Westchester Black Watch

When will the Madness Stop and the Accountability Begin in Westchester N.Y. Justice System

2008-08-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

A consistently alarming rate of cases of police criminality in Westchester County, especially regarding people of color and in the disadvantaged communities has been reported. The case of Mr. Rui Florim prompts us to ask the question, when will the madness stop? When will our elected officials and upper level leaders within law enforcement say enough is enough and the accountability actually begin?

Recommendations and reports have not stemmed the tide (or most would agree, the wave) of alleged civil rights abuses against our mothers, fathers, sisters, sons and daughters by those few that assume they are judge, jury, and executioner. Since October, 2006, Mayor Amicone and Commissioner Edmund Hartnett have become co-conspirators to the madness that has plagued the citizens of Yonkers and created a cancer for the rest of the Westchester law enforcement community. We are demanding that Yonkers Police Commissioner Edmund Harnett tighten up his belt and make Yonkers Internal Affairs a reliable source of accountability for his rank and file.

Law enforcement professionals are an asset to the community. Not holding the rogue officers who cross the line accountable for what would be crimes if they were ordinary citizens, tarnishes the good work and dedication of the many law enforcement professionals that have done good deeds for the community at large.

We are demanding that Westchester County District Attorney, Janet DiFiore and her team commence a full investigation of these rogue police officers for their criminal conduct. To pursue and prosecute Mr. Florim using an assault charge against him and accusing him of assaulting an officer’s knuckles is simply ludicrous. Mr. Florim received 72 staples to the head, stitches, and bruises to his entire body. The DAs office has not only made a mockery of the court and the justice system, they have eroded the trust in the process of true justice to the citizens of Westchester that DA Janet DiFiore claims to represent. She has once again proved her office is incapable of handling cases that involves police criminality. This is yet another reason for the need for a permanent State-Level Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute cases that involve alleged police brutality and police misconduct.

The Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association fully supports every family of every race, creed or color that has been victimized by police criminality. We all feel the same pain regardless of ethnicity or economic status.

In a True Democracy, There is a System of Checks and Balances

2008-07-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

A community forum yesterday generated calls for a "crisis intervention" in response to local police forces' lack of diversity and recent incidents of excessive force.

About 200 people attended the Detective Christopher A. Ridley Law Enforcement Community Relations Forum yesterday at Grace Baptist Church. The event was named after Ridley, a Mount Vernon police officer mistakenly shot to death in White Plains by four Westchester county police officers during Ridley's intervention in a Jan. 25 street fight.

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, District Attorney Janet DiFiore and other county and local elected and police officials from Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers sat on the panel.

They answered questions about what policies the county's largest police forces can adopt to increase police diversity and sensitivity to prevent incidents like the Ridley shooting or the body-slamming of Irma Marquez last year.

On Friday federal prosecutors charged Yonkers Police Officer Wayne Simoes with criminally violating Marquez's civil rights, after DiFiore's office prosecuted a case against Marquez without finding fault with Simoes' actions.

The Rev. Darin Moore of the United Black Clergy of Westchester began the forum by discussing the results of a national poll of black Americans released last week indicating that many of them feared or distrusted the police.

Moore co-moderated the forum with Grace Baptist's senior pastor, the Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson; the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network; and state Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-Mount Vernon. Audience members wrote their questions on cards that were then handed to the moderators, who asked panelists questions.

Richardson said racial diversity in local police forces is critical to reducing community distrust and incidents like those involving Ridley and Marquez.

"I serve on the board of PepsiCo, and we can force the people who are hiring people to reflect the community we sell to," Richardson said. "If 24 percent of (Mount Vernon) police officers are black and 50 percent of the city is black, that is a crisis. There has to be a crisis intervention."

The panelists described their police departments' efforts to diversify, and then panelists turned their attention to the district attorney's role in providing evidence and advice to grand juries.
In her opening statements, DiFiore said that a district attorney cannot determine outcomes of grand jury decisions and that she would not criticize a grand jury's decision not to indict the four Westchester county police officers who shot Ridley.

Sharpton then questioned DiFiore's ability to investigate local police and her role in deciding what evidence is given to grand juries to review.

"In light of the arrest in Yonkers by federal prosecutors ... what can you say to the community to relieve them of the idea that a local district attorney cannot investigate a local police department?" asked Sharpton, who in recent weeks has come under federal scrutiny for his organization's income and tax declarations.

DiFiore said she would not hesitate to prosecute a police officer, and she described her response to her office's handling of the Marquez case.

"There were grave errors in judgment in that case," DiFiore said. "Lawyers have been disciplined and removed, and training has been introduced for all (prosecutors) from top to bottom."

Hassell-Thompson asked DiFiore to release a report of her disciplinary findings in the Marquez case, and Moore asked DiFiore to take the lead in investigating local police departments in matters of misconduct.

lohud.com

BLACKWATCH

The admission and acknowledgement of the District Attorney that they were grave mistakes in the handling of the Marquez case should give us pause. As a community we should take this opportunity to stop, reflect and ask ourselves: how many other innocent people have buckled under the pressure of the District Attorney’s Office? How many of us settled for being accused of minor infractions? How many times were people’s constitutional rights violated and overlooked?

Many disadvantaged families, especially those in the Black and Latino communities have been force to watch family members brought to court on trumped up charges like “disorderly conduct”, “obstruction of justice” and “resisting arrest” which are little more than smoke screens for police misconduct and criminality. Police Criminality is cancerous; and if left unchecked, it can erode the integrity of law enforcement and eat away at the trust of the community.

Politicians and law makers in Westchester should be called to the carpet for an ineffective and failed system of law enforcement and for the lack of accountability that is running rampant. In a true democracy, there is a system of checks and balances; there are forums for the people to be heard; and there is an opportunity for dialogue and change.

The National Black Police Association (NBPA) and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have been monitoring the complaints of Police Criminality in the cities, towns and villages of Westchester. At the numerous rallies and community meetings we held over the past years, we discovered that many community residents do not know how to file a proper compliant when they felt their rights was violated by law enforcement officers. To this end, we have created an informational pamphlet “How do you Handle Police Brutality a Citizens Plan For Action”. This pamphlet is meant to provide citizens with information to help them determine if their rights have been violated by the police and what steps to take if they feel their rights have been violated.

The NBPA will continue to support and rally for legislation that will secure the appointment of a State wide Special Prosecutor to eliminate assumption of bias and political influence on investigations when local police municipalities are both “investigating” and “prosecuting” each other. Appointment of a Special Prosecutor will ensure transparency in the Justice system which is essential for building trust in the community we serve and for the ensuring that both the rights of victims and law enforcement officers are protected.

BlackWatch

Lack of Accountability of Police Criminality from Westchester Officials Spawns New Breed of Bad Law Enforcement

2008-06-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

The Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) and the Yonkers Chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have been monitoring the issue of police criminality in Westchester’s communities. We have seen the civil rights of our mothers, sisters, fathers and brothers repeatedly violated and abused. How many more reports of police misconduct and criminality must we hear about?

Neither the outrage from the community, eyewitnesses reports, videos of incidents, or pictures of brutalized victims have made this madness stop. What will it take for our County Executive, County Legislators to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?

The dreadful offense that happened to Ms. Marquez is one more reason why something must be done about the ungodly attitude of policing in Westchester County when it comes to people of color and people who are economically disadvantaged. As citizens we can no longer tolerate Police criminality in our communities. How many times are we going to be lulled to sleep by Mayor Amiccone and our County elected officials? They have failed to serve and protect the citizens of Westchester County.

By no means was this offensive attack indicative of the behavior of all law enforcement officers who each day put on their uniforms, put their lives on the line and do the jobs that they were sworn to do. This was the action of rogue police officers; and we demand a critical and fair accounting of the few police officers that crossed the line. Their actions gives a false sense of security and breeds a new generation of police officers that believe it is okay to beat up, slam up, set up the citizens they have sworn to serve and not face punishment. Instead, they move up the ranks in the law enforcement.

For over a year how did the DA’s office vigorously pursue the prosecution of Ms Marquez, yet manage to overlook the illegal and criminal actions of Officer Simmones? The lack of the swift accountability from the DA’s office gives us yet one more reason for the need for a permanent State-level Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute cases that involve alleged police brutality and misconduct. If the Westchester DA Janet DiFiore’s office does not pursue justice with a thorough investigation of the actions of these rouge police officers, she and her office have once again proved her office to be incapable of handling cases that involved police misconduct.

Westchester County Department of Public Safety the Chief’s Association must also share this responsibility. Where did Officer Simmones learn this tactical move to subdue Ms Marquez? How many times have other Law Enforcement officers use this tactic on women in Westchester? Did they teach this in the academy? Or was it yearly training by the departments? After the “Use of Force Report” from Westchester officials, we must now look even closer to the training at all levels. The constant reoccurrence of these unfortunate incidences with Law Enforcement in Westchester has shown that New York State Minimum Standards are not enough. We need to know how training and our Police Departments rank are and compare to the National Standards.

We also need balance. Can someone tell me who is policing the police? A recent News 12 opinion poll reported that 65 percent of the people polled saw police brutality as an issue in the communities in Westchester County. Westchester County officials must react, respond and make the necessary moves now to rectify these critical issues.

It is time for Revolutionary Change in law enforcement in Westchester County. We are calling on the creation of County level Law Enforcement oversight board or County Level Independent CCRB (Civilian Complaint Review Board) with both subpoena power and power to implement binding recommendations on policy and procedures where necessary.

This external, objective, third party review is the only way we can build trust between the community and law enforcement; and it is the only way to ensure that our police departments are effective and that they will truly protect and serve our communities.

PistolCam added Solution for Examining

2008-06-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

With regards to the tragedy surrounding the death of Detective Ridley, the ability to view the scene and hear the incident as it unfolded would put the question of police misconduct or negligence on the part of Detective Ridley to bed once and for all. Yet,the District Attorney has refused to provide the Ridley family attorney with an unedited copy of the tape showing footage of the incident taken by a surveillance camera. Interestingly, it has been reported that this same video was key in the decision of the Grand Jury not to pursue a case against the County Police Officers. The DA’s refusal to turn over the tapes leaves more questions than answers about the validity of the surveillance video.

In fact, surveillance videos are often times “questionable”; therefore the PistolCam, new police technology will fill a needed void. The PistolCam is a small camera mounted on the front of any 9mm weapon or long gun. It automatically provides video/audio documentation each time the weapon is drawn from its holster. The recording is encrypted and cannot be altered in any way. The recording can also be immediately released to help identify perpetrators so that they can be apprehended before others are placed at risk. The Pistol Cam also allows for better training of the force, as practice drills can be reviewed and discussed.

It has been reported that Newburgh Police Department and Sheriff’s Office SWAT in Orange County began field testing this technology last fall. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Clearly, the Sean Bell verdict and the subsequent “investigation” into the death of Detective Ridley has prompted the call for not only more training of law enforcement officers but the implementation of updated law enforcement technologies like the PistolCam.

New York State Senator Eric Adams a ranking member of the Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee in the State Senate has examined the PistolCam and is very pleased with its results. Adams noted “our officers and the public need, want, and deserve their police departments to invest in the very best, most innovative technology available—and the new training and practices that technology brings”.

Westchester County and the Chiefs Association need to take a page from Orange County’s book. In Westchester there needs to be a marriage between better training and the use of updated police technologies. There is no monetary value on the lives of our Officers and the citizens we protect and serve. The PistolCam is another step in insuring transparency in Justice and building trust in the community of the actions of law enforcement in Westchester County.

National Black Police Association and NAACP Call For Change In Westchester New York

2008-06-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

06/01/08) YONKERS - Members of the National Black Police Association and NAACP called for change Sunday at a Yonkers news conference after video was released showing a cop slamming a woman.

The groups want local politicians and police to address what they feel is a longstanding practice of police brutality against Westchester minorities. While an internal probe cleared Officer Wayne Simoes in the 2007 incident, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating.

Simoes was later promoted to detective, which outrages community leaders. "To slam a woman, put her in the hospital and bring her up on trumped up charges – which took her a year to beat – and now to get promoted in the process. That's ridiculous," said Damon Jones, of the National Black Police Association.

Their outrage is in response to stunning video that was recently released. It shows Simoes throwing 44-year-old Irma Marquez on the floor face-first. Authorities maintain Marquez was blocking officers from helping her niece, who was hurt in a fight.

A jury acquitted Marquez last month on charges stemming from the case. She has filed an $11.3 million lawsuit against Simoes, nine other Yonkers officers and the city.

news12.com

BLACKWATCH

Who is Policing the Police in Westchester County?

The dreadful incident that happen to Ms. Marquez is another example that something must be done with the ungodly attitude of policing in Westchester County when it comes to people of color or the poor community’s. As citizens we can no longer tolerate Police Criminality in our communities.

Nobody in Westchester is “Policing the Police”!!! It is time for Law and Policy makers of Westchester County to create County wide Law Enforcement Oversight or County wide Independent CCRB (Civilian Complaint Review Board). There must be balance for the citizens and accountability for law enforcement in Westchester County.

If the Westchester DA Janet DiFiore’s office does not go after these rouge Police Officers for there criminal conduct. She and her office have once again proved her office is incapable of handling cases that involved Police Criminality. The lack of swift accountability of the DAs office give more reason for the need for a permanent State-level Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute cases that involve alleged Police brutality and Police misconduct.

The Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association fully supports the Marquez family and every family that have been victimized by Police Criminality.

BLACKWATCH

The Entire System of Policing Must be Torn Down and Rebuilt

2008-05-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

Marq Claxton
100 Blacks in Law Enforcement

MOUNT VERNON - An activist yesterday criticized as simplistic a report calling for more training in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Mount Vernon Officer Christopher Ridley.

