliable because it didn’t factor in higher arrest rates. Critics say that 90 percent of those stops in 2006 did not lead to an arrest. RAND also argued that NYPD’s tactics were race-neutral.
The National Latino Officers Association of America told reporters the “study is comprised of endless excuses, and statistical justifications.”
“The report draws conclusions that have no basis in reality. If left unchallenged, it is the justification for racial profiling, abuse and discrimination,” said Anthony Miranda, a retired NYPD sergeant, and executive chairman of the National Latino Officers Association.
finalcall.com
Friday, December 14, 2007
BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT SPEAK OUT AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY, POLICE MISCONDUCT, AND RACISM ON WESTCHESTER N.Y. RADIO SHOW
On December 9, 2007, the President and Executive Director of the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) were guests on the Final Call Radio Show on WVOX 1460 AM hosted by Brother Arthur Muhammad. The topic of the show centered around police brutality and misconduct, the December 7th 100 Positive Black Men Rally at Mt. Vernon High School and black men being responsible for today’s youth.
In studio with Brother Arthur was Damon K. Jones, Executive Director of the Westchester NBPA, and two Mt. Vernon High School students that attended the 100 positive black men rally. The Westchester NBPA President, Sterling Dixson, joined the discussion via phone.
Prompted by the Westchester NBPA’s partnership with the Yonkers’ NAACP to address the ongoing police brutality and misconduct in the Yonkers’ community, Brother Arthur asked Mr. Jones why the NBPA was offering its support.
“The NAACP has historically worked for the betterment of our community. As men, black men, we could not sit back and allow our sister, Karen Edmonson [the president of the Yonkers Chapter] to stand alone. The people of Westchester need to see that she has the support of the black law enforcement community” Mr. Jones said
President Dixson, a long time resident of Yonkers, added that “police brutality is part of the history of Yonkers police” something that he witnessed as a child growing up in the Slow Balms Projects.
Brother Arthur asked President Dixson about the cross burning incident in Cortland and his position on racism in Westchester. He responded with “I am a product of the school desegregation suit in Yonkers. I remember being bussed to school and adults standing with banners and posters saying go back to where you came from. It felt like I was in the 50’s and 60’s. Yes, racism still exists in Westchester. More than we want to admit it.”
In studio with Brother Arthur was Damon K. Jones, Executive Director of the Westchester NBPA, and two Mt. Vernon High School students that attended the 100 positive black men rally. The Westchester NBPA President, Sterling Dixson, joined the discussion via phone.
Prompted by the Westchester NBPA’s partnership with the Yonkers’ NAACP to address the ongoing police brutality and misconduct in the Yonkers’ community, Brother Arthur asked Mr. Jones why the NBPA was offering its support.
“The NAACP has historically worked for the betterment of our community. As men, black men, we could not sit back and allow our sister, Karen Edmonson [the president of the Yonkers Chapter] to stand alone. The people of Westchester need to see that she has the support of the black law enforcement community” Mr. Jones said
President Dixson, a long time resident of Yonkers, added that “police brutality is part of the history of Yonkers police” something that he witnessed as a child growing up in the Slow Balms Projects.
Brother Arthur asked President Dixson about the cross burning incident in Cortland and his position on racism in Westchester. He responded with “I am a product of the school desegregation suit in Yonkers. I remember being bussed to school and adults standing with banners and posters saying go back to where you came from. It felt like I was in the 50’s and 60’s. Yes, racism still exists in Westchester. More than we want to admit it.”
BLACKWATCH
Thursday, December 13, 2007
RACE AS A TRIGGER ... "SHOOT OR DONT SHOOT"
Would an unarmed black man be spared a barrage of 41 bullets fired by police officers if he were white? It is a question that’s been consuming Joshua Correll ever since Amadou Diallo, a 22-year-old Guinean immigrant, was killed by New York police officers in 1999 as he reached into his pocket for an object the officers believed to be a gun.
An assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, Correll has been trying to find the answer through a series of studies he has published since 2002.
Through a video simulation Correll and his colleagues created, the studies tested 270 police officers from 15 different states and 187 civilians in an attempt to gauge how racial bias plays into a police officer’s decision to shoot a suspect.
The studies came up with two main findings.
The first one, Correll says, was “reassuring.” It showed that police officers were less likely to shoot an unarmed man, regardless of race, than the majority white and Latino civilians who were tested.
“Police officers can implement a kind of control that other people can’t do,” said Correll, who is white. “When it comes down to it, they’re very good about controlling the decision that reflects the object in the person’s hand, not the color of the person’s skin.”
Implicit association studies can be used as a step in finding the weak links in a system.
But the second finding was less sanguine. It showed that the officers, just like untrained civilians, seem to exhibit racial bias in their reaction time: They were quicker to decide not to shoot an unarmed white suspect than an unarmed black suspect and slower to decide to shoot an armed white suspect than an armed black suspect. The results, Correll believes, suggest that participants associate African Americans with more violence. And the implication could be ominous, he said.
“Even if the don’t-shoot mechanism translates, there can be bias in who people choose to stop, so police may wind up in more confrontations with black suspects,” he said.
Correll’s study is part of a growing body of nationwide research called “implicit association,” which seeks to predict behavior based on an individual’s level of bias. By testing human responses under time pressure, researchers have found that people are not immune from developing their own unconscious biases.
In Correll’s research, he sought to tease out such biases by constructing a game that played out like this:
A white man appears on a background of a park bench. He holds an object in his hand. It’s black and has a sharp edge. You have a few milliseconds to decide if the man is holding a gun.
Pulling the trigger before he does is your only line of defense. You can press either “shoot” or “don’t shoot” button.
Next, a black man appears at a train station. He’s holding an object that blends in with the color of the background. He’s standing at a 45-degree angle from your line of sight, making it hard to judge if he has a gun—or a cell phone.
The simulation goes on like this for about 12 minutes, with upwards of 100 targets appearing.
Matthew Tobias, assistant deputy superintendent in the Chicago Police Department, said factors are more complex when making the decision to shoot in the real world.
“Factors such as the level of crime in an area, recent crime events in the neighborhood, the time of day and lighting factors all affect an officer’s ability to make a good decision,” he said.
But Tobias, who is white, insists that one thing is for sure: “Race is never a factor in an officer’s decision to shoot.”
Ashunda Harris, a 36-year-old African American, disagrees. Harris looks at the issue through the painstaking reality of what happened to Aaron Harrison, her 18-year-old nephew. In August, Harrison was shot and killed by a police officer in North Lawndale, a predominantly black neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.
In recent years, Harris said, police have become increasingly aggressive in the neighborhood, humiliating young black men in particular. “They are demeaned and humiliated on a daily basis,” she said, her voice still trembling with anger at a community protest in the wake of her nephew’s death.
Such sentiments are a signal that the police department needs to recruit more black officers, said Jerry Crawley, a retired Chicago police officer who served the force for nearly 34 years.
“When you don’t have someone like the people who look like the actual community [they’re serving], there’s no relationship,” said Crawley, who is black and a former board member of the African American Police League, a nonprofit that seeks to provide “better police service in the black community.”
For his part, Correll believes that implicit association studies like his can be used as a step in finding the weak links in a system. “If you understand why a system works, you can understand when it is going to break down,” he said.
By Shelly Zeiger
Colorline.com
An assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, Correll has been trying to find the answer through a series of studies he has published since 2002.
Through a video simulation Correll and his colleagues created, the studies tested 270 police officers from 15 different states and 187 civilians in an attempt to gauge how racial bias plays into a police officer’s decision to shoot a suspect.
The studies came up with two main findings.
