STUFFED MONKEY ON A NOOSE FOUND IN NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK SCHOOL OFFICE

NEW ROCHELLE - A middle school custodian filed a discrimination complaint against the school district after his supervisor hung nooses in management offices, including one wrapped around the neck of a stuffed monkey.

Robert Johnson, a night custodial aide at Isaac E. Young Middle School, said plant supervisor Phil Carino had hung three nooses in shared office space, according to a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Johnson said he removed the first, but that Carino defiantly put up two more, the complaint continued.

Johnson, who is black, said that despite his complaints about the incidents, which occurred between September 2006 and July 2007, school officials failed to seriously reprimand Carino, who is white. Johnson said the district also postponed districtwide racial-sensitivity training, planned for last month.

"This man can hang up nooses with monkeys, I take it down and he can hang up more and nothing gets done," Johnson said. "He should be demoted or fired."

School board President Cindy Babcock Deutsch said yesterday that the board had filed a "comprehensive" response to the EEOC complaint, but that she could not comment on pending administrative legal actions or personnel matters.

However, in a statement, she acknowledged that the incidents occurred and said "there were serious consequences for the responsible party ... including remedial education and a penalty."
Deutsch said sensitivity training for all employees would be held in April and noted that a letter outlining the district's policy of racial, ethnic, gender and religious tolerance had been sent to employees in October.

Carino, who Johnson said was suspended for three weeks without pay as a result of the incidents, did not return calls seeking comment.

The EEOC does not comment on charges when they are in the administrative process, said Nancy Boyd, deputy director of the EEOC's New York district office.

Richard Adamson, pastor of Gospel Tabernacle Church of Christ, said he and other community leaders had met with school officials last year to discuss what he labeled as "racist" incidents. He said the district only recently began taking the group's concerns about sensitivity training seriously after the group threatened to go to the media.

Adamson is encouraging residents to attend tonight's school board meeting at George M. Davis Jr. Elementary School to share their views with trustees.

"That offends every black person," Adamson said. "The president just made a statement on nooses. The whole country's taking this seriously. But when we bring this to them, they do nothing about it."

"The school board and the superintendent act like it doesn't exist," said Ronald Williams, a past president of the New Rochelle chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who also met with district officials. "If this was a swastika, it would have been a totally different reaction."

According to the EEOC complaint and copies of internal district documents provided to The Journal News by Williams, Johnson was transferred to Isaac E. Young in September 2006. On his first night there, Johnson said, he noticed a stuffed monkey hanging from a noose attached to a picture board in an office used by Carino and two black supervisors.

Johnson said he removed the noose and confronted one of the black supervisors, Kenny Bonds, who he said brushed off his concerns. A few months later, Johnson said he saw another empty noose hung from the picture board and removed it. In July 2007, a third noose was hung, which Johnson removed before complaining to Fred Smith, the district's deputy superintendent.

According to district documents, the stuffed monkey with the noose had been put there several years earlier by three employees, including one black worker, as a joke with no racist intentions. In the documents, Carino acknowledged that he never took it down and that, after Johnson removed it, he put up the other small nooses. But Carino insisted his actions were not an acts of racism, according to school documents.

Carino was reprimanded, first with a letter in his file, according to district documents, and later, Johnson said, with a three-week, unpaid suspension. Following the first meeting on the matter on July 24 of last year with Johnson, Carino and other district officials, Principal Anthony Bongo sent a letter dated July 26 to Carino praising his "productive and trustworthy" service, but criticizing him for hanging the nooses.

"This was clearly poor judgment and I must officially extend my displeasure and reprimand for this episode," Bongo wrote, adding: "I appreciate your apology to Mr. Johnson, which I believe was heartfelt and sincere. You have owned up to this as a gentleman, as I knew you would."
Superintendent Richard Organisciak wrote Carino on Oct. 19, telling him that hanging the nooses was unacceptable, but noting there wasn't any evidence that he had engaged in "other conduct which created a hostile or unwelcoming workplace."

"In considering an outcome, I am giving a great deal of weight to the fact that the monkey and the nooses appear to have been isolated acts, rather than a pattern of conduct on your part," Organisciak wrote.

Williams said he had received the letters from district sources, but the district could not verify their authenticity yesterday.

Johnson said he is considering filing a discrimination lawsuit.

"I felt they were just trying to ignore the situation and sweep it up under the rug," he said. "As far as they're concerned it's done and over with. It's not."