"What this should be called is 'Police Reform for Dummies'," said Marq Claxton, head of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, at a news conference. "It's a statistical justification for a horrific tragedy ... It's not worth the paper its written on."

A seven-member panel, established after the police shooting to review police procedures, released the report yesterday and made numerous recommendations related to use-of-force training, particularly that more be done to make officers prepared in cases of off-duty confrontations. Ridley was shot by county police officers Jan. 25 after he tried to subdue an assault suspect while off duty in downtown White Plains.

Claxton made his comments after calling on Albany lawmakers to support state Sen. Eric Adams' proposal for a permanent special prosecutor to handle police shootings and alleged police brutality. Adams, who co-founded 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement with Claxton, made the proposal after last month's acquittal of three New York City police detectives in the killing of Sean Bell. Claxton and other speakers yesterday said Ridley's death and the subsequent investigation provided just as strong a case for why police and prosecutors should not investigate their own.

Journal News

BLACKWATCH

It appears that the remarks of Marq Claxton of the 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care may have ruffled feathers and damaged egos. We should recognize that when organizations like 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, the National Black Police Association, the National Organization of Blacks in Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Grand Council of Guardians, the National Latino Officers Association and Black Cops Against Police Brutality speak, they draw from decades of struggling for police reform. We do not need a report to validate what Detective Ridley, Desmond Robinson, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, Ousmane Zongo, Timothy Stansbury and Alberta Spruill and countless others have “told” us.

New York has a history, dating back to the 1940’s, when Black officers in plain clothes or off-duty have been shot at, shot, or killed by their peers while doing the job they were sworn to do. It was in response incidents such as these that Robert Mangum organized the first New York City Guardians. The organization received their charter New York City in 1949. The Guardians as well as countless other organizations have led the call for enhanced training; revisions of policies; diversity throughout law enforcement structures (from the top down); and better community relations for decades.

However, before one can address these prevalent issues, there must be an examination institutional culture of policing that historically reinforced bias and discrimination. It was the economic benefits and socially divisive practice of slavery that led to the creation of uniformed police in southern cities decades before Boston (1838) and New York (1845) established the forces which remain the accepted starting point for the history of the police in the United States

In her work Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas (2001), Hadden notes that “there was some variation in the social structure of patrols, the point of establishing them was constant: to maintain white supremacy and privilege.” Dulaney in his book Black Police in America (1996) further noted that the patroller policed specific geographical areas in the southern communities called “beats” and that they were authorized to stop, search, whip, maim and even kill slaves caught off the premises of the plantation without a pass.

Like “patrols” which became the basis for policing in the United States as we know it now, the under girding racial perceptions that were borne out of these policing policies still endure. Black communities are contained like concentration camps. Racial profiling gives police the new authorization to “stop” Blacks without cause. No wonder relations with communities of color are often non-existent and interactions between police and residents are often strained.

Newspapers, newscasts, web casts and blogs are ripe with weekly, sometimes daily reports of cases of alleged and founded police criminality. While talk shows, community meetings, local forums and even Congressional hearings by Congressman John Conyers have placed these issues at the top of their agenda. The recent incident involving NYPD Police Chief Ziegler-- the highest ranking black official in the NYPD –reminds us of the challenges we face as citizens of color and for Black law enforcement officers.

Black law enforcement professionals must be extra cautious when they react to situations when they are off duty or as plain clothes officers, lest they fall into the same situation as our brothers Detective Ridley or Desmond Robinson. It’s unfortunate that the only time they are truly recognized as law enforcement is when they don the blue uniform. Until perceptions of Black males are changed in the institutional structure of policing, the Black Law Enforcement community and the Black community at large in Westchester and the state of New York will remain at a disadvantage and in danger.

Clearly the entire system must be torn down and rebuilt. Band-Aid solutions like “special commissions” and their “recommendations” have done and will do little to stem the tide. We need local or state lawmakers with the testicular fortitude to act now. How many more Black men must lose their lives before someone says “stop!”? Annual training should not be an option for any law enforcement officer that can carry firearms under NY State Criminal Law Section 2.10 and Article 35 in Westchester County and New York State. This should be mandatory with no excuses.

Who is policing our police? The call for a state wide special prosecutor to ensure transparency in the justice system is essential for building trust in the community we serve and for the victims and the affected Law Enforcement Officers. Despite having a reputation as being one of the most “progressive” and wealthiest counties and countries, Westchester and the United States lack an effective oversight in law enforcement. We need to take a page from the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan-- all whom have governmental oversight in law enforcement and credible Independent Civilian Complaint Review Boards.

Let’s be honest. Westchester meets NY State minimum standards when it comes to training. The Westchester Department of Corrections has applied for National Accreditation. We are now required to have approximately 21 hours per year training after the academy to meet NYS minimum standards. Yet, the American Correctional Association, the body that governs the national accreditation, notes that 40 hours per year training is most effective. Clearly Law Enforcement in Westchester County is behind the times. The real question is how far behind is Westchester County and the Chief’s Association in relation to what is occurring on the national level? Is Westchester County’s police training and its police departments nationally certified and have national accreditation? Westchester County and the Chief’s Association should have a accreditation agency like CALEA to do a complete audit of our training and police departments so we can see how our tax dollars are being spent.

Is too much to ask to raise the bar? Raising the bar in Westchester will not only make us exceed the standard, but it will save innocent lives. Imagine 19 more hours of training could have saved the life of Detective Ridley and made January 25, 2008 just another day. We did not need a report to tell us what we already knew.

BLACKWATCH

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Senator Eric Adams, Attory Norman Siegal, and Black and Latino Police Groups Charge NYPD With Institutionalized Racism

2008-05-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

New York Senator Eric Adams

Anthony Maranda National Latino Officers of America

Noel Leader 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement

Attorney Norman Siegel

Damon K. Jones National Black Police Association

Senator Eric Adams, Attorney Norman Siegel., 100 Blacks and Law Enforcement, National Latino Officers of America, Grand Council of Guardians, and the National Black Police Association. Have called on Commissioner Kelly for swift punishment of the two undercover police officers whos actions was disrespectful towards Three –Star NYPD Chief Douglas Zieglar.

Chief Zieglar in his briefing to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, said that the two cops, who are white, had no legitimate reason to approach his SUV with guns drawn. Even after he gave them his NYPD ID the two didn’t believe that he was who he said he was.

The Sean Bell verdict has given Law Enforcement a legal alibi that a Black man can be unarmed, shot , killed, and still be a legal threat just by the color of his skin. As Black Law Enforcement Professionals we now have to be extra cautious when we react to situations when we are off duty or as plain clothes officials less we fall into the same situation as out brother Detective Ridley or Sean Bell. It’s unfortunate that the only time we are truly recognized as law enforcement is when we don the blue uniform. Until perceptions of Black males are changed in the institutional thinking of policing, the Back Law Enforcement community and the Black community at large in Westchester will remain at a disadvantage.

Parents, police target gangs at Mt. Vernon forum

2008-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Detective Anthony Mitchell Westchester NBPA Doing

PowerPoint Presentation on Gang information

MOUNT VERNON - Students, parents and law enforcement officers attended a forum to address rising gang activity in the city at Thornton High School yesterday.

The Westchester chapter of the National Black Police Association kicked off its celebration of Police Week with the presentation, titled "Identifying and Addressing Gang Problems in Mount Vernon."

"We are out of touch with our young people," Mount Vernon Detective Anthony Mitchell said. "As parents, we have to get out and do these types of things. We have to express our concerns about what the community is not getting."

Mitchell led the presentation about the signs of gang activity, prevention and how to talk with teens about the issue.

The 10-year veteran detective said youths often join gangs to gain a sense of belonging and protection.

He advised parents to acknowledge any suspicion and become positive role models for their children. Mitchell also advised parents to get to know their child's friends and their parents.
Residents can promote a gang-free neighborhood by getting to know one another and reporting any criminal activity, he said.

"Police don't solve crimes by themselves," Mitchell said.
Freshman Kayla Ortiz, who attended the seminar with her mother, said she learned more about the different types of gang paraphernalia and tactics used to discourage members from leaving a gang.

Ortiz also liked that Mitchell told parents to praise their children for their good deeds.
"It was informing and encouraging," Ortiz said.

Yvonne Johnson, whose daughter attends the high school, said she wanted more informative programs and activities for the youth in Mount Vernon.

"You have to find places for them to go and be involved," she said.
Johnson said the forum helped her learn more about resources in the city and gave her a chance to meet with a representative for the mayor's office.

Tamara Berthaud, a clinical social worker at Thornton and Mount Vernon High, helped coordinate the seminar after polling students on the issues that affect them the most.

"It's important to address the topics and let parents know what's going on," Berthaud said. "There are a lot of issues, and we want that communication between parents and children. They need a lot of support."

Principal Sharon Bradley said the seminar gave parents a chance to share concerns, survey the issues and realize a solution with each other.

"So often, parents are looking for solutions, and they have them but don't even know it," Bradley said. "The more educated we are, the better we can service our children."

The forum about local gang activity was part of a daylong seminar held at Thornton, which included discussions on parent and child communication, teen sex and pregnancy.
Bradley said the school will continue to host programs to focus on the challenging issues teens face.

Plainclothes officers in trouble - didn't recognize off-duty chief

2008-05-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Three-star NYPD Chief Douglas Zeigler

At least one cop has been disciplined for ordering the NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed black officer out of his auto while the three-star chief was off-duty and parked in Queens, the Daily News has learned.

"How you can not know or recognize a chief in a department SUV with ID around his neck, I don't know," a police source said.

Chief Douglas Zeigler, 60, head of the Community Affairs Bureau, was in his NYPD-issued vehicle near a fire hydrant when two plainclothes cops approached on May 2, sources said.
One officer walked up on each side of the SUV at 57th Ave. and Xenia St. in Corona about 7 p.m. and told the driver to roll down the heavily tinted windows, sources said.
What happened next is in dispute.

In his briefing to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Zeigler said the two cops, who are white, had no legitimate reason to approach his SUV, ranking sources said.
After they ordered him to get out, one officer did not believe the NYPD identification Zeigler gave him.

The cops gave a different account:
When one officer spotted Zeigler's service weapon through the rolled-down window, he yelled "Gun!" according to sources who have spoken with the officers.

Both cops raised their weapons and ordered the driver out of the car, sources said.
Instead of saying he was an armed member of the NYPD, Zeigler shouted, "Don't you know who I am?" the sources said.

When one cop reached over to check the identification badge around Zeigler's neck, the chief pushed him away, sources said.

Only then did Zeigler tell the two officers his name and rank, those sources said.

Zeigler, in his discussions with Kelly, said the officers never yelled "Gun!" sources said.

One cop got into a heated argument with the chief even after seeing the ID, sources said.
That cop was stripped of his gun and badge and placed on modified duty last night, sources said. The status of the second officer was unclear.

The incident occurred as the NYPD is under fire for record numbers of pedestrians being stopped and frisked, the majority of them black or Hispanic. Some 145,098 people were stopped by the NYPD in the first quarter of this year.

Zeigler has headed the Community Affairs Bureau since January 2006. His wife, Neldra Zeigler, is NYPD deputy commissioner for equal employment opportunity.

By ALISON GENDAR DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

What Rev. Jeremiah Wright Really Said

2008-04-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

Rev. Jeremiah Wright

The Chicago Tribune recently transcribed some controversial sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor. As can be seen below, many of his remarks were taken out of context.

SEPT. 16, 2001 Sound bite: “We’ve bombed Hiroshima, we’ve bombed Nagasaki, we’ve nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye. . . . We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and Black South Africans, and now we are indignant. Because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

Wright in context:
“I heard Ambassador (Edward) Peck on an interview yesterday, did anybody else see him or hear him? He was on Fox News. This is a White man, and he was upsetting the Fox News commentators to no end. Did you see him, John? A White man. He pointed out, an ambassador, that what Malcolm X said when he got silenced by Elijah Muhammad was in fact true, that America’s chickens are coming home to roost.

“We took this country by terror away from the Sioux, the Apache, the Iroquois, the Comanche, the Arapaho, the Navajo. Terrorism. We took Africans from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism. We bombed Grenada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel; we bombed the Black civilian community of Panama, with Stealth bombers, and killed unarmed teenagers and toddlers, pregnant mothers and hard-working fathers. We’ve bombed (Muammar) Gadhafi’s home and killed his child.
“Blessed are they who bash your children’s heads against the rocks. We bombed Iraq; we killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to pay back an attack on our embassy. Killed hundreds of hard-working people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day, not knowing that they would never get back home.

“We’ve bombed Hiroshima, we’ve bombed Nagasaki, we’ve nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye. Kids playing in the playground, mothers picking up children after school, civilians not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by day.

“We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and Black South Africans, and now we are indignant. Because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards.

“America’s chickens are coming home to roost. Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred and terrorism begets terrorism. A White ambassador said that, y’all, not a Black militant. Not a reverend who preaches about racism.

JULY 2003 Sound bite: “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America?’ No, no, no, not ‘God Bless America,’ ‘God Damn America.’”

Wright in context:
“The United States of America government, when it came to treating her citizens of Indian descent fairly, she failed. She put them on the reservations. When it came to treating her citizens of Japanese descent fairly, she failed. She put them in internment prison camps. When it came to treating the citizens of African descent fairly, America failed. She put them in chains. The government put them on slave quarters, put them on auction blocks, put them in cotton fields, put them in inferior schools, put them in substandard housing, put them in scientific experiments, put them in the lowest paying jobs, put them outside the equal protection of the law, kept them out of the racist bastions of higher education and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness. The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America?’