The first one, Correll says, was “reassuring.” It showed that police officers were less likely to shoot an unarmed man, regardless of race, than the majority white and Latino civilians who were tested.
“Police officers can implement a kind of control that other people can’t do,” said Correll, who is white. “When it comes down to it, they’re very good about controlling the decision that reflects the object in the person’s hand, not the color of the person’s skin.”
Implicit association studies can be used as a step in finding the weak links in a system.
But the second finding was less sanguine. It showed that the officers, just like untrained civilians, seem to exhibit racial bias in their reaction time: They were quicker to decide not to shoot an unarmed white suspect than an unarmed black suspect and slower to decide to shoot an armed white suspect than an armed black suspect. The results, Correll believes, suggest that participants associate African Americans with more violence. And the implication could be ominous, he said.
“Even if the don’t-shoot mechanism translates, there can be bias in who people choose to stop, so police may wind up in more confrontations with black suspects,” he said.
Correll’s study is part of a growing body of nationwide research called “implicit association,” which seeks to predict behavior based on an individual’s level of bias. By testing human responses under time pressure, researchers have found that people are not immune from developing their own unconscious biases.
In Correll’s research, he sought to tease out such biases by constructing a game that played out like this:
A white man appears on a background of a park bench. He holds an object in his hand. It’s black and has a sharp edge. You have a few milliseconds to decide if the man is holding a gun.
Pulling the trigger before he does is your only line of defense. You can press either “shoot” or “don’t shoot” button.
Next, a black man appears at a train station. He’s holding an object that blends in with the color of the background. He’s standing at a 45-degree angle from your line of sight, making it hard to judge if he has a gun—or a cell phone.
The simulation goes on like this for about 12 minutes, with upwards of 100 targets appearing.
Matthew Tobias, assistant deputy superintendent in the Chicago Police Department, said factors are more complex when making the decision to shoot in the real world.
“Factors such as the level of crime in an area, recent crime events in the neighborhood, the time of day and lighting factors all affect an officer’s ability to make a good decision,” he said.
But Tobias, who is white, insists that one thing is for sure: “Race is never a factor in an officer’s decision to shoot.”
Ashunda Harris, a 36-year-old African American, disagrees. Harris looks at the issue through the painstaking reality of what happened to Aaron Harrison, her 18-year-old nephew. In August, Harrison was shot and killed by a police officer in North Lawndale, a predominantly black neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.
In recent years, Harris said, police have become increasingly aggressive in the neighborhood, humiliating young black men in particular. “They are demeaned and humiliated on a daily basis,” she said, her voice still trembling with anger at a community protest in the wake of her nephew’s death.
Such sentiments are a signal that the police department needs to recruit more black officers, said Jerry Crawley, a retired Chicago police officer who served the force for nearly 34 years.
“When you don’t have someone like the people who look like the actual community [they’re serving], there’s no relationship,” said Crawley, who is black and a former board member of the African American Police League, a nonprofit that seeks to provide “better police service in the black community.”
For his part, Correll believes that implicit association studies like his can be used as a step in finding the weak links in a system. “If you understand why a system works, you can understand when it is going to break down,” he said.
By Shelly Zeiger
Colorline.com
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
"BAD COP IN THE HOOD"
CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - While residents in Black and Latino neighborhoods may have already accepted this as a reality, a new report documents a troubling tendency by law enforcement agencies to ignore cases of officers accused of brutality and corruption. A strict code of silence and tangled bureaucracy shields officers from scrutiny, said researchers.
A team led by Professor Craig Futterman of the University of Chicago Law School focused on the Chicago Police Department (CPD) as a case study of systemic controls and disciplinary oversight of officers accused of misconduct.Looking at statistical data from the Chicago Police Department going back to 2001, researchers found officers with the most complaints were found mostly within special operations units assigned to neighborhoods with public housing developments in mainly Black and Latino communities where there is little economic or political power.