Staff writer Jonathan Bandler contributed to this report.Reach Dwight R. Worley at

dworley@lohud.com

BLACKWATCH

The noose incident in New Rochelle is just another reminder that we have along way to go for real race relations in Westchester County. The issue is a greater concern when you have people in supervisory and policy making positions that show actions of bigotry and racism.

We would think after the cross burning incident in Cortland that our local and state politicians can pass legislation that will protect citizens from crimes such as this.

Apparently there is a growing epidemic of racial hatred and bigotry with in the Metro New York area. Oct. 9, 2007, a noose was found on the door of Teachers College professor Madonna Constantine who teaches a class on racial justice. On Sept. 11,2007, a group of White men allegedly attacked several Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Black basketball players and their coach.

Even African American Law Enforcement Professionals are not immune to the institutional racial bigotry On the morning of Sept. 28, 2007, a janitor found a noose inside a locker room used by police officers at the Village of Hempstead police station in Long Island. Half of the officers serving on the Hempstead Police Department are people of color, 40 percent of which are Black, according to officials. News reports indicate there is suspicion that the target of the noose was newly appointed deputy chief, Willie Dixon who black

We are almost 50 yrs up from Martin Luther Kings "I Have A Dream" speech. It has become very clear after recent events that the "Dream" has yet to become a "Reality".

BLACKWATCH

BLACK POLICE GROUP SAYS RACE A FACTOR IN OFF DUTY DETECTIVE RIDLEYS SHOOTING

Westchester Chapter National Black Police Association

President Srirling Dixson


MOUNT VERNON - Race was a contributing factor in the shooting death of a black police officer by four fellow cops, and more training, better community relations and more hiring diversity are needed to prevent similar incidents, the leaders of an organization of black police officers said.

Damon K. Jones, executive director of the Westchester County chapter of the National Black Police Association, said such measures are needed to prevent future incidents like the shooting death of Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley.

Ridley was off-duty and trying to break up an altercation on Jan. 25 when four Westchester County police officers opened fire.

"The politicians, the lawmakers, the policymakers in Westchester should sit down and develop comprehensive training and programs within law enforcement," Jones said. "It cannot be politics as usual with black law enforcement in Westchester, especially with what happened to our brother Christopher Ridley."

Jones said he believed that if it had been a white cop instead of Ridley, the other officers would have shown more restraint.

Westchester NBPA President Sterling Dixson criticized the leak of the identity of Detective Robert Martin, the only black officer of the four involved in Ridley's shooting.

Dixson questioned whether that was done to quell assertions that the shooting was racially motivated. The identities of the three others - Officers Frank Oliveri, Jose Calero and Christian Gutierrez - weren't confirmed until the following day, Dixson said.

"The incident happened approximately 5 p.m., and by 11 p.m. everyone knew Martin's name as the lone black cop that shot Ridley," said Dixson. "Who leaked this brother's name?"

Jones said he would prefer a federal investigation into the shooting to the one being conducted by the White Plains Police Department.

"There's an old saying: Police can't police themselves," he said.

Jones called for sensitivity training to counter institutional prejudices within law enforcement with regard to black people. He said such training was more about changing attitudes than police tactics.

With regard to hiring, he cited a Justice Department report that showed the number of black officers falls far short of the black population in several local communities. In Yonkers, for example, blacks make up 18 percent of the population but only 5 percent of the police force. In Mount Vernon, 62 percent of residents are black but only 24 percent of police officers are black.

Meanwhile, there is barely a handful of black officers between the two cities above the rank of sergeant, he said.

New Rochelle Police Detective Timothy McKnight said good community policing was important and varied from place to place.

"You can't police a community you don't know," McKnight said. "The message today is this is a start."
Reach Brian Howard Lohud.com

PLEASE NOTE:

There was a misquotation in this article. Damon K. Jones The Executive Director Stated about Mt. Vernon and Yonkers. “There are NO African Americans above the rank of a Sergeant. Mt. Vernon has 2; Yonkers has 1, nothing above.”

COP PROBED OVER RACIST POSTER

By WENDY RUDERMANPhiladelphia Daily News

Cartoon found in locker of Narcotics Squad member


INSIDE the locker of a narcotics cop, Philadelphia police officials recently made a shocking discovery: A cartoon of a man, half as an officer in uniform and half as a Klansman with the words: "Blue By Day - White By Night. White Power," according to police officials.