“No, no, no, not ‘God Bless America,’ ‘God Damn America.’ That’s in the Bible, for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating its citizens as less than human, God damn America as long as she tries to act like she is God and she is supreme. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent.”

JAN. 13, 2008 Sound bite: “Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t. Bill did us just like he did Monica Lewinski. He was riding dirty.

Wright in context:
“There is a man here who can take this country in a new direction. ‘But he’s a Black man.’ There is a man here who is empowered by hope to usher in an era of change in a country that is in desperate need of a change. ‘But he ain’t Black enough.’ There is a man here who can get Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and persons of no faith to sit down at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood and talk about our common humanity and our common future. ‘But I ain’t gonna vote for him ’cause I don’t want to waste my vote.’ ‘But Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us.’ No he ain’t. Bill did us just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty.”

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. This commentary was distributed by NNPA.

REMEMBERING OUR KING

2008-04-04T04:24:00.000-07:00

Nearly 40 years after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., some say his legacy is being frozen in a moment in time that ignores the full complexity of the man and his message.

"Everyone knows -- even the smallest kid knows about Martin Luther King -- can say his most famous moment was that 'I have a dream' speech," said Henry Louis Taylor Jr., professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Buffalo. "No one can go further than one sentence. All we know is that this guy had a dream. We don't know what that dream was."

King was working on anti-poverty and anti-war issues at the time of his death. He had spoken out against the Vietnam War and was in Memphis when he was killed in April 1968 in support of striking sanitation workers.

King had come a long way from the crowds who cheered him at the 1963 March on Washington, when he was introduced as "the moral leader of our nation" -- and when he pronounced "I have a dream" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

By taking on issues outside segregation, he had lost the support of many newspapers and magazines, and his relationship with the White House had suffered, said Harvard Sitkoff, a professor of history at the University of New Hampshire who has written a recently published book on King.

"He was considered by many to be a pariah," Sitkoff said.

But he took on issues of poverty and militarism because he considered them vital "to make equality something real and not just racial brotherhood but equality in fact," Sitkoff said.
Scholarly study of King hasn't translated into the popular perception of him and the civil rights movement, said Richard Greenwald, professor of history at Drew University.

"We're living increasingly in a culture of top 10 lists, of celebrity biopics which simplify the past as entertainment or mythology," he said. "We lose a view on what real leadership is by compressing him down to one window."

That does a disservice to both King and society, said Melissa Harris-Lacewell, professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University.

By freezing him at that point, by putting him on a pedestal of perfection that doesn't acknowledge his complex views, "it makes it impossible both for us to find new leaders and for us to aspire to leadership," Harris-Lacewell said.

She believes it's important for Americans in 2008 to remember how disliked King was before his death in April 1968.

"If we forget that, then it seems like the only people we can get behind must be popular," Harris-Lacewell said. "Following King meant following the unpopular road, not the popular one."

In becoming an icon, King's legacy has been used by people all over the political spectrum, said Glenn McNair, associate professor of history at Kenyon College.

He's been part of the 2008 presidential race, in which Barack Obama could be the country's first black president. Obama has invoked King, and Sen. John Kerry endorsed Obama by saying "Martin Luther King said that the time is always right to do what is right."

Not all the references have been received well. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton came under fire when she was quoted as saying King's dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

King has "slipped into the realm of symbol that people use and manipulate for their own purposes," McNair said.

Harris-Lacewell said that is something people need to push back against.

"It's not OK to slip into flat memory of who Dr. King was, it does no justice to us and makes him to easy to appropriate," she said. "Every time he gets appropriated, we have to come out and say that's not OK. We do have the ability to speak back."

Listen to the candidates, not their associates

2008-03-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- Its been an interesting week watching folks analyze the outcry over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial comments, especially when they try to link them to Sen. Barack Obama.
Roland S. Martin says all the presidential candidates have supporters with controversial views.
Obama's supporters say it's wrong to associate his views with those of his pastor at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.

His opponents say that surely his views are linked with Wright's, including the pastor's praise of Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Conservative talker Sean Hannity -- who incidentally many have accused of associations with white supremacist Hal Turner, which he denies -- was foaming at the mouth. He called Wright a racist and an anti-Semite, and then said we all should assume Obama is also a racist and an anti-Semite.

Talk about a stretch.

Frankly, it's just not plausible to suggest that you always share the same feelings or views as someone you know.

In remarks to a Pittsburgh newspaper, Sen. Hillary Clinton responded to a question about the Wright controversy by saying: "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."

True. Very true. But there's also some reality that politicians pick and choose who they want to be associated with.

Clinton pressed Obama during a debate this year to repudiate and denounce Farrakhan's unsolicited praise of him at an event the Nation of Islam leader organized for his group in Chicago.

The moderator, NBC's Tim Russert, brought up comments made by Farrakhan 24 years ago in his question to Obama.

Fine, so what do we make of then-President Bill Clinton publicly endorsing the 1995 Million Man March? Who called for that march? Louis Farrakhan. Who was the lead organizer? Louis Farrakhan. Who was the keynote speaker? Louis Farrakhan.

After he was out of the White House, President Clinton also endorsed the Million Man March. Who called for that march? Louis Farrakhan. Who was the lead organizer? Louis Farrakhan. Who was the keynote speaker? Louis Farrakhan.

Did Sen. Clinton privately or publicly rebuke her husband for supporting a man whom she has determined to be hateful and divisive?

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who is national co-chair of Sen. Clinton's presidential campaign, once stood on stage with Farrakhan in 1997 -- at an event the Times said was "called to promote racial reconciliation after several recent high-profile crimes" -- and praised him for his commitment to ending violence in the black community. Rendell was the mayor of Philadelphia at the time.

According to the April 15, 1997, story in The New York Times, Farrakhan praised Rendell before 3,000 people at the anti-violence rally for ''his courage and strength to rise above emotion and differences that might be between us or our communities.'' Roland Martin argues that Obama is not alone in his controversial associations »

According to the Times, Rendell, who is Jewish, commended the Nation of Islam for its emphasis on family values and self-sufficiency.

Must Clinton repudiate and denounce Rendell's past comments and association with Farrakhan?
Former Republican Rep. Jack Kemp is a huge supporter of Sen. John McCain, and he also has a Farrakhan story.

In 1996, when Kemp was the vice presidential running mate of Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, he told reporters that he wanted to meet with Farrakhan and praised his organization's focus on economic empowerment, family values and its pull-yourselves-up-by-the-bootstrap message -- right in line with the GOP talking points. Kemp said he wanted to speak at the Million Man March.

Boy, was he torn apart by Jewish critics, and many in his own party.

Kemp summarily criticized Farrakhan's comments about Jews and whites, but he didn't take his words back. By the way, Hannity pressed every African-American supporter about Farrakhan, but he never got in Kemp's face about his comments. I wonder why?

Must McCain repudiate and denounce Kemp's past comments and association with Farrakhan?
When it comes to homosexuality, no Clinton or Obama supporter should think of criticizing the other campaign's black ministerial supporters because that means most of their own would have to be disassociated from their campaigns.

On CNN's "The Situation Room," Paul Begala mentioned "hateful" things said about gays by the Rev. James Meeks, founder and senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago, and an Obama supporter. Meeks has made no bones about his firm opposition to homosexuality (and abortion), which is one of the reasons he's very close to many of the nation's white conservative pastors. (I know him well; I'm a member of Salem).

And then there was the hoopla over gospel singer Donnie McClurkin when the Obama campaign recruited him to take part in a gospel concert tour around South Carolina. McClurkin has preached that homosexuals can be converted to heterosexuals. That set off a firestorm.
But Clinton also has her own issues with anti-gay pastoral supporters.

The Rev. Harold Mayberry, pastor of the First African Methodist Church in Oakland, has voiced for years his opposition to homosexuality. In fact, some have said he has compared homosexuality to thievery.

When Mayberry came out in support of Clinton, her campaign touted his endorsement, sans any mention of his anti-gay rants.

She has also received a $1,000 contribution from Bishop Eddie L. Long of the mega-church New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, who previously led an anti-gay marriage march in Atlanta.

Of course, when it comes to McCain, it wouldn't be a story if his ministerial supporters are anti-gay. It would be news if any of them actually supported homosexuality.

The bottom line: Everyone has an association that is open for scrutiny. Our real focus should be on the candidates and their views on the issues, because one of them will stand before the nation and take the oath of office and swear to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States.

Roland S. Martin is a nationally award-winning journalist and CNN contributor. Martin is studying to receive his master's degree in Christian communications at Louisiana Baptist University. You can read more of his columns at http://www.rolandsmartin.com/.

Quick, Let Me Search Your Home For Guns Before The Supreme Court Tells Me They Are Legal Anyway!!!!!

2008-03-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

The hounds of deliverance are upon us!The Washington D.C. Examiner offers editorial comment upon the current door-to-door D.C. visit by police seeking guns!"WASHINGTON (Map, News) - If the U.S. Supreme Court seemed on the verge of finding the D.C. government guilty of violating its citizens’ First Amendment rights, would the D.C. police be going door to door looking for printing presses to confiscate? Of course not. It would be unthinkable. Civil libertarians would be — to use an apt phrase (figuratively speaking) — up in arms. But when the civil liberty at issue is the right to bear those arms, as protected by the Second Amendment rather than the First, District officials seem determined to leave no gun unturned in.

Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier may have all the best intentions, but their “Safe Homes Initiative” is constitutionally and otherwise objectionable on several levels. The initiative involves door-to-door visits with police asking residents for permission to search their homes for guns. Any firearms found will be confiscated, but owners won’t be prosecuted unless the guns are determined to be linked to specific crimes.

The program has drawn criticism not just from gun-rights lobbies such as the National Rifle Association but also from the National Black Police Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. No matter how much respect and support police officers deserve, there is still an intimidation factor involved any time an officer is on one’s doorstep, such that the “permission” may not seem as voluntary as police mean it to be. So where does this end? How long before Lanier sends police into selected neighborhoods — selected by whom and on what basis? — asking to search homes for marijuana, terrorist literature, evidence of intent to commit a crime, fireworks or Cuban cigars? Lanier is establishing a precedent that would have horrified the founders of this republic.

What is clearly at work here is the District’s determination to enforce its broad gun ban while it still has nominal power to do so. Never mind that a federal appeals court has ruled the ban unconstitutional, or that most observers of last week’s Supreme Court oral arguments on the issue reported that a majority of justices seem inclined to throw the law out. Never mind that the fundamental constitutional right of gun ownership is at issue. District officials appear to believe their own antipathy to guns outweighs all those pesky concerns about whether the Constitution empowers their confiscations. But the guns they take away today may turn out to be perfectly legal under the Constitution. It would be far better to wait for the high court’s direction than to rush, half-cocked, into this kind of a crackdown."

Next up, "voluntary" searches for marijuana, illegal drugs, illicit sex, and other tragedies of our society!

Way to go D.C., you have once again proven yourselves incompetent to run your own city. Time for the Congress Fairy to take control and let the locals from a nearby state take charge! Do you suppose Marion Berry would apply for the job as Commissar?

What a crock D.C. is.....how shameful that the "seat of government" is allowed to be so completely bereft of any form of control with logic!

RALLY FOR JUSTICE MISUNDERSTOOD BY SOME

2008-03-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

The press conferences, news interviews and now a rally have not been an indictment of the Four County Police Officers on behalf of concerned supporters of the family of Detective Christopher Ridley. No one wants to see anyone go to jail for a glitch in the institutional system of policing.

This has been a clear plea to Politicians and Policy Makers in that they have a chance to put a little faith in the process of justice in the black community. Due to what appears to be inadequacies, there are now questions about the entire process of justice in reference to the investigation of the shooting of our brother Detective Ridley. Was there a full representation of the facts?

What will be the steps to lay the ground work to make sure this will never happen again? The request by the family of an outside agency like the Attorney General’s Office or the Department of Justice to investigate. Whether this investigation will give merit or demerit to the facts of Westchester’s investigation is a fair and impartial request from the family of Detective Ridley. That is the process of Justice.

County Public Safety Commissioner Belfiore, the Public Safety Commission and Politicians need to admit the system is flawed. More adequate accredited training is needed for all Law Enforcement Officers that carry off-duty. A true Off-Duty training course should also be implemented along with Racial Sensitivity classes. These types of classes should not just be for the academy but yearly refresher courses as well. A Fraternal Day should be implemented for cadets of all law enforcement academies in Westchester where Law Enforcement Fraternities of all races can come and talk to the cadets.

Now that it has come to light that the only black County Police Officer did not fire his weapon, shouldn't we question the reason why he was pointed out to be the lone gunman from first accounts from authorities? Does this coincide with the studies, data and facts that the Westchester NBPA has said all along about the perceptions of black males within institutions of law enforcement? How these types of unfortunate occurrences mainly happen to officers of a darker blue when they are off duty or in plain clothes.

This intentional or unintentional leak of our brother’s name has caused a lot of emotions in the law enforcement community and a deep wound in the black law enforcement community as well. The black law enforcement community in time should begin the process of healing. We should agree to disagree and begin the work of the common goal protecting, educating and uplifting our communities. The communities and the black communities at large are in our critical care.

It is far from indicting anyone when you ask for a more clear and concise representation of the facts. We need to make sure we will not loose another officer.

Whatever point we make or opinion we have, we should always be in one voice saying never, ever, again should a mother and father loose their son in a situation like this

SUPPORTERS RALLY FOR A CALL FOR JUSTICE

2008-03-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

WHITE PLAINS - Angry words followed a minute of silence yesterday as close to 200 people gathered at the spot where Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley was killed to protest the circumstances surrounding his death and a grand jury's decision not to indict the four Westchester policemen who shot him down.