“For some communities, these abusive officers make up the face of law enforcement,” said. Prof. Futterman.“We tried to bring to light what’s happening and just show the hard facts and the hard data.What this truly provides is the hard evidence of the reality of those who have felt the brunt of this,” Futterman added. The report, “The Use of Statistical Evidence to Address Police Supervisory and Disciplinary Practices: The Chicago Police Department’s Broken System” was released Nov. 14.
According to the report, aggressive stops, street interrogations and searches of homes at any given time are realities for those living in the inner city.Whenever a police car pulled into a public housing area, Black men expected to be frisked, and questioned by police even without probable cause, it said.
Sean Bell’s fiance Nicole Paultre-Bell is comforted by Rev. Al Sharpton as they watch Queens District Attorney Richard Brown on television unseal the indictments, at Reverend Sharpton’s headquarters, March 19, 2007 in New York City. Three New York City police officers were charged in the shooting death of Sean Bell on November 25, 2006 in Queens, New York. Photo: Stephen Chernin/Getty ImagesDetailed within the report were the activities of a well-known outfit of rogue cops in Chicago dubbed the “Skullcap Crew,” who were accused of constantly terrorizing South Side public housing residents for years. First-hand accounts by residents described seeing the Skullcap Crew “lining up a group of young Black men and kicking them in the testicles; ordering African-American men to strike Black women at the threat of arrest; strip searching African-American women and ridiculing their bodies; planting illegal drugs on innocent people; stealing money from and protecting drug dealers.”
When asked if these officers were dispatched to these areas as a result of punishment for misbehavior or brutality, Prof. Futterman said it was more like “birds of a feather, flock together.” Officers with negative tendencies connected with likeminded officers and got away with abusive behavior because of perceived lawlessness in Black and Latino communities, he said.
Police brutality, excessive use of force incidents across the country
With 13,600 sworn police officers making it the second largest police force behind New York, there exists a well-known history of corruption and brutality within the CPD going back to the late 1970s specifically under the direction of Commander Jon Burge.According to the testimony of complaints by victims and court records, torture techniques such as the use of cattle prods, handcuffing suspects to hot radiators, suffocating suspects with plastic bags, games of Russian roulette, and severe beatings were employed to coerce confessions.A special prosecutor found evidence of impropriety in close to 200 cases against Mr. Burge and some of the men under his command.But it was determined that the statute of limitations had run out in the crimes. Though fired in 1993, Mr. Burge is still collecting his police pension.
Many recall the police torture case of Abner Louima who testified that NYPD officers strip searched him, beat him up, kicked him in the testicles and sodomized him with a plunger before shoving it down his throat knocking out teeth. Mr. Louima suffered severe damage to his internal organs requiring multiple operations. Justin Volpe, the main officer involved in the assault was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Three other officers pled guilty to lesser charges.
In November of 2006, NYPD officers fired 50 shots into a car driven by 23-year-old Sean Bell, killing him and wounding two of his friends as they left his bachelor party at a club in Queens. The three officers accused in the case will go on trial in February of 2008.
The city of Chicago was ordered to pay 23-year-old Coprez Coffie $4 million in damages after a jury ruled in his favor. After being stopped by an unmarked police car in August 2004, Mr. Coffie said he was accused of having drugs. During a search, a police officer sodomized him with a screwdriver while his patrol partner watched. The jury found Officer Scott Korhonen conducted an unreasonable search. Mr. Korhonen and his patrol partner, Officer Gerald Lodwich, were not disciplined by the police department.
Los Angeles Police Depart-ment became a prime example of police corruption and brutality following the Rodney King beating. Vivid memories of the LAPD Rampart scandal remain in which members of an elite squad were accused of involvement in bank-robberies, narcotics trafficking, tainting evidence and falsifying information to frame innocent people.
How can police officers be so brazen in their disrespect for law and rights of citizens they are sworn to protect?