The officer, Scott Schweizer, who has arrested countless drug suspects in predominantly African-American neighborhoods, was removed from his undercover police duties and given a desk job earlier this month, authorities said.

The disturbing find triggered an internal probe that widened yesterday as investigators began to explore whether the scope of the case is limited to Schweizer or somehow broader.

"It's certainly of great concern that someone would even think it's appropriate or think it's OK to even put something like that in a locker," Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said yesterday. "We don't condone that kind of behavior."

Schweizer could face administrative action ranging from a written reprimand to dismissal. Schweizer did not return a phone call from the Daily News and did not respond to a note left by a reporter at his Northeast Philly home yesterday afternoon.

Roosevelt Poplar, a vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 5, in Philadelphia, said he was aware of the investigation but did not know its scope.

"We have no idea what the investigation entails at this time," Poplar said. "We have to give every member the benefit of the doubt before we make any statements or come to any conclusion."

Schweizer, 33, joined the force in June 1997 and makes $54,794 a year, city payroll records show. He became part of the elite Narcotics Strike Force about six years ago. As an undercover, plainclothes cop who worked day and night shifts, Schweizer was part of a surveillance team that watched drug buys and locked up hundreds of suspected drug dealers. He frequently testified in court as a witness for prosecutors.

Now law enforcement and legal experts question whether Schweizer's alleged behavior could jeopardize drug cases in which he was the arresting officer.

The case against Schweizer began earlier this month after an officer saw the racist drawing on the inside door of Schweizer's locker and complained to superiors.

"The investigation involves obviously very inappropriate material," police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said. "The material itself was disturbing and it launched an immediate internal investigation."

Supervisors within the Narcotics Strike Force treated Schweizer's locker as a crime scene, testing the paper and inside door for fingerprints. Schweizer told investigators that he had been framed and that someone must have planted the derogatory cartoon in his locker, according to police sources familiar with the investigation.

But only his fingerprints showed up on the paper, and other tests showed that the material had been in his locker for some time, the police sources said.

Since early January, Schweizer has been reassigned to desk duty at Police Headquarters, 8th and Race streets. In his new assignment, he takes accident reports over the phone.

Initially, the investigation was supervised by Chief Inspector William Blackburn of the Narcotics Bureau. Yesterday, however, the case intensified and was handed over to Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross, who oversees the Internal Affairs Bureau, authorities said.

"Basically we discovered additional information that has to be investigated before we can come up with a conclusion to our findings," said Chief Inspector William Colarulo, of Internal Affairs. "We have more interviews to do based on the information that was disclosed to us."

Colarulo said there is no time frame for completing the investigation, which he declined to discuss further.

Rochelle Bilal, president of the Guardian Civic League, which represents 3,000 African-American officers in Philadelphia, said the union has been monitoring the Schweizer case since the start. She called upon Ramsey to "do the right thing."

"African-American officers know that we work in an institution that is inherently racist and we also know that some of our colleagues tend to get comfortable with bigot behavior," Bilal said. "We are hoping that the new police commissioner, like the old police commissioner, takes a stand when it comes to racism in this department, and we will closely monitor the situation as it pertains to African-Americans in the city."

Reached last night, Ramsey said the investigation is exploring whether other officers knew about the alleged material in Schweizer's locker and if so, whether they condoned it. But so far, Ramsey said that the case "looks like an isolated incident" and that there is "no indication" of others being involved.

"We'll see what the investigation uncovers and let the cards fall where they may," Ramsey said.
He also said that Internal Affairs is looking over arrests made by Schweizer.
"Just because he made the arrests, that doesn't necessarily mean that those cases are bad," Ramsey said. "You can't jump to that conclusion."

Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne Abraham, declined comment yesterday.

JoAnne A. Epps, a professor at Temple University's Beasley School of Law, who specializes in evidence and criminal procedure, said defense attorneys will likely salivate over the allegations against Schweizer, though getting a drug conviction overturned would require proof that the officer engaged in illegal activity.

"Treating black people badly is one thing; planting evidence on them is another thing," said Epps, who serves on the board of the Defender Association of Philadelphia and headed former Mayor John Street's Task Force on Police Discipline.

She added, "You don't win just because you were arrested by a racist, even if you would be able to prove it . . . But I think most defense attorneys would aggressively pursue this information. It's enormously troubling and enormously tantalizing, and it would be a mistake for any defense attorney to conclude that it's not going to go anywhere, even though it's a difficult burden." *

Staff writer David Gambacorta contributed to this report.