"Chris Ridley was shot and killed. Murdered. And nobody is responsible,'' said the Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, where Ridley was a parishioner. "We gather here to register our anger and discontent. We cannot rest until we are sure that something could not have been done differently."

Ridley, 23, was killed in front of 85 Court St. on Jan. 25 as he tried to arrest a mugging suspect. Off duty and in civilian clothes, he was hit six times by a volley of at least 10 shots fired by county police who converged on the scene. After what authorities described as an exhaustive investigation that included extensive video evidence and testimony from 62 witnesses, a Westchester grand jury voted last week not to indict county Detective Robin Martin and Officers Christian Gutierrez, Jose Calero and Frank Oliveri, concluding that Ridley did not react to repeated orders to drop his gun.

Ridley, hailed as a hero, was posthumously promoted to the rank of detective and his badge was retired.

Richardson and other speakers called on the state Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Justice Department to conduct their own independent investigations, and demanded that Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore make public the evidence that was presented to the grand jury. He also called for a countywide "criminal justice summit," inviting law enforcement to answer questions from the public and listen to community concerns.

"We're not trying to bring anyone down, we're trying to get justice,'' Richardson said.

As he spoke, some in the crowd punctuated his remarks by yelling, "Murder!'

'
The Rev. W. Darin Moore of Mount Vernon, president of United Black Clergy of Westchester, told the crowd that the "blood of Detective Christopher Ridley cries out to us."

"We cannot allow this to happen again,'' Moore said.

Ridley's parents, Felita Bouche and Stanley Ridley, thanked the throng huddled under umbrellas in the pouring rain for their support.

"As a mother, you cry and you pray every day,'' Bouche said before the 20-minute rally began.

"I just want justice. You can't tell me that you can investigate a murder in this many days and then come back and say it was no one's fault. No.''

"This is a global issue,'' said Damon Jones, executive director of the Westchester chapter of the National Black Police Association. "Black cops are being looked at as perps and thugs. We are asking for justice, for a clear representation of the facts.''

Since Ridley's death, Jones has repeatedly called for more training for those in law enforcement and for the hiring of more African-American police, particularly in Westchester's urban communities.

"It's common sense,'' he said afterward. "How can a city like Mount Vernon, which is 62 percent black, have a police gang unit that's all white?''

When Richardson told demonstrators that the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was to appear, canceled at the last minute, some shouted, "That's OK. We're here!"

Richardson noted that representatives from the Nation of Islam and the National Action Network were on hand.

"This is no picnic,'' he said as the 20-minute rally ended. "You don't have a picnic in the rain. We're here because we're serious. This is not the last you'll hear about this. We have much more to say, and we're not going away."

Richard Clarke, a retired New York City police detective from Garnerville, said he turned out in the rain because he wants to see law enforcement held accountable.

"It's a scary situation,'' he said of Ridley's death. "If you can shoot a cop, then who's safe?"

Clarke, who recalled being stopped and searched by another officer who mistook him for a perpetrator while he was chasing a drug suspect, said that "attitudes and mentalities have to change."

"And that can only happen through training, talking about this and understanding," he said.

"This is one of too many tragic incidents that involve the killing of a black man,'' said Surya Peterson, a retired administrative assistant from White Plains. "The fact that these officers indicated they were following their training indicates to me that the training wasn't correct."

The demonstration began at 4:55 p.m. - the time Ridley was killed. Police, who had expected a larger crowd, closed the Court Street block where the rally was held for about two hours, but reported no major traffic problems.

Reach Richard Liebson lohud.com

PROTEST TO SEEK NEW PROBE IN MT VERNON OFFICERS DEATH

2008-03-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

WHITE PLAINS - Fiery civil rights activist Al Sharpton will head a protest downtown today at the same time and place that Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley was shot dead by four Westchester County policemen.

Organizers expect more than 1,000 people will join the rally, which also will feature Ridley's parents, black clergy and members of a black police association who are upset over a grand jury decision last week not to indict the county officers. Demonstrators will demand federal and state investigations into the Jan. 25 shooting, believing Ridley was shot because he was black.

"We are not ready to accept the conclusion that this was just a tragedy that couldn't have been avoided," said the Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson of Mount Vernon's Grace Baptist Church, who also will speak at the event. "We don't have the institutional trust in the black community to accept that, in light of the number of black men who get killed by police officers."

The 23-year-old, off-duty cop was trying to subdue a mugging suspect in front of 85 Court St., when the officers opened fire. The panel of jurors concluded they committed no crime after hearing that the policemen had repeatedly ordered Ridley to drop his gun. They fired at least 10 shots, and Ridley was struck six times.

Ridley's family and their supporters, however, argue that White Plains police and the Westchester District Attorney's Office rushed the investigation and disregarded several witnesses whose testimony could have supported criminal charges. Supporters will gather outside 85 Court St. beginning at 4:30 p.m. and the rally will begin at 4:55 p.m., the time Ridley was shot. It will last about an hour.

"We march in support of the family of our brother, Detective Ridley, and many black law enforcement professionals that have been shot, shot at or killed in the past," said Damon Jones, executive director of the county chapter of the National Black Police Association. "This will be a historical moment for all people of color in Westchester. There has never been a gathering of people of color in Westchester in protest of a system built on institutional bias policies and attitudes when dealing with people of our community."

They are calling on the state Attorney General's Office to review the Ridley case and plan to reach out to the Justice Department, asking it to consider, among other things, whether Ridley's civil rights were violated.

District Attorney Janet DiFiore continues to defend the grand jury's decision not to indict, pointing out that 62 witnesses testified about the shooting death, and prosecutors also presented extensive video and other evidence during eight sessions that spanned two months.

Detective Robin Martin and Officers Christian Gutierrez, Jose Calero and Frank Oliveri have all returned to the county force, limited to administrative duties at this time.

By Shawn CohenThe Journal News • March 19, 2008

WILL THE BLACK COMMUNITY EVER HAVE TRUST IN LAW ENFORCEMENT, POLITICS, AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN WESCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK

2008-03-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

The unfortunate death and subsequent investigation of Detective Ridley has echoed many concerns in the Black Community as it relates to the perceptions and attitudes of Law Enforcement and the Justice System in Westchester County. The Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association will continue to support the Ridley Family in their determination to a achieve truth and justice in this unfortunate situation.

The “sweep under the rug technique” used by Westchester politicians and the DA’s office is a disservice to the Ridley Family as well as a disservice to the four county police officers involved in this tragic incident. Those involved with the investigation claim that there was complete and thorough investigation which is contrary to the obvious facts of he case. For instance:

Within four hours of the tragic event, Detective Robin Martin’s name, the only Black officer involved, was leaked to the media and the community at large.

After investigating the crime scene for four hours, there was no shell casing found from Detective Martin’s gun.

There was no final ballistics report indicating whose gun was used for the two fatal shots that killed Detective Ridley.

Detective Ridley was reported to have powder burns on shirt. What is the distance from the shooter to the target that will render powder burns?

The report to the family that one officer was so close, he claimed he could of grabbed Ridleys feet while he and Jacobs were struggling for the gun. Why didn’t he react with pepper spay?

The disrespectful and discouraging manner some interviews were conducted and on one occasion, imprisonment. Was this because their statements contradict the pre-judged theory that the blame was on our brother Detective Ridley?

Why wasn’t Mt. Vernon Police Department’s I.A.D. Unit involved in the investigation? It is normal procedure to have a representative from the officer’s police unit to participate in the investigation when one of their members weapons discharges.

For the Grand Jury to make a determination within in 35 days on a case that involved police firing their guns during rush hour in downtown White Plains is troublesome and appears to be inadequate to say the least. The DA’s office claims to have had 62 witnesses that came before the Grand Jury. Are we to assume that 62 witnesses gave statements, were questioned and follow-up was done to validate their statements including cross checking with the video surveillance; and this was all completed within 35 days of the incident? How is this possible when it took almost a year to investigate the Sean Bell case, a civilian with less than half of the witnesses, a police department much larger and more resources, before going to the Grand Jury?

For the Westchester PBA President to criticize supporters of the Ridley family by saying they must have an “agenda” and a “preconceived outcome”. He is totally mistaken. Nothing is preconceived when New York’s history shows that this type on unfortunate incident only happens to Black law enforcement professionals and NEVER in the reverse. Nothing is preconceived when generations of Black males have been subject to police brutality, police misconduct, and unjust shootings cloaked by bias institutional polices that allow them to say its "JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE".

The Westchester NBPA’s statements are not an indictment of the four County Police Officers. This is an impartial continuous request for a fair and full investigation for COMPLETE JUSTICE. We would hope to think if the families of the Four County Police Officers were in the Ridley family’s situation, they would request the same.

POLICY AND PROCEDURE

Unfortunately, Westchester County is using smoke and mirrors on the issue at hand. The Westchester NBPA feels they are totally missing the point. We need to deal with ALL Law Enforcement that carry a weapon off duty and have the powers under NYS Criminal Law section 2.10 to make a warrantless arrests and the use of deadly force. That should include training for Police Officers, Probation Officers, Court Officers, Corrections Officers, Sheriffs and any other Law Enforcement Professional that fall under NYS Criminal Law section 2.10 in Westchester County.

With President Bush signing the HR218 Law “ The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act” that allows officers off-duty, as well as retired, peace officers Right To Carry reciprocity throughout the nation in order to help prevent crime in communities. With this type of law in place and the horrific outcome of many officers being shot or killed and it being classified as “friendly fire”, a comprehensive “Off Duty” training class should be implemented for ALL Law Enforcement Professionals in Westchester County. The NBPA’s national office in Washington D.C. has met with representative in Congress to amend the law to add such a type comprehensive training along with the Article 35 “The Use of Force” and Yearly firearms qualification.

The Westchester NBPA has never heard of Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Monte Long until the Detective Ridley incident. We are told he comes from NYC Police Academy. NYC has a long history of Black officers being shot and African American males being unjustly shot. Just as recent as the Sean Bell Case, NYC Police Department policies and procedures are under the highest scrutiny. So what will this panel bring that will be new and innovative? Who are the other law enforcement organizations from the Black community, since history shows that Black officers are the only ones being shot in situations such as this? The Westchester NBPA has been the only Black Law Enforcement organization that has been critical of Westchester County and individual Police Department’s policies and procedures when it comes to the Black, Hispanic and poor communities.

POLICE CRIMINALITY IN BLACK COMMUNITIES

Police brutality and misconduct is an ongoing occurrence in the poor Black and Latino communities in Westchester County. The Westchester NBPA considers this brutality and misconduct POLICE CRIMINALITY. Any law enforcement officer that has powers to arrest, use deadly force, and received comprehensive training by certified institutions of Law Enforcement that will go into a community and abuse the powers they have from the state of New York is committing no less than a Criminal act them self.

We found common charges among citizens that had complaints of police criminality. These charges are resisting arrest, trespassing, and obstruction of governmental operations.

Since most of the families that are victims of Police Criminality live at poverty level or below, they have no means to afford proper legal representation. The majorities are ill- advised on their charges and have no choice to plea bargain for a lesser charge. Doing this keeps the courts moving and the jails filled. This is always the case when the victims are poor citizens that lack the funds, knowledge and recourses to fight City Hall.

As a law enforcement organization, this is not an attack on the good law enforcement officers that go to work everyday and do the job they are sworn to do. Instead we are demanding critical and fair accountability of the few police officers that cross the line and that Westchester County officials, police administrations, and politicians recognize and correct their failure to address this ongoing problem.

It is no surprise that minority citizens, especially the Black community have a constant cry for justice. The tragedy of Detective Ridley and its “so-called” investigation is a constant reminder of the negative perceptions and biasness of institutional policies. We must take a critical examination of the issues at hand. There is a lack of Black representation among law enforcement agencies in the cities, towns, and villages of Westchester County. There must be certified, conventional training for all law enforcement officers how to carrying firearms off duty. There must be racial sensitivity classes to better understand the races and cultures you protect and serve. There must be better community relations with the minority community. Without that these things the Black community is at a tremendous disadvantage and can never hope to receive the service and protection from the police they are rightfully due.

RIDLEY FAMILEY SEEKS PROBE IN SONS SHOOTING

2008-03-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

Detective Chritopher Ridley

MOUNT VERNON - The parents of slain Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley and a nationally known cleric are demanding federal and state investigations into the shooting by four Westchester County cops after a county grand jury declined to indict them.

"They have essentially said that Christopher died, and it was nobody's fault. We will not accept that," the Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson said yesterday at Grace Baptist Church, as he called on state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the U.S. Attorney's Office to review the case. "We will not sit by and allow this to be the last word on this matter."

They also called for a street protest Wednesday at the site where Ridley was gunned down outside 85 Court St. and urged people to gather there at 4:55 p.m., the time of the shooting.
"Calm and waiting is over. It is now time for the community to act," Richardson said. "What happened in White Plains was systemic execution. Unless we transform the system, we will be back here again."

A spokesman for Cuomo said his office was reviewing the request for a state probe.
The pastor was joined at the news conference by Ridley's mother, Felita Rucker-Bouche, and father, Stanley Ridley, who had urged his son to become a police officer.

"This is very hard because I gave my son to this system so that he could make it better," Stanley Ridley said, growing tearful. "And you all - the media, Westchester County - has treated him like a common thug; treated him like he just didn't exist, like he wasn't a police officer.

"This should never happen again, and I'm going to fight for my son and the right for him to be the hero that he died for," the father said.

A grand jury cleared Detective Robin Martin and Officers Christian Gutierrez, Jose Calero and Frank Oliveri of any wrongdoing. But Richardson and Damon K. Jones, executive director of the National Black Police Association's Westchester chapter, said that was a rush to judgment by the District Attorney's Office.