The Futterman report found the Chicago Police Department had a “deeply ingrained culture of denial which enables certain officers to operate with impunity in certain communities.” The department “goes to great lengths not to know about or address its ‘bad apples’ and the harm that they inflict” on the public and the justice system, said researchers.
The problem isn’t Chicago’s alone. Advocates for police reform have long complained of a “blue wall of silence” and the difficulty of having departments police themselves.
In New Jersey, where De Lacy D. Davis recently retired as a sergeant after 20 years with the East Orange New Jersey Police Department, the same problem exists. “Not only does the blue wall of silence exist, but the organizational culture of law enforcement is white male dominated, racist, sexist, homophobic and then you might find a good cop,” said Mr. Davis. “When you operate in a paradigm that has that as a cultural foundation, it is very difficult for anyone other than those in the dominant culture to seek or get any form of justice.”
“Very often, the officers with the complaints against them get promoted. The attitude of the officers on the street is a reflection of the leadership at the top of the agency,” said Mr. Davis. “The system protects its own. There is an unwritten reward for not breaking the code.I have broken the code. I’ve been assaulted, I’ve had my life threatened, I’ve had the system unleashed on me, by Black officers, for breaking the code because I’ve testified against officers who were abusing citizens,” said Mr. Davis.
The Futterman report pointed to extensive administrative requirements, unrealistic reporting deadlines for citizens, and a rigid policy of refusing to transfer and protect whistleblowers as “the machinery of denial” within the Chicago police department. These things provide protection for officers accused of excessive force or questionable ethical behavior, the report found. Mr. Futterman referred to the department’s internal investigations as “a joke.”
“Police brutality is not a crime, it is an ideology,” said Chicago community activist Wallace “Gator” Bradley. In many cases of documented cases of police brutality, officers found guilty in civil suits or other wrongdoing remained on the street, he complained.
“We need to lay all that pressure on those with the power to demand that the House judiciary committee subpoena the judges, states attorney, and the police officers in all of these cases and ask them why the investigations and indictments are slow,” Mr. Bradley said.
Longtime Chicago community activist Beauty Turner has been fighting the battle against police brutality for almost 20 years. She is convinced that the police should not be investigating themselves. “The public, press and activists need to be on the police review board because we actually live in the communities in which this is happening, and we have a greater impact on this police terrorism,” said Ms. Turner.
Some Chicago aldermen have asked federal judges for access to the names of officers who were the subjects of multiple complaints including false arrest, brutality and unlawful search since police officers are public officials who are paid by the tax dollars.Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has vehemently opposed the release of such information, saying institutional controls have been put in place to prevent misdeeds and investigate claims of police wrongdoing.
“What this study shows is that the same underlying conditions that allowed Commander Burge and his henchmen to torture Black people with impunity haven’t been fixed today.The same underlying conditions that allowed them to get away with it are allowing the modern day Burges to do what they are doing,” countered Mr. Futterman.
Although the Chicago study paints a bleak picture, as the public outcry for reform increased, Mayor Daley announced broad changes to the Office of Professional Standards, which is the administrative body responsible for investigating complaints of police misconduct. The mayor appointed Ilana Rosenzweig as the new administrative head of the Office of Professional Standards, placing the department under his direct control. Ms. Rosenzweig subsequently renamed the agency to the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) and has announced that structural and personnel changes are in the works.
In a press conference in May of 2007, after announcing that he would be restructuring the Office of Professional Standards, Mayor Daley said, “I’ve made it clear that misconduct in the department cannot and will not be tolerated in the City of Chicago. We must assure every Chicagoan that we are doing everything possible to prevent abuse by police.”
By Ashahed M. MuhammadAssistant Editor, finalcall.com
A team led by Professor Craig Futterman of the University of Chicago Law School focused on the Chicago Police Department (CPD) as a case study of systemic controls and disciplinary oversight of officers accused of misconduct.Looking at statistical data from the Chicago Police Department going back to 2001, researchers found officers with the most complaints were found mostly within special operations units assigned to neighborhoods with public housing developments in mainly Black and Latino communities where there is little economic or political power.