Now you must ask .... How many WHITE HOODS are tucked away in some of the lockers where you work ????

BLACKWATCH

NATIONAL BLACK POLICE ASSOCIATION EFFECT COMMUNITIES WORLD WIDE

National Conference United Kingdom

The National Black Police Association is a nationwide organization of African American Police Associations dedicated to the promotion of justice, fairness, and effectiveness in law enforcement. The NBPA has several chartered organizations throughout the United States, and associate members in Canada, Bermuda, and the United Kingdom. The principal concerns of the NBPA center upon law enforcement issues and the effect of those issues upon the total community.

For thirty-four years, the National Black Police Association has been a source of inspiration and hope in the black communities throughout the United States, in recent years to other parts of the world. The strength and influence of this great organization and its resolve have now become an international agenda.

The NBPA signature march and Memorial Service in selected Black Communities is a spectacular event. At each and every conference the NBPA brings a new perspective on police and community relations. In 2006, the Moss Side a predominantly Black Community in Manchester England experienced the love and respect from the NBPA.

The community response was overwhelming as the watch the National Black Police Association march through the Moss Side.

NATIONAL POLICY ALLIANCE CRAFTS BLACK POLITICAL AGENDA

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - The National Policy Alliance (NPA) brought its biennial conference to the nation’s capital to discuss and create a Black agenda to put before the White House, Congress and the presidential candidates.

“We want to put together a plan or blueprint for Black America on policy issues. What we have gathered here are people setting policy issues. We are not self proclaimed leaders. We are the elected leaders. We make policies in the cities, counties, and states every day,” Mayor Johnny Ford, of Tuskegee, Ala., told The Final Call.

“We have a united voice that speaks for Black people to improve their quality of life. We’ve met with the presidential candidates and we’re coming up with an agenda for Black America based on what these leaders gathered here recommend. It’s our responsibility to step up to the plate and do this.”

For two days the NPA heard from its members, Black public officials from federal, state and local levels of government as well as the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, on some of the most important issues facing Black America such as HIV/AIDS, the housing mortgage crisis and education. The conference was held Jan. 16-18.

“We come here in dire need of thoughts and solutions to solve the many challenges that face Black America. We continue to be overrepresented in the criminal justice system,” said the Honorable John R. Gray, chair of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association.

“One of the most important presidential powers is the power of appointment. Many predict the next president will have four opportunities to appoint to the Supreme Court in two terms. Thousands of cases don’t reach the Supreme Court but some do. We have to have systems that fairly reflect the communities they serve,” he said.
A call to address AIDS pandemic

“It is time for us to have a plan about HIV,” said Rep. Donna Christiansen, (D-VI), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust.

Even though Blacks are only 13 percent of the US population, they account for about half (49 percent) of the people who get HIV and AIDS. Black women are 64 percent of women living with HIV/AIDS. The disease is the leading killer of Black women between the ages of 25-44.

“AIDS is out of control in the African American community,” said Rep. Christiansen. “More than one million people are HIV positive and more than half of those people are Black. We have to understand the urgency of this.”

The NPA adopted a resolution to endorse and ask Congress to pass the National HIV/AIDS Elimination Act. This act declares AIDS as a “public health emergency” in the Black community. The goal of this legislation is to mobilize action across departments of the government and coordinate programs and funding across the various agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services.

The act includes measurable goals, timetables and specific objectives designed to eliminate the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The legislation would also establish an institute to document the historical treatment of Blacks with AIDS.

“We will not despair,” said Mayor Ford. “We are going to do something about this in our community. We want Congress to declare this a national emergency. We don’t want them to respond like they did in Katrina. We want them to respond like they did when those White folks’ homes were on fire in California.”

Mortgage loan crisis haunts Black America
“The sub prime mortgage problem is huge,” said Preston Lee, director of corporate relations for Freddie Mac. “We’ve seen 1.2 million sub prime foreclosures. We’re likely to see that and more in the next year. Of that number 56 percent were Black and only 18 percent were to Whites.”
“Blacks and Latinos have a real problem. One solution is to freeze interest rates for the next five years. This is not going away. Many people were never going to be able to afford these homes plus there’s evidence Blacks and Latinos were steered toward these loans even though they qualified for prime rates,” said Mr. Lee.

The sub prime crisis struck as homeowners, initially able to afford mortgage loans, were overwhelmed by variable interest rates and high mortgage payments forced homeowners into foreclosure.