"We feel betrayed and outraged and believe the report is a collaboration of cover-ups," Richardson said of the grand jury's non-action. "It is not thorough. We question the pursuit and the posturing of the District Attorney's Office."

The Rev. W. Darin Moore, president of the United Black Clergy, an organization made up of about 50 religious leaders countywide, agreed.

"The entire process demands closer scrutiny and transparency," he said. "We believe that too few details have been made public, and those facts that have, raise troubling questions as to whether there was an excessive use of force by the four police officers."

Ridley's mother expressed anger with the grand jury's decision.

"I don't like what Westchester did. I think they need to be investigated," Rucker-Bouche said of the shooting and subsequent investigation. "It's been 47 days. I waited patiently for them to execute my son and give him no remorse. I want an investigation done and I want justification."
In a statement released yesterday, District Attorney Janet DiFiore said she had "complete faith and confidence" in the grand jury process. She said 62 witnesses - including 45 civilians - testified about the shooting death on Court Street.

She said 16 of the civilian witnesses were in or about the plaza in front of 85 Court St., some only a few feet away when the shooting happened. Of the witnesses, 17 others were inside the office building watching from their windows as the events unfolded below them. Twelve other civilian witnesses were in the general area on the street, DiFiore said in the statement.

"The twenty-three grand jurors, over eight sessions spanning two months, investigated and considered photographs, all videos which captured portions of the events from cameras positioned in a nearby office building, charts, diagrams and documentary evidence," the statement said. "The grand jury found that, based upon all of the evidence presented, there was no reasonable cause to believe a criminal offense was committed by any of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety Police Officers involved in this tragic incident."

Because grand jury proceedings are confidential, DiFiore would not say what, if any, criminal charges her prosecutors recommended to the panel.

Calvin Scholar, the husband of Ridley's cousin and a former Westchester prosecutor who served as chief of the bias crime unit before resigning in early January, said the familey considered it a "slap in the face" Wednesday at a private meeting when prosecutors met with them and spoke of how distraught the county officers were.

He accused investigators of "ignoring a version that indicates that there should be an indictment." He said several witnesses were turned over to the prosecutor's office by the family, and they were disregarded. One was even put in jail, he alleged, though he did not provide a name.

"There are witnesses that have come forward, and the White Plains Police Department has been very heavy-handed in treating the witnesses that have indicated a version that supports criminal charges," he said. "There have been incidents where they have not been spoken to properly. There have been situations where they have been ignored. And in one case, upon information and belief, we believe that somebody was arrested after they agreed to cooperate with the investigation."

Scholar, who is serving as a lawyer for the family, would not say whether a lawsuit would be filed against Westchester County.

His former colleagues at the D.A.'s office and Daniel Jackson, deputy commissioner of White Plains police, declined to respond to Scholar's comments.

Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young was at the church, but was not invited into the news conference to speak. He declined to comment yesterday about the case saying he has not read the report.

Young's chief of staff, Yolanda Robinson, said later that there was a "misunderstanding" between the family and the mayor. Robinson said Young spoke with Ridley's mother later in the day.
Young called a news conference with Ridley's mother, and it was abruptly canceled just before it was to start.

Reached for comment about the investigation and the family's calls for outside intervention, Mount Vernon Police Commissioner David Chong said, "I was not part of the grand jury investigation, and I do not know the facts that were presented to the grand jury, so I can not make a comment."

Sgt. Kevin Mandell, president of the Mount Vernon Police Benevolent Association, said he and his members also have questions about the investigation. He said he would like to view the videotape and grand jury findings before deciding if outside agencies are warranted

lohud.com

SOME MESSY ISSUES AFTER A FAMILIAR TRAGITY “WILL LAW ENFORCEMENT BE TRUSTED BY THE BLACK COMMUNITY”

2008-03-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Detective Christopher Ridley

Although the full story surrounding the brief career and violent death of Christopher Ridley, the young Mount Vernon police officer cut down by "friendly fire" police bullets in January, has yet to unfold publicly, key law enforcement officials are already looking to changes they hope will help prevent future tragedies.

Mount Vernon police plan to double the instruction that officers now receive in how to conduct themselves in confrontations between uniformed police and fellow officers who may be off-duty, undercover or otherwise in plain clothes - an area certain to garner attention in the probe of how Ridley was killed; he died Jan. 25, shot by brother police officers as he tried to make an off-duty arrest in White Plains.

"I intend to have that training twice a year now and I intend to have that training not lumped in with all the other training," David Chong, the Mount Vernon commissioner, told The Editorial Board. Since the 1990s, the city has provided such confrontation training as a supplement to instruction that all personnel receive in the Westchester County Police Academy. "By separating it from the routine, you're giving something special attention," Chong said.

In Westchester County, Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Belfiore has called for a top-to-bottom review of use-of-force and confrontation training, both for members of the department and academy cadets. His officers fired the fatal barrage at a gun-wielding Ridley, who was in street clothes and mistaken for an assailant. The county oversees the 20-weeks-long academy, which serves 43 departments. "We don't want this to happen again," said Belfiore. He wants a study group to report back in the next 60 days.

Both departments are under pressure to respond - even before all the facts are known - to what has become a too familiar nightmare, when a plainclothes officer, usually black, is mistaken for a criminal and shot by fellow police. "We never thought (these kinds of incidents) would come in our backyard," said Damon K. Jones, a county corrections officer and executive director of the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association. "Now that it is here, we have an opportunity to be in the forefront of this."

Since the Ridley shooting, Jones and representatives of other groups representing black police officers have been highly critical of law enforcement, in both public statements and media interviews. A common complaint is that ingrained stereotypes that correlate blacks with criminality place minority officers at added risk when they act out of uniform. Jones has called for more community policing, better representation of blacks throughout department ranks, as well as more tactical and diversity training.

"We have to rise above our biases," said Jones, who applauds past efforts by the New York City Police Department, after a similar (but nonfatal) friendly fire shooting of a black undercover officer in the mid-1990s, to foster better understanding of the problem. That effort included updating training tapes and other material so they also depicted racial minorities, not just whites. There were also forums featuring minority police officers speaking about their experiences on the force. "That's good. That could work," Jones said. "You need that kind of discussion. . . . If that's not the case, we may have more Christopher Ridleys."

Charles Billups, chairman of the Grand Council of Guardians, which represents black officers in the New York Police Department, called for stepped-up training as well. "The (NYPD) has come a long way," Billups said. "The suburbs are behind what's going on in the city." He told a gathering of the Westchester NBPA last weekend: "We need to do something."

Seven weeks after Ridley's death, only the basic details of what transpired have been made public. The most elemental facts are that Ridley was wielding a gun, in plainclothes and trying to make an off-duty arrest - in a jurisdiction not his own -after interceding in a violent altercation between two men. During a struggle between Ridley and the alleged aggressor, a weapon was discharged; county officers then converged on the scene, on Court Street near the county social services offices; they fired on Ridley, purportedly after he did not respond to their commands to drop his weapon.

Ret. NYPD Detective Roger L. Abel, Northeast regional president of the NBPA and a student of such friendly fire shootings, said black officers out of uniform are particularly vulnerable under such circumstances. He faults the officers' colleagues: "They don't think of you as a police officer." He added: "Training is never a factor. Training is excellent. The problem is in executing the training."

Yet it is hardly self-evident at this juncture just what might have made a difference during those frantic moments in White Plains -both for the 23-year-old Ridley and the police officers who let loose the fatal barrage. While a grand jury inquiry continues, officials have divulged very little about what transpired. Those details - derived from all the logical whos? whys? wheres? and hows? - will help inform, in a way the unavoidable racial elements of the tragedy cannot fully, how we came to lose one of Mount Vernon's finest, and how future heartache can be prevented.

A rare event
Not many police officers die as Christopher Ridley did. Nationwide, according to FBI statistics, 32 law enforcement officers were killed in accidental shootings between 1997-2006, the latest available data. Of that total, 19 died from cross-fire, firearm mishaps, and what the FBI refers to as "mistaken for subject" shootings. (The FBI does not breakdown the numbers any further.) By contrast, twice as many officers were killed in aircraft accidents (39) and four times as many (81) were killed directing traffic or assisting motorists.

But the circumstance of black officers being shot by fellow cops - by all accounts, black officers are the runaway leaders in this category of travesty - has searing, independent significance. For blacks within and beyond police departments, such shootings rub the same nerves already rubbed raw by the high-profile fatal police shootings of civilians Amadou Diallo, Timothy Stansbury Jr. and Ousmane Zongo, all unarmed and unambiguously innocent black men in New York who were mistaken for perpetrators.

The friendly fire shootings of black cops engender even more indignation and pack considerable irony; if a black police officer - someone who clearly runs against stereotype - cannot get a fair shake from the police, the thinking goes, how can other blacks expect any better? (An ongoing trial in Queens, of undercover officers facing criminal charges in the chaotic 2006 shooting death of Sean Bell, will help determine if another name is added to the ranks of Diallo and the others.)
According to Abel, the retired NYPD detective and author of "The Black Shields," a pictorial history and narrative of blacks' experience in policing, some 35 black city officers have been shot at or shot by their white NYPD brethren since 1941, resulting in four fatalities. He said the opposite scenario - a white officer being shot by a black officer - has never occurred. Abel's accounting does not go beyond a black-white paradigm. For example, it does not include the Jan. 28, 2006 shooting death of NYPD patrolman Eric Hernandez, who was the most recent friendly fire casualty prior to Ridley.

The Latino officer, off duty and in civilian clothes, had been beaten by a group of men inside a Bronx restaurant. Once outside, a dazed Hernandez pointed a gun at a man he mistakingly believed to have been involved in the attack. He was shot by a responding police officer, also a Latino, after failing to respond to the officer's pleas to drop his weapon. Police later determined that the shooting officer acted within department guidelines. Hernandez, who grew up in White Plains, was 24. (Of course, Abel's count also does not count Ridley, a black officer fired upon by a multi-racial phalanx of officers: two Hispanics, one white and one black officer.)

Friendly fire shootings can send reverberations throughout a police department. In the District of Columbia in 1995, a pair of friendly fire shootings of plainclothes black officers by white colleagues caused a firestorm that "brought the 7th District to the brink of a racial conflagration," the Washington Post reported.

In February that year, pregnant Detective Lani Jackson-Pinckney, then 33, was shot as she interrupted an attempted carjacking; her fetus survived, but Jackson-Pinckney was partially paralyzed. Months later, in December, James M. McGee Jr., a black officer working undercover, was shot as he trained his weapon on two robbery suspects. Under the official account, an officer converging on the scene ordered McGee to drop his weapon; he fired when McGee started to turn his way. McGee was dead at 26.

"It's going to separate us," a black officer told The Post after the Pinckney shooting. "There's going to be more tension," another officer said. "They [white officers] are so quick to shoot us. I hope it was an honest mistake." More tension arose on July 18, 1998, when the D.C. department lost another black officer to friendly fire; off-duty Thomas Hamlette Jr. was shot by a white officer, also off-duty, who encountered Hamlette and another man engaged in a struggle outside a nightclub.

During the melee, Hamlette's weapon discharged. By the official account, the officer converging on the scene ordered Hamlette to drop the weapon; he fired when Hamlette turned toward the officer. As with the two other D.C. shootings, a department inquiry cleared the shooting officer of any wrongdoing. "The only color of relevance is that both people involved are blue," Executive Assistant Chief Terrance Gainer told The Washington Post.

That assessment was called into question when the dead officer's family - Hamlette Sr. was also a police veteran - later won a $1.2 million settlement to end their civil rights lawsuit against the city. A subsequent investigation by the newspaper revealed numerous lapses in departmental training, failures to meet basic firearms proficiency standards, as well as a poor track record for investigating shootings, despite considerable practice: D.C. police shot and killed more people per capita in the 1990s than any other large city police department.

"All D.C. cops shoot first and ask questions latter," Gregory Lattimer, the Hamlette family attorney, told Washington City Paper. "Especially when the person on the other side of the barrel happens to be a young black man. Black is black. You're black first and a police officer second."

To shoot - or not
Westchester certainly isn't the District of Columbia, which was the "murder capital" of the nation through much of the high-crime 1990s. Nor is it New York City, the safest big city in America, notwithstanding the 497-some murders there in 2007, the fewest since John F. Kennedy was president. But the experience in both locales - the experience framed in such harsh terms by lawyer Lattimer - helps form the prism through which the Ridley tragedy is seen.

"It's not just black propaganda," said Jones of the Westchester NBPA, referring to the perception that blacks are subject to harsher treatment by police - and hence the tragedy that claimed Ridley's life. "People have done studies. This is deep-rooted in the whole theory of policing. And it applies to both blacks and white officers." Former Detective Abel said black police officers pay the price for an attitude he said was common among police, that "it is better to be judged by 12 than carried by six."

That is a jarring assessment, to be sure. But the sentiment, whether widely held or not, does not exist in a vacuum. A 2001 Justice Department report showed that black suspects are five times more likely than white suspects to die "at the hands of police." At the same time, police are five times more likely to be killed by a black suspect than a white suspect, according to the report. Those are messy, uncomfortable facts that have to be a part of any honest discussion about interactions between police and civilians, and confrontations between uniform officers and police in plainclothes - the Ridley scenario.

Relatedly, an important study was published last year in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. "Across the Thin Blue Line: Police Officers and Racial Bias in the Decision to Shoot" was notable - numerous news organizations wrote articles about its findings - because it was based upon experimental data of actual police behavior in confrontation situations. (The article notes that findings of numerous other studies "indicate that race can play an important role in decisions about the danger or threat posed by a particular person," but rarely do these inquiries speak directly to what cops do.)