“For some communities, these abusive officers make up the face of law enforcement,” said. Prof. Futterman.“We tried to bring to light what’s happening and just show the hard facts and the hard data.What this truly provides is the hard evidence of the reality of those who have felt the brunt of this,” Futterman added. The report, “The Use of Statistical Evidence to Address Police Supervisory and Disciplinary Practices: The Chicago Police Department’s Broken System” was released Nov. 14.
According to the report, aggressive stops, street interrogations and searches of homes at any given time are realities for those living in the inner city.Whenever a police car pulled into a public housing area, Black men expected to be frisked, and questioned by police even without probable cause, it said.
Sean Bell’s fiance Nicole Paultre-Bell is comforted by Rev. Al Sharpton as they watch Queens District Attorney Richard Brown on television unseal the indictments, at Reverend Sharpton’s headquarters, March 19, 2007 in New York City. Three New York City police officers were charged in the shooting death of Sean Bell on November 25, 2006 in Queens, New York. Photo: Stephen Chernin/Getty ImagesDetailed within the report were the activities of a well-known outfit of rogue cops in Chicago dubbed the “Skullcap Crew,” who were accused of constantly terrorizing South Side public housing residents for years. First-hand accounts by residents described seeing the Skullcap Crew “lining up a group of young Black men and kicking them in the testicles; ordering African-American men to strike Black women at the threat of arrest; strip searching African-American women and ridiculing their bodies; planting illegal drugs on innocent people; stealing money from and protecting drug dealers.”
When asked if these officers were dispatched to these areas as a result of punishment for misbehavior or brutality, Prof. Futterman said it was more like “birds of a feather, flock together.” Officers with negative tendencies connected with likeminded officers and got away with abusive behavior because of perceived lawlessness in Black and Latino communities, he said.
Police brutality, excessive use of force incidents across the country
With 13,600 sworn police officers making it the second largest police force behind New York, there exists a well-known history of corruption and brutality within the CPD going back to the late 1970s specifically under the direction of Commander Jon Burge.According to the testimony of complaints by victims and court records, torture techniques such as the use of cattle prods, handcuffing suspects to hot radiators, suffocating suspects with plastic bags, games of Russian roulette, and severe beatings were employed to coerce confessions.A special prosecutor found evidence of impropriety in close to 200 cases against Mr. Burge and some of the men under his command.But it was determined that the statute of limitations had run out in the crimes. Though fired in 1993, Mr. Burge is still collecting his police pension.
Many recall the police torture case of Abner Louima who testified that NYPD officers strip searched him, beat him up, kicked him in the testicles and sodomized him with a plunger before shoving it down his throat knocking out teeth. Mr. Louima suffered severe damage to his internal organs requiring multiple operations. Justin Volpe, the main officer involved in the assault was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Three other officers pled guilty to lesser charges.
In November of 2006, NYPD officers fired 50 shots into a car driven by 23-year-old Sean Bell, killing him and wounding two of his friends as they left his bachelor party at a club in Queens. The three officers accused in the case will go on trial in February of 2008.
The city of Chicago was ordered to pay 23-year-old Coprez Coffie $4 million in damages after a jury ruled in his favor. After being stopped by an unmarked police car in August 2004, Mr. Coffie said he was accused of having drugs. During a search, a police officer sodomized him with a screwdriver while his patrol partner watched. The jury found Officer Scott Korhonen conducted an unreasonable search. Mr. Korhonen and his patrol partner, Officer Gerald Lodwich, were not disciplined by the police department.
Los Angeles Police Depart-ment became a prime example of police corruption and brutality following the Rodney King beating. Vivid memories of the LAPD Rampart scandal remain in which members of an elite squad were accused of involvement in bank-robberies, narcotics trafficking, tainting evidence and falsifying information to frame innocent people.