“Twenty-years-ago the issue was could Blacks get access, now the issue was how much would it cost,” said Mr. Lee.

Dr. Brian K. Perkins, of the National Black Caucus of School Board Members and National School Board Association, spoke on the drop out crisis in Black America. “From 1990-2000, high school completion declined in all but seven states. In 10 states, it declined by eight percent or more,” he explained. “There are economic consequences of not having a high school diploma such as sporadic employment throughout their lifetime.”

According to Mayor Ford, the organizations that participated collectively represent 10,000 Black elected officials and over three million employees of city, county, state and federal agencies. Issues that participants felt presidential candidates should deal with ranged from childhood obesity, economic development and housing to AIDS, criminal justice and education.

NPA plans to meet with the candidates to present their national agenda and seek support for improving the lives of Blacks and their other constituents across America.

The NPA is comprised of Blacks in Government, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, National Association of Black County Officials, National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, National Black Caucus of Black School Board Members, National Conference of Black Mayors and the World Conference of Mayors.

By Nisa Islam MuhammadStaff Writer
finalcall.com

DETECTIVE CHRISTOPHER RIDLEY IS OUR HERO

DETECTIVE CHISTOPHER RIDLEY

On February 1, 2008 we sent our brother to a better place. Detective Christopher Ridley is our Hero. Whenever there is a loss of life of one of our fellow law enforcement brethren, it is unfortunate and tragic. We will ask the question over and over again. How could this happen to our brother Detective Christopher Ridley?

Is it because he did not have the complexion for the protection? Or was just a bad case of miscommunication and judgment on the part of all officers involved? God only knows the truth at this time. We are asking the community to not rush to judgment on any officer’s role in this unfortunate situation until the facts in this matter are concrete and clear.

Moreover, we do not condemn our brother officers to stand alone in their time of need. We embrace them as they must come to terms with their role in this tragic incident.

We will say OVER and OVER AGAIN as Black Law Enforcement Professionals we must look into the institutional perception and policies of policing when it comes to the people of our communities. With these perceptions, black communities are at a tremendous disadvantage and can never hope to receive the service and protection from the police that are rightfully due to them.

We can never forget that slavery led to the creation of uniformed police in southern cities decades before New York and Boston established the forces which remain the accepted starting point for the history of the police in the United States.

Shelly Zieger states in an article that Joshua Correll, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, 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, 270 police officers were studied 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. 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 said the implication could be ominous.

According to the Department of Justice Westchester County have six (6) police agencies with one hundred (100) or more full-time employees. These agencies are Greenburgh, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Yonkers, and Westchester County Police Department.

The racial breakdown of the six agencies including the Westchester County Police Department is:

Total Blacks Percentage
Westchester County Police: 290 total officers, 15 black officers, that equals to 5%
Greenburgh Police: 133 total officers, 17 black officers, that equals to 13%
Mt. Vernon Police: has 211 total and 51 black officers, that equals to 24%
New Rochelle Police: has 257 total officers, 37 black officers, that equals to 15%
White Plains Police: 265 total officers and 29 black officers, that equals to 11%
Yonkers Police: 673 total officers, 27 black officers, that equals to 4%


The population and racial breakdown of the cities that have 100 or more full-time law enforcement professionals are as follows:

Total Black Percentage
Greenburgh: 41,828 total population , the black population is 8,489,that equals to 21%
Mt Vernon: 68,381 total population, the black population is 40,743, that equals to 62%
New Rochelle :72,182 total population,the black population is 13,848,that equals to 20%
White Plains: 53,077 total population, the black population is 8,444, that equals to 17%
Yonkers: 196,086 total population, the black population is 32,575, that equals to 18%


The total population of Westchester County is 923,495. The black population is 131,132 , that equals to (15%).

By reviewing these totals, it is clear that these agencies do not come close to representing population of the citizens they serve.

Mt. Vernon and Yonkers have no black official higher than the rank of Sergeant. In the year 2007 this is very distressing when the black population of Yonkers in 18% and Mt.Vernon is 62%.

It is the view of the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association that proper representation of black law enforcement professionals is a key when we are dealing with the issues of:


Departmental Promotions and Management
Departmental polices and how the affect the communities in Westchester; especially the communities of color.
Police Brutality and Police Misconduct
Effective Community Policing
Institutional Perceptions of African Americans


We will NOT lose another officer like the way we lost our brother Detective Ridley!

WESTCHESTER CHAPTER

NATIONAL BLACK POLICE ASSOCIATION