The researchers from the University of Chicago and University of Colorado tested how study participants - Denver police, national police and community representatives - shown video-screen images decided whether to shoot (or not shoot) either black subjects or white subjects who were either armed or unarmed.

Overall, the police outperformed the community sample in key respects; ignoring race, they were faster to make correct shooting decisions, better able to detect a weapon, and they set a higher criterion for the decision to shoot, "indicating a less 'trigger-happy' orientation." Yet both police and community members exhibited "robust racial bias" in response speed. Accurate responses to targets that were congruent with cultural stereotypes (the armed black targets and unarmed white targets) required less time to make than responses to stereotype-incongruent targets (the unarmed black targets and armed white targets). In other words, the participants needed more time to think when they saw images that ran against the grain of their biases or expectations.

Additionally, "when the target was White, all [of the groups] set a relatively high criteria [for shooting], and none of the [groups] differed from one another," the study said. "But when the target was Black, the community set a significantly lower (more trigger-happy) criterion than the officers." The researchers saw good news in this, suggesting that while training may not affect the speed with which someone processes stereotype-incongruent targets (the unarmed black or armed white), training - the kind of training that police receive - does affect the ultimate decision whether to shoot. "The data suggest that the officers' training and/or expertise may improve their overall performance (yielding faster responses, greater sensitivity and reduced tendencies to shoot) and decrease racial bias in decision outcomes."

That is a long way back to what happened in White Plains, but such context is everything if law enforcement, community leaders and the public are to come to any understanding of the overlapping issues that swirled around Ridley when he interceded in the melee in White Plains.
'Unidentified armed person'

Westchester's Public Safety Department has had a written protocol - General Order No. 1.24 - for how officers should conduct themselves in confrontations between uniformed officers and unidentified officers, typically police who are off-duty, undercover or otherwise in civilian clothes. The instruction seeks to choreograph an interaction that, in the absence of any rules, would have incalculable peril for all parties, including members of the public. The policy was put into place on July 31, 2006 - just months after the friendly fire death of the NYPD's Eric Hernandez in the Bronx.

For example, the policy defines as a "challenging officer" the service member who happens upon an "unidentified armed person" - usually someone in civilian clothes. The unidentified officer is the "confronted officer," perhaps someone off-duty, undercover or from another service. Among other things, the policy instructs on tactics: challenging officers are told to take cover and approach an unidentified officer from behind - a strategy that gives both parties more time to react; in many of the friendly fire cases, confronted officers are shot when they turn their bodies to the side.

The policy instructs confronted officers to "remain motionless even if it means a fleeing suspect may escape" and "not to turn (their) body, especially if holding a firearm." It instructs challenging officers to announce "Police! Don't move" to avoid contradictory instructions, and to request that challenging officers tell them exactly where their I.D. is. Confronted officers are told to remain motionless; to identify themselves as police officers; to obey all directions from challenging officers; and how even to produce identification ("slowly, in a controlled manner").
The written protocols became part of formal Westchester Police Academy training with the start of the January 2007 class -a year after Officer Ridley matriculated. Officials familiar with academy training practices prior to the January 2007 academy class insist that confrontation tactics were included in the curriculum.

Since the early 1990s, the Mount Vernon department has had a "confrontation lesson" it includes in the in-service training extended to all Mount Vernon officers. This is the training that Chong, who became commissioner in May 2006, said he would now isolate "and not have it lumped in with all the other training." He said that the department will also conduct such training twice a year.

He declined to share a written copy of the instruction given to Mount Vernon officers, but said that it is "essentially word-for-word" with the NYPD's and Westchester's lesson. Neither he nor any law enforcement official connected with the Ridley matter, including District Attorney Janet DiFiore, would comment on any specifics of the Ridley matter because it remains under investigation.

Speaking generally of the department's training goals, Chong said: "You're dealing with a very highly stressful situation. You want to make everything as mechanical as possible. Train, train, train. Make it as mechanical as possible . . . You want to make it a mechanical reaction." He added: "We have to get people to realize that holding a gun is a dangerous thing to do. And if you're acting as a police officer, you have to think that. You have to think, 'I'm in plain clothes and I have a gun out.' "

What Westchester knows of confrontation training it learned from the NYPD; what the NYPD knows, it learned the hard way. As Roger Abel, the retired NYPD detective recalled, the department had a spate of friendly fire shootings in the 1970s. He said that fellow black officers were being shot at by white police officers - jittery because black radicals, members of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, were shooting at white police. He said that's when the first confrontation guidelines were established. Protesting black officers warned that if nothing changed, "we are going to start shooting back," Abel said. "That's when all these (protocols) came about."

More change came about in the mid-1990s, after black undercover officer Desmond Robinson was shot and injured by a fellow NYPD officer who mistook him for a perpetrator. "Over the years they stopped training as much as they used to, so the problem came back," James Fyfe, a former police officer who helped devise the department's guidelines, said after the Robinson shooting. The well-known criminologist died in 2005. Ironically, Commissioner Chong served in the same bureau with Peter Del-Debbio, the officer who shot Robinson; he was later dismissed from the force. And Westchester Commissioner Belfiore ran the NYPD police academy in the years immediately following the Robinson shooting. He would have helped implement some of the training reforms implemented afterward.

He will have another opportunity now. Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Monte Long will oversee a panel made of top law enforcement officials, representatives of minority police officer groups, academics, community and clergy members charged with reviewing use-of-force and confrontation training, both within the Westchester department and for incoming academy cadets.

"This is something we began working on,'' Belfiore said, "after some of the issues became somewhat apparent by the news reports and witness accounts that there may be some training inferences, or at least have some people take a look at the current training, so we can have this never happen again."

The writer is opinion editor of The Journal News and LoHud.com.

NATIONAL BLACK POLICE ASSOCIATION ON HIP HOP INTERNET RADIO SHOW

2008-03-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

Damon K. Jones the Executive Director of the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association was interviewed on Heavy Rotation Magazine internet radio show hosted by AJ “AJ Rock” Woodson the official “Hip Hop Junkie” http://www.heavyrotationmag.podcastpeople.com/posts/20666

“Building relationships with the Communities We Serve”

GEORGIAS FIRST BLACK OFFICERS MAY GO TO COURT FOR PENSION RIGHTS

2008-03-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A "whites only" sign was still hanging on the precinct house water fountain in 1964 when James Booker joined the suburban College Park police force.

J.L. Booker, who served 32 years with the College Park Police Department, works part-time to make ends meet.

He soon learned it wasn't the only thing off limits to Georgia's new black recruits.
Until 1976, black officers were blocked from joining a state-supported supplemental police retirement fund.

Today, white officers who entered the fund before that year are taking home hundreds of dollars more every month in retirement benefits than their black counterparts.

The now-retired black officers have been lobbying hard to change that, but eight years after they began an effort to amend the state constitution and give them credit for those lost years is stalled in the Legislature.

The Georgia Constitution prohibits the state from extending new benefits to public employees after they have retired.

If lawmakers don't take action in the final weeks of the legislative session, the battle will move to the courthouse this spring, said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, an Atlanta Democrat and civil rights activist leading the officers' campaign.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to go this route, but litigation appears to be our only option," Brooks said.

Ronald Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police Association, said he knows of no other state with a similar pension situation. "Only Georgia is shameless enough to still have this out there," Hampton said.

The Georgia House has twice passed an amendment resolution but it has gone nowhere in the state Senate. An amendment requires a vote of two-thirds of each chamber as well as approval by voters.

"We can't fix everything for everybody," said state Sen. Bill Heath, chairman of the Senate Retirement Committee.

Heath, a Republican, argued that making retroactive changes to retirement benefits "opens up a can of worms and could destroy the pension system."

The House Retirement Committee chairman, state Rep. Ben Bridges -- a retired state trooper -- has no such misgivings.

Georgia's first black officers, hired in the late 1940s, entered a segregated system rife with daily humiliations. They couldn't arrest white offenders without a white officer present. They couldn't change into uniforms at the station house -- or wear their uniforms to work -- forcing many to switch clothes in the locker room at the local black YMCA.

Some white officers ordered to partner with a black officer called in sick until they were reassigned.

"It was pure hell," said former Atlanta Patrolman Johnnie P. Jones, the only surviving member of the original class of eight black officers hired in Atlanta in 1948. "The enemy was the white police officers and the enemy was the black citizens. We were under siege."

The numbers of black officers slowly rose in the 1950s and 1960s as the civil rights struggle raged through the South. Although the federal Civil Rights Act signed in 1964 outlawed employment discrimination, change in the ranks was slow.

Officials don't dispute that participants in the police retirement plan before 1976 were almost exclusively white.
"That appears true but we weren't keeping those kinds of records," said Robert Carter, current secretary-treasurer of the Peace Officers Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia.
The fund supplements officers' municipal or county pensions. Officers make small monthly contributions and the state adds money collected from tickets and fines.
Booker, who worked in the College Park police force for more than three decades before he retired, said he would be pulling in an extra $770 more a month if he had been allowed to join the fund at the beginning of his career.

Instead, at the age of 76 he is still working part-time directing traffic to make ends meet.

Legislators did enact a partial remedy in 2006, passing a bill allowing current officers who were employed before 1976 to buy into the fund for those earlier years. Only four did, Carter said. And that law didn't address the estimated 100 to 200 black officers who had already retired.
Brooks, a veteran of the two-decade crusade to remove the Confederate battle symbol from the Georgia flag, said this legislative battle is testing even his patience. "I am not hopeful," he said.
And time is running out, as some retirees have died and others are ailing.
"You wonder sometimes are they just waiting for us to all die," Booker asked.

NATIONAL BLACK POLICE ASSOCIATION VOWS FOR CHANGE IN RIDLEYS DEATH

2008-03-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

MOUNT VERNON - As he struggled to break up an assault Jan. 25 in downtown White Plains, Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley might have let one thing slip his mind: the color of his skin.

Ridley, 23, was off duty and in civilian clothes when he was killed that day by Westchester County police while trying to arrest homeless convict Anthony Jacobs.

At a gathering last night of the Westchester chapter of the National Black Police Association, retired New York City officer Charles Billups said that Ridley probably never thought he would be mistaken for a suspect.

"The saddest thing about this shooting is that I think the brother forgot that he was black," Billups said.

Billups said he attended the funeral of Ridley, who was posthumously promoted to detective, and thought of how many other black officers were shot because they were misidentified.
"We need to do something," Billups said.

Damon K. Jones, executive director of the Westchester chapter of the NBPA and a county corrections officer, said several things need to be done.

First, Westchester County must never forget the tragedy of Ridley's death and learn from it, he said. Law enforcement must work to improve its relationship with the community, and black officers can take the lead, Jones said.

"The black law-enforcement profession can be one of the most powerful tools," he said.
But, first, he said, the makeup of Westchester police rosters must change to reflect the communities they serve.

Jones noted that roughly 18 percent of the approximately 200,000 people living in Yonkers are black, yet the Yonkers Police Department is only 4 percent black.

The Mount Vernon Police Department has one of the highest percentages of black officers - roughly one in four of the department's 211 officers - but the city is 62 percent black.

"Proper representation of black law-enforcement professionals is a key," Jones said.
Ridley's father, Stanley Ridley, attended the meeting and graciously, though sadly, accepted a plaque honoring his son's sacrifice.

He said he gave his son to the community, adding that his son was working to turn the community around.

"He thought he was a cop all the time. We should never have to go through this again," Stanley Ridley said.

State Sen. Eric Adams, D-Brooklyn, a retired New York City officer, told Ridley that his son did not die in vain.

"We will turn pain into purpose," Adams said. "Chris will be the rallying cry that forces law enforcement to look at itself."

Reach Terence Corcoran at tcorcora@lohud.com or 914-666-6138.

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

2008-02-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-25T07:36:00.001-08:00

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

2008-02-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-12T05:49:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-05T15:17:00.000-08:00

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

BIG BROTHER IS ALIVE AND WELL

2008-01-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

New York State started a pilot program upstate north of Albany on the Northway to catch speeders using the Easy Pass system. Recording devices were installed at intervals along the highway. Once an Easy Pass equipped vehicle passes, the device registers the account number and the time. Same is again registered at the next "check-point". Based upon the distance between the register points and the posted speed limit, the state is sending speeding tickets in the mail to the guilty persons.

Because every driver does not have Easy Pass, the State is "perplexed" as what to do to impose the system state-wide. The solution has been found. Soon all new vehicle registration stickers will have a metal strip or chip imbedded in same. This will take the place of the Easy Pass system as stated above. When a vehicle passes the registering device, the strip will relay all the information.

This is not fictional. New York State contracted with VERIZON to install the system. The system has already been installed and the entire Bronx River Parkway in Westchester County has been "wired" for when the new system begins. Once the State makes the new program public and advises all motorists of the potential for numerous speeding tickets, it will also reveal that the system has already been installed.

Another reason that will be given for the new system is to enable the authorities to track stolen vehicles, to trace kidnap victims, to monitor and trace suspected criminals and terrorists, etc.

BIG BROTHER IS ALIVE AND WELL.

Pass this along to every one you know.

Paul W. Meyer, Jr.
Attorney & Counselor at Law
(914) 961-3000
(914) 961-4993 Fax
paul@meyerjrlaw.com
"Never allow someone to be your Priority while allowing yourself to be their Option."

HUNDREDS RALLY FOR JOHN WHITE IN LONG ISLAND NY

2008-01-19T04:10:00.000-08:00

RIVERHEAD, Long Island, N.Y. (FinalCall.com) - Chanting “Free John White!” “Free John White!” hundreds of demonstrators, Black, White and Latino, answered a call from the Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network to show up in front of the Suffolk County courthouse to protest the guilty verdict against John White, 54, of Miller Place, Long Island.

Mr. White faces a maximum of 15 years in jail after being convicted of manslaughter in the second-degree. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 21. The father and husband was convicted on Dec. 22 in the “accidental” shooting death of Daniel Cicciaro. He remains free on $100,000 bail; and his defense team is preparing an appeal.

“We come today as one community, because if they are allowed to invade and violate the property of one of us, then they will be allowed to invade and trespass on the property belonging to any of us,” Rev. Sharpton told the Jan. 5 gathering.

Mr. White, a construction foreman, has maintained that the shooting was unintentional, saying the 17-year-old lunged for the handgun, and it went off.

During the three-week trial, Mr. White’s lawyers maintained he felt threatened by five White teens who invaded his property after 11 p.m. on a week night, threatening to harm his son, Aaron, and rape his wife, Sonia. The lawyers told the jury that the drunken youths were reminiscent of southern lynch mobs.

Rev. Sharpton noted that police only focused on the shooting, ignoring the culpability of the “drunken White teens,” who according to testimony used racial epithets. “What amazes me,” said the longtime activist, “is how you start an investigation halfway after the events of the evening was over.” Suffolk County law enforcement officials did not start their investigation at the moment the teens “decided to trespass and menace the White family,” he said.

You can’t start half way and come back with full justice, Rev. Sharpton stressed.
“At that point they committed a crime. A crime they have not been prosecuted for, or held accountable for, if they can do that to him, they can do that to any family or home owner in this county—Black, White, Asian and Latino,” Rev. Sharpton said.

“Everybody that lives in this county needs to understand that as long as these young men have not been prosecuted—there will be a legal precedent in this county—people have the right to come to your home to block your driveway, ring your bell, threaten your life and expect nothing to happen, because they can cite the John White case,” he warned, bringing an energetic response from the crowd.

“I have come to join the leadership here to demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of the mob that went to John White’s house,” Rev. Sharpton added.

“There is an injustice in Long Island,” Kevin Muhammad, student minister from Muhammad Mosque No. 7 in Harlem told the crowd, while holding up a copy of The Final Call newspaper. Then turning to look at Mr. White, who was standing nearby, Mr. Muhammad said, “He does not deserve to spend years in prison, so let’s be supportive of him not just today, but tomorrow and the next day.”

Mr. Muhammad stood with the White family throughout the trial.
John White, reading from a prepared statement, thanked the crowd for its support.

“I know God will walk me through the fire,” he said. “The past months have been very difficult for my family and me,” Mr. White said. “But I have never wavered in my commitment to obtain fair treatment,” he noted.

“We came to these hallowed halls looking for justice, and what we found was just-us,” defense attorney Fred Brewington told the crowd. “I came before this system and said be just to John White,” Mr. Brewington said. They had a trial, but it was not a trial by an impartial jury of Mr. White’s peers, he said.

“This John White case is the most egregious example of racism. They are telling us, you can’t defend your own home, and you can’t defend your own family against racist thugs,” Heather Cotton, of Freeport, Long Island, told The Final Call. Ms. Cotton, who is White, is an activist with the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition

“I am glad to see a significant number of White people out here today,” she said. “There has always been racism out here against Blacks, I know because I grew up out here,” Ms. Cotton said.

“I had to be out here support this brother and his family; and make sure that justice is done,” said Dorothy Gist, an elderly woman from Elmont, Long Island. The man was just trying to protect his home, she said.

A 24-year-old Black man from Nassau County, said a lot of young people understand what’s going on. “There’s a lot of people from my generation here today,” he said. “We know racism exists, and it’s time for a change.”

Lashana, a young Black woman, braved the cold, with her four year-old son on her shoulder and the one-year-old in a stroller. She lives some 15 minutes from the courthouse. “I had to be here to be a part of this. If this could happen now, what’s going to happen to my son’s when they grow up?” she asked. “It’s important to be here to support John White.”

finalcall.com

WHOS PLAYING THE RACE CARD?

2008-01-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and her husband have come under fire in recent weeks because of remarks that some blacks have found offensive.
The idea that the Clintons are racists is a tough sell, but there's no question the dialogue has hurt them with black voters in South Carolina, where Democratic voters will cast their primary ballots Jan. 26.

The latest ABC News poll found that black voters who once supported Clinton, 52 percent to 39 percent, are now backing Obama, 60 percent to 32 percent.

Now campaigning in South Carolina, Clinton spent the weekend doing damage control and trying to regain ground after a 40-point swing in the last 30 days.

"I'm so proud of Sen. Barack Obama," she said at a black church in Columbus, Sunday.
Just hours earlier on "Meet the Press," she spent nearly an hour defending herself and her record of support for blacks.

"The Obama campaign is deliberately distorting this," Clinton told the show's host, Tim Russert, trying to explain why she has come under fire.

Also on Sunday Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, came out in support of Clinton's record, but some say his comments only added fuel to the blaze.

"I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that I won't say what he was doing but he said it in his book," Johnson said.

That was interpreted by some as a reference to Obama's admitted past drug use. Johnson insisted that it was not, saying he actually had in mind the time Obama spent as a

On the Tom Joyner syndicated radio show today, Bill Clinton continued to defend his wife's record on race.

"The only racist comment made in this campaign is when the Obama campaign called Hillary the 'senator from Punjab,'" the former president said. He also called the idea that Hillary is racist "a stretch," reminding listeners that right out of college Hillary's first job was knocking on doors in poor neighborhoods as part of an effort to stem the rise in college drop-out rates among blacks.
Playing the Race Card?

The race controversy she's now facing started in New Hampshire, when some felt that her remarks about Dr. Martin Luther King suggested it took a white politician to realize a black man's dream.

"Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964," Clinton said in New Hampshire. Some blacks were offended by that, but Clinton maintains it's Obama's fault, implying his campaign has been playing the race card.

"This is, you know, an unfortunate story line that the Obama campaign has pushed very successfully," she said on "Meet the Press."
Related Stories

Meanwhile Obama has been denying the accusation while campaigning this weekend.
"For them somehow to suggest we're injecting race as a consequence of a statement she made that we haven't commented on is pretty hard to figure out," he said in Nevada, Sunday.

The Clinton campaign is also trying to control the damage from former President Clinton's swipe at Obama at Dartmouth.

"Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen," he told a group at Dartmouth, Jan. 7.

On half-a-dozen black radio shows, Clinton has argued that he was talking about Obama's record opposing the Iraq War, not Obama's candidacy as a whole.

"I never said that he, his life or his campaign is a fairy tale. It is a serious campaign. And it might be a successful one," he said on Sirius Satellite Radio.

The campaign may have moved on to a new state, but the debate hasn't caught up. It's almost a new corollary to the Las Vegas slogan: "What happens in New Hampshire, doesn't stay in New Hampshire."

ABC.com

TORWARD A BLACK AND BROWN POLITICAL COALITION

2008-01-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

As we find ourselves in the throes of the current political agendas, it is of the utmost importance that the Black and Brown communities recognize that a political coalition is in the best interest of the two groups. Black Americans who adhere to a nationalistic doctrine simply echo the racist bigotry of White Supremacy.

Under the guise of nationalism, White Supremacy continues to employ a divide and conquer strategy designed to maintain dominance over Blacks, Browns, Reds and all other non-Whites. The outrage over granting so-called “illegal” people’s drivers licenses masks a fear that voting rights will be granted next. Blacks should not allow ourselves to be manipulated into joining the inhumane call to deport millions of so-called illegal Mexican immigrants. To do so is a mistake. America has yet to grant its Black population one of the nation’s most important civil and human rights, a permanent right to vote. Black people can ill afford to perpetrate a myth that Mexican immigrants are robbing us of our jobs, costing us tax dollars or infiltrating our healthcare and educational institutions. Nor can we allow our relationship with the Mexican people to be prejudiced by drug turf battles between Black and Mexican rival street gangs.

America’s Black and Mexican populations should be mindful that those in power have always feared unity between them. Such an alliance would create a block of 25 percent of America’s population and empowering the peoples of the Americas and amplifying their voices at the negotiating tables. As a result, the government has conspired to infiltrate the two groups with agent provocateurs whose mission is to create conflict and tension between the groups.

Most Blacks are totally unaware of their racial and cultural relationship to Mexicans, such as significant numbers of Blacks in the population of Mexico and a common African ancestry and major African contributions to the culture of Mexico. Too many Blacks are prone to be influenced by the call for unbridled “nationalism” rather than the racial and cultural identity ties of Blacks and Mexicans as oppressed peoples. It is a brand of nationalism that fosters a belief that nations benefit from acting independently rather than collectively. Under this form of nationalism the goals of the elite exploiters supersede humane international goals. It is a doctrine that perpetrates foreign domination when it is perceived to be in the best interest of the elitists. Historically, when unbridled nationalism is coupled with exploitive capitalism it leads to the genocide of oppressed people and their cultures.

Like the Native American people, the people of Mexico played a significant role in providing sanctuary for runaway African slaves. The term Afro-Mexican designates Mexican citizens who are Black or of African descent and are assimilated into Mexico’s total population. The Mexican government does not include race in its census count, preferring to classify the population based on culture rather than race. Historically, Africa has made a significant contribution to Mexico’s culture. The faith, language and culture of Mexico is an infusion of West African influence. Yes, racial problems exist in Mexico. However, despite that fact, we have too much in common and a great deal to gain through our joint political efforts.

My latest book, “God Save America: The Ultimate Conspiracy,” outlines the conspirators’ economic framework for a movement toward a nationalistic “one world” globalization in fulfillment of the notion of the European’s Manifest Destiny and the belief that White Supremacy has a divinely inspired mission to expand. This agenda is being accomplished under the pretext of spreading so-called “democracy” and alleged “freedom.” This belief is reflected in America’s international policies including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), as a broader expression of a belief in White Supremacy’s “mission,“ the economic expansion of capitalism, and White Supremacy.

Elitist power-brokers created the myth of White Supremacy to divide powerless Whites, who are the descendants of slaves (indentured servants) and Blacks, who are the descendants of slaves. That same conspiracy is being played out today under the guise of “nationalism.” Without a doubt, Black people have a great deal in common with the peoples of Mexico. In truth, both Blacks and Mexicans share a legacy of European oppression that has resulted in severe psychosocial impairments causing us to choose nationalism over race. Nationalism is a historical ploy designed to incorporate oppressed people to leverage the ranks of White Supremacy.
The genotype for all civilized people is borne out of the loins of Africa. If we are truly a common African race, then the essence of our being is a core culture that celebrates principle and values that enhance godliness in the form of cooperative human existence. We should not continue to pledge allegiance to differences that have been forcibly imposed by restrictive borders, borders that function in the interest of those who have subjugated us to their will and not the will of God.

(Harry R. Davidson, Ph.D. is the co-chair of the Association of Black Psychologist’s Legislative Education Committee.)

BLACK FIRE FIGHTERS ALLEGES HARASMENT AFTER STUFFED MONKEY FOUND HANGING

2007-12-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

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

A YEAR LATER, FAMILY, ACTIVIST SEEK JUSTICE FOR SEAN BELL

2007-12-18T06:01:00.000-08:00

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

BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT SPEAK OUT AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY, POLICE MISCONDUCT, AND RACISM ON WESTCHESTER N.Y. RADIO SHOW

2007-12-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

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.”

BLACKWATCH

RACE AS A TRIGGER ... "SHOOT OR DONT SHOOT"

2007-12-13T00:52:00.000-08:00

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

"BAD COP IN THE HOOD"

2007-12-12T15:44:00.000-08:00

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

POLICE VIOLENCE ESCALATES IN NEW YORK

2007-12-09T05:21:00.000-08:00

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

THE REAL STORY OF THANKSGIVING

2007-11-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

Most of us associate the holiday with happy Pilgrims and Indians sitting down to a big feast. And that did happen - once.

The story began in 1614 when a band of English explorers sailed home to England with a ship full of Patuxet Indians bound for slavery. They left behind smallpox which virtually wiped out those who had escaped. By the time the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts Bay they found only one living Patuxet Indian, a man named Squanto who had survived slavery in England and knew their language. He taught them to grow corn and to fish, and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation. At the end of their first year, the Pilgrims held a great feast honoring Squanto and the Wampanoags.

But as word spread in England about the paradise to be found in the new world, religious zealots called Puritans began arriving by the boat load. Finding no fences around the land, they considered it to be in the public domain. Joined by other British settlers, they seized land, capturing strong young Natives for slaves and killing the rest. But the Pequot Nation had not agreed to the peace treaty Squanto had negotiated and they fought back. The Pequot War was one of the bloodiest Indian wars ever fought.

In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.

Cheered by their "victory", the brave colonists and their Indian allies attacked village after village. Women and children over 14 were sold into slavery while the rest were murdered. Boats loaded with a many as 500 slaves regularly left the ports of New England. Bounties were paid for Indian scalps to encourage as many deaths as possible.

Following an especially successful raid against the Pequot in what is now Stamford, Connecticut, the churches announced a second day of "thanksgiving" to celebrate victory over the heathen savages. During the feasting, the hacked off heads of Natives were kicked through the streets like soccer balls. Even the friendly Wampanoag did not escape the madness. Their chief was beheaded, and his head impaled on a pole in Plymouth, Massachusetts -- where it remained on display for 24 years.

The killings became more and more frenzied, with days of thanksgiving feasts being held after each successful massacre. George Washington finally suggested that only one day of Thanksgiving per year be set aside instead of celebrating each and every massacre. Later Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving Day to be a legal national holiday during the Civil War -- on the same day he ordered troops to march against the starving Sioux in Minnesota.

This story doesn't have quite the same fuzzy feelings associated with it as the one where the Indians and Pilgrims are all sitting down together at the big feast. But we need to learn our true history so it won't ever be repeated. Next Thanksgiving, when you gather with your loved ones to Thank God for all your blessings, think about those people who only wanted to live their lives and raise their families. They, also took time out to say "thank you" to Creator for all their blessings.

Our Thanks to Hill & Holler Column by Susan Bates susanbates@webtv.net

NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK CHAPTER PRESIDENT WILLIAM RICHARDSON, III, CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO DEATH OF MAN SHOT BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF

2007-11-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, November 21, 2007 (Gifford, Florida)---William Richardson, III, President of Rev. Al Sharpton’s Port St. Lucie Chapter of National Action Network, and Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, has called for a rapid investigation into the shooting last Friday November 16th of an unarmed 44-year-old black man who was killed by an Indian River County Sheriff Deputy. Similar to the New York case of Khiel Coppin that is eliciting outrage from community leaders and activists around the country, and for whom Rev. Sharpton delivered a eulogy yesterday after the young man was shot at 20-times while holding a hairbrush, the man in Gifford likewise suffered from clinical depression and a mental disability, calling into question what procedures are for dealing with people who have disabilities.

Bryson Green, affectionately known as “Hip,” was killed by an Indian River County Sheriff Deputy with a questionable record, and according to Reverend Richardson, III, “There are gross contradictions between the sheriff department’s report and the story of eye witnesses.” The sheriffs department has said that Green was brandishing a pocket knife and that the sheriff was threatened and therefore tasered Mr. Green. The Sheriff Department said that when this did not stop Mr. Green, the deputy shot him in the stomach. Allegedly, the Sheriff department wanted to transport Mr. Green to a mental health facility but he did not want to go with these particular deputies and stated that he did not trust them. The deputies, according to Mr. Green’s mother and sister, stated that there was nothing they could do if he did not want to go with them. Since he was not a threat to anyone, the deputies left and the family went to another relative’s home nearby. While the family was away, a friend came by and sat in the truck with Mr. Green in front of his mother’s house on his mother’s property. When they had finished talking, Mr. Green got out of the truck to head back to his mother’s house at the same time that the sheriff deputies returned to the house (for what reason we don’t know), and entered into Greens mother’s property and told the friend to leave. Eye witnesses (a friend and neighbor) stated that the deputy holding the shot gun was approximately 20 to 30 yards away. Eye witnesses state that Mr. Green had his hands in the air repeatedly yelling “don’t shoot, I don’t have a gun.” This is when shots were heard. Eye witnesses say the deputy, then approached Green, who was on the ground, kicked him and asked him where the weapon was and tasered him after he was already shot and incapacitated. Mr. Green was a harmless and unthreatening figure. It is important to note that the deputy, who shot Green, was fired for DUI and later rehired. It is in question whether he was on duty at the time.

****************************************************

Another Black man shot. Have we turned back the clock to the 40s ad 50s where a black mans life is worth nothing? Why do we continue to hear about unarmed young black men being shot 20 to 50 times by police? As law enforcement professionals we must look into the institutional perception and policies of policing when it come to people of color or we will loose an entire generation of black men to police brutality, police misconduct ,and racist intuitional polices that allow them to call this "JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE"

BLACKWATCH

D.A.R.E. HONORS AN OFFICER AND AN EDUCATOR

2007-11-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

Officer George Stephens did not like the energy he was getting from the seventh grade students in his Drug Abuse Resistance Education class at Briggs Chaney Middle School in Burtonsville. So the Montgomery County Police veteran stopped his lesson for a dance break.

Suddenly, two dozen students rose from their chairs and slowly started dancing behind their desks. Everyone was soon happily moving and singing a call-and-answer song about D.A.R.E., Stephens included.

Once the song ended, the students returned to their seats and the lesson continued as if nothing happened.

‘‘You have to keep them going," Stephens said later. ‘‘Teach, then have fun. Teach, then have fun."

Stephens has been doing both for 12 years with the D.A.R.E. program, teaching thousands of students at 30 county schools. His work was recognized this summer in Nashville, when he was awarded the D.A.R.E. America Lifetime Achievement Award.

The normally talkative Stephens, 42, of Burtonsville, was at a loss for words discussing the honor. ‘‘To be recognized for something you love to do and be recognized by D.A.R.E. ... It was unbelievable," he said.

On the way to class recently, however, it was Stephens doing the recognizing in the hallways. ‘‘You better stop running or I’m gonna call your mama," he called out to one student.

Stephens greeted and playfully teased many, complimenting one student on his new glasses and telling others to keep moving to their next class.

The constant movement and energy carried over to the classroom, where Stephens’ lesson dealt with the effects of drugs on the brain. His discipline comes across casually (‘‘Please stop talking, because I’m the police and I can see and hear everything") as to not interrupt his lesson.

Many of Stephens’ teaching methods were subtle but purposeful. Instead of calling on students raising their hands to answer questions, he tossed a ball for them to catch. Not only does that keep students involved, he pointed out, but it empowers them as the focus of the entire class.

Stephens also made clear there was nothing wrong with being wrong. ‘‘That’s the best learning opportunity," he said to a group of students afraid to guess an incorrect answer. ‘‘Do your best, that’s all I want."

Stephens became a county police officer 17 years ago after a stint with the FBI. One day he saw a notice for D.A.R.E. training and decided he wanted to teach.

For six years, Stephens was one of the county’s full-time D.A.R.E. officers until that department was disbanded. Currently, Stephens works in the police recruitment department and teaches D.A.R.E. part-time at Briggs Chaney and Galway Elementary School, as a well as a parent version of the program in the Northeast Consortium. Stephens also trains prospective D.A.R.E. officers both locally and around the world.

But home for Stephens is with his students, and not only in the classroom. He attends sporting events, recitals and other after-school activities and has even chaperoned field trips, often on his own time.

That is what makes Stephens effective, said Kimberly Johnson, Briggs Chaney’s principal. ‘‘There’s an honesty that comes along with George that students appreciate and respect," she said. ‘‘He gives students another image of what police are there for."

Before last week’s class ended, Stephens took questions ranging from how police know if something was bought with drug money (‘‘We have ways") to the veracity of a scene from the movie ‘‘Friday" (not true).

The D.A.R.E. lessons have evolved since Stephens began from ‘‘say ‘no’ to drugs" to focusing more on decision-making and group learning, which Stephens thinks is an improvement.

‘‘[Students are] very savvy and very educated," he said. ‘‘We can’t teach them like they don’t know anything."

Not surprisingly, Stephens’ favorite part of teaching is interacting with students. His greatest joy, though, usually comes from former students. Like the ones who wear their D.A.R.E. T-shirts the year after his class. Or the three Bowie State University students who gave him hugs during a recent recruitment visit to the campus and proudly told him they were still drug-free.

That he can have an impact on students’ lives well after class ends drives Stephens to reach out to as many students as possible.

‘‘It’s the intangible reward," he said. ‘‘You never know who you are going to touch."

by Danny Jacobs Staff Writer Gazette.net

VIGILANTE NYPD OR ROGUE POLICE OFFICERS

2007-11-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

Chanting ''enough is enough,'' ''community activists and members of the Black clergy held a rally in front of the office of Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan on Nov. 2, to protest against racial injustice.Attended by more than 60 people, the rally was Edward Josey, head of S.I. Chapter of the NAACP, the S.I. African American Political Assoc. (SIAAPA), S.I. Committee Against Bigotry, People on the Move, and several area churches.

It also sought to highlight what organizers termed the disparity in which the DA applies the law.

During the planning meeting, activists said they were angered by Donovan's failure to apply hate crime charges against two white men who have been accused of beating a 20-year old Black male.

Organizers were also outraged over the DA's failure to put bail conditions on either of the two men, who each have only been formally charged with second degree assault.

In the days leading up to the demonstration, two more racial incidents were reported in the area, each of them involving white police as the central characters.

The incident, which seems to appall activists most took place on Halloween night. That's when high school freshmen Rayshawn Moreno was accosted by police over allegedlly throwing eggs at moving vehicles.

''Rayshawn was taken to a secluded wooded area, stripped of his clothes, beaten and left by the officers,'' James ''Whammy'' Hazel said of his son.

''What kind of person does this to a child?'' Telisa Hazel asked in defense of her 14-year-old son.''They were going to teach him a lesson?''

According to local Staten Island news reports, the officers have indicated that was indeed their intention, adding that when they returned to the area to pick him up he wasn't where they left him.

James Hazel also shot down a Staten Island Advance report that Moreno took off his own clothes ''because he wanted to blend in with the woods.'' Hazel said not only did officers take his son's clothes, they used racial epithets while threatening him.

''It's nothing more than a kidnapping. It's outrageous. It smacks of something from the Deep South in the '40s and '50s, not modern-day New York,'' observed the family's attorney, Jason Rosenthal.

The officers have been Identified as Thomas Elliassen and Michael Danese, both of the 120th Precinct. Each has been charged with unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a minor, both misdemeanors carrying up to a year in jail. Both men joined the force in 2004.

''We have to stay the course and remained focus, because there are forces attacking us from all sides,'' long-time community activist Dow Kevin Buford told the AmNews.

The NAACP is making a ''call to action,'' Josey told the crowd. ''We are asking people to pressure their elected officials to pass effective legislation banning racially motivated crimes,'' he said.

''This is a wake-up call for Staten Island,'' shouted the Rev. Demetrius Carolina, pastor of the First Central Baptist Church.

Rev. Carolina called for sweeping reforms in the judicial system to make sure justice is meted out fairly across the board.

''I'm seeking justice,'' claimed cab driver Stephen Springle, of Queens, who said Staten Island police officers, beat, kicked and sprayed mace in his face, as he sat in his cab on Oct. 28.

''We are here today to sound the alarm,'' Josey said.''Enough is enough.''

Added retired police detective Marq Claxton, these police officers should have been charged with nothing less than kidnapping.''

In recent days, Rosenthal said he happened across Eliassen's MYSpace.com page in which the officer describes himlself as a ''gansta'' and poses with a woman on each arm.Ablaring headline reportedly reads: ''Let's Do Lines Off A Strippers A-A--!''Rosenthal termed both officer's actions as ''outrageous'' and a disgrace to the badge.''

by SAEED SHABAZZSpecial to the AmNewsOriginally posted 11/9/2007

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN WEALTH AND HEALTH

2007-11-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

In a country where 13 million children live in poverty and nine million children are uninsured, most of them in working families, money determines a lot about the circumstances that affect children’s health. Health should not depend on wealth, but far too often it does.

For a child, wealth might determine whether your parents can afford to pick up the phone and take you to the doctor every time you are sick, or whether they may end up putting off care so long that a routine illness lands you in the emergency room. Even if your family has some health coverage, wealth might determine if you can go to the dentist when you have a toothache, get glasses when you cannot see the blackboard, or talk to a mental health professional when your family is facing a crisis or whether those things are just "frills."

Wealth might determine whether you live in a home with clean air, or a home where you are exposed to peeling lead paint, insects, rodent droppings, dust and mold that aggravate your asthma; and whether you spend eight hours every school day in an old, rundown building that has the same problems. It might also determine whether your family can afford fresh fruits and vegetables, or rely mainly on less expensive, less healthy packaged and fast food.

Wealth might determine whether your family lives in a neighborhood with green playgrounds and parks, or whether you live next to a treatment plant or power lines, in a neighborhood with no place to run and play. Wealth might also determine whether you live in a neighborhood where you are not allowed to play outside at all, and where you are more likely to be a victim of gun violence.

In the wealthiest nation on earth, the fact that we still cannot promise a healthy start to all children is shameful. I first learned lessons about race and health as a little girl growing up in the segregated Bennettsville, S.C. I remember when little Johnny Harrington, who lived three houses down from my church parsonage, stepped on and died from a nail because his grandmother did not have a doctor to advise her or any money to pay for health care.

I also remember the migrant family who collided with a truck on the highway near my home, and the ambulance driver who refused to take them to the hospital because they were Black. And I remember when my classmate Henry Munnerlyn broke his neck when he jumped off the bridge into the town creek because only White children were allowed in the town swimming pool. I later heard that the creek where Blacks swam and fished was the hospital sewage outlet.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. Forty years later, Black children are almost twice as likely and Latino children are almost three times as likely as White children to be uninsured. It is unacceptable that access to health care and safe, clean places to live and play are still separate and unequal for so many Americans. Hurricane Katrina ripped the blinders off many different kinds of contemporary American injustice, including health care. When people are able to survive a massive hurricane, but may not survive an asthma or panic attack in its wake because they do not have access to health and mental health care, it is a problem.

Some people may think this does not affect their family. But when the average health insurance premium for a family of four costs $11,000 a year, and when half of all bankruptcies in this country are related to healthcare costs, that is not necessarily true. Some people may think our nation just cannot afford to cover its nine million uninsured children. But the recent round of $1.9 trillion in tax cuts, when fully in effect, will give the richest one percent of all taxpayers $57 billion each year. That is more than twice as much as would be needed to provide health coverage to all nine million uninsured children for a whole year.

We also spend almost $6 billion every month on the war in Iraq. Less than four months of this spending would also pay for health coverage for every uninsured child in this country.

The fact that our nation does not yet guarantee all its children a healthy start is a problem for all of us. But it is a problem that we, as a nation, can afford to fix.

(Marian Wright Edelman is president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund.) finalcall.com

MOTHERS 911 CALL ENDS IN MENTALLY