How can police officers be so brazen in their disrespect for law and rights of citizens they are sworn to protect?
The Futterman report found the Chicago Police Department had a “deeply ingrained culture of denial which enables certain officers to operate with impunity in certain communities.” The department “goes to great lengths not to know about or address its ‘bad apples’ and the harm that they inflict” on the public and the justice system, said researchers.
The problem isn’t Chicago’s alone. Advocates for police reform have long complained of a “blue wall of silence” and the difficulty of having departments police themselves.
In New Jersey, where De Lacy D. Davis recently retired as a sergeant after 20 years with the East Orange New Jersey Police Department, the same problem exists. “Not only does the blue wall of silence exist, but the organizational culture of law enforcement is white male dominated, racist, sexist, homophobic and then you might find a good cop,” said Mr. Davis. “When you operate in a paradigm that has that as a cultural foundation, it is very difficult for anyone other than those in the dominant culture to seek or get any form of justice.”
“Very often, the officers with the complaints against them get promoted. The attitude of the officers on the street is a reflection of the leadership at the top of the agency,” said Mr. Davis. “The system protects its own. There is an unwritten reward for not breaking the code.I have broken the code. I’ve been assaulted, I’ve had my life threatened, I’ve had the system unleashed on me, by Black officers, for breaking the code because I’ve testified against officers who were abusing citizens,” said Mr. Davis.
The Futterman report pointed to extensive administrative requirements, unrealistic reporting deadlines for citizens, and a rigid policy of refusing to transfer and protect whistleblowers as “the machinery of denial” within the Chicago police department. These things provide protection for officers accused of excessive force or questionable ethical behavior, the report found. Mr. Futterman referred to the department’s internal investigations as “a joke.”
“Police brutality is not a crime, it is an ideology,” said Chicago community activist Wallace “Gator” Bradley. In many cases of documented cases of police brutality, officers found guilty in civil suits or other wrongdoing remained on the street, he complained.
“We need to lay all that pressure on those with the power to demand that the House judiciary committee subpoena the judges, states attorney, and the police officers in all of these cases and ask them why the investigations and indictments are slow,” Mr. Bradley said.
Longtime Chicago community activist Beauty Turner has been fighting the battle against police brutality for almost 20 years. She is convinced that the police should not be investigating themselves. “The public, press and activists need to be on the police review board because we actually live in the communities in which this is happening, and we have a greater impact on this police terrorism,” said Ms. Turner.
Some Chicago aldermen have asked federal judges for access to the names of officers who were the subjects of multiple complaints including false arrest, brutality and unlawful search since police officers are public officials who are paid by the tax dollars.Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has vehemently opposed the release of such information, saying institutional controls have been put in place to prevent misdeeds and investigate claims of police wrongdoing.
“What this study shows is that the same underlying conditions that allowed Commander Burge and his henchmen to torture Black people with impunity haven’t been fixed today.The same underlying conditions that allowed them to get away with it are allowing the modern day Burges to do what they are doing,” countered Mr. Futterman.
Although the Chicago study paints a bleak picture, as the public outcry for reform increased, Mayor Daley announced broad changes to the Office of Professional Standards, which is the administrative body responsible for investigating complaints of police misconduct. The mayor appointed Ilana Rosenzweig as the new administrative head of the Office of Professional Standards, placing the department under his direct control. Ms. Rosenzweig subsequently renamed the agency to the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) and has announced that structural and personnel changes are in the works.
In a press conference in May of 2007, after announcing that he would be restructuring the Office of Professional Standards, Mayor Daley said, “I’ve made it clear that misconduct in the department cannot and will not be tolerated in the City of Chicago. We must assure every Chicagoan that we are doing everything possible to prevent abuse by police.”
By Ashahed M. MuhammadAssistant Editor, finalcall.com
Sunday, December 9, 2007
POLICE VIOLENCE ESCALATES IN NEW YORK
NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - “We demand that policing which only serves to brutalize and terrorize communities of color must stop,” said an internet message from Peoples’ Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability, a grassroots coalition of anti-police brutality organizations.
The message was sent out in response to the most recent police shooting of a Black youth in the city: Five officers—three regular city police officers and two from the New York Police Dept. Housing Unit—shot and killed 18-year-old Khiel Coppin. Mr. Coppin had a hairbrush in his hands Nov. 12 when officers fired 20 rounds at him.
It “appears officers were acting within department guidelines,” said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
“With the one-year anniversary of the killing of Sean Bell looming, this latest killing at the hands of trigger happy police officers is a disturbing reminder that police violence continues with people of color as its primary targets,” said Peoples’ Justice.
“This killing once again reveals the pattern, and policy, of the NYPD to shoot to kill in communities of color as an initial response, regardless of whether the circumstances call for deadly force,” the group added.
Police officials said officers were responding to a 911 call from Mr. Coppin’s mother, who asked for help with a domestic dispute. A man’s voice could be heard in the background threatening to kill her and claiming “I have a gun,” according to police officials. Mr. Coppin had stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication, medication for attention deficit disorder and was acting strange, according to relatives and police.
“When she called for help, it was like dialing M for murder. We need to decentralize the police department. We carry around a candy bar – they shoot us. Little Clifford Glover had an afro pick and they killed him, Amadou Diallo’s wallet was enough to get him killed. Now a hairbrush! The police have gone wild,” said Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron.
Kevin Muhammad, NYC Millions More Movement Local Organizing Committee chairman, told The Final Call Blacks in New York need to create a think tank and energize a movement to stunt the growth of “our open enemies.”
“Like no other time has there been a greater need for the marriage between the skilled and the unskilled to become honored servants and respond to the needs of our people,” said Mr. Muhammad, of Muhammad’s Mosque No. 7 in Harlem.
Marq Claxton of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care is willing to be part of a think tank. “You look at the think tanks that White folks have, and you see the power they derive from them. With the brilliance of Black people in this city, a think tank would be perfect. It can be a very important instrument for our Black elected officials,” Mr. Claxton said.
“A think tank that could help with solutions to the mental health problem in our communities would be something I would be a part of,” Councilman Leroy Comrie of Queens told The Final Call. It seems that young Coppin’s mother had tried to get him psychiatric help the same day he was killed.
“The mental health in our community is precarious, so many of our young people are distressed. Our response must be one of helping them face their realities,” Councilman Comrie said. A think tank would be able to establish a program to meet needs and politicians would be able to formulate a way for financial support, he said.
As the Black community braces itself for the upcoming Nov. 23 march and vigil for in remembrance of Sean Bell, an unarmed Black man who was killed when police fired 50 shots at his car, there are other allegations of police misconduct that have many shaking their heads in disbelief.
Cab driver Stephen Springle, a Queens resident, said he was sitting in his vehicle Oct. 28 on a Staten Island street, when police officers demanded that he move his car. According to Springle, officers used mace to get his attention and beat him.
A 14-year-old Black child was picked up Halloween night by two White police officers for allegedly throwing eggs at passing cars. According to his parents, the officers drove the boy to a deserted area, stripped him of his clothes and left him. The parents said their son was beaten and officers hurled racial epithets at him. The officers deny beating the boy or using racial slurs.
They have been charged with unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a minor. Both charges are misdemeanors.
The officers told their supervisors they were trying to teach the young teen a lesson, according to reports.
“These police officers should have been charged with nothing less than kidnapping,” said Mr. Claxton.
In early October, Jayson Tirado was shot to death by an off-duty police officer in what authorities are calling a “road rage” case. The officer has been suspended without pay while a grand jury investigates possible charges.
By Saeed Shabazz
Staff Writer
© Copyright 2007 FCN Publishing, FinalCall.com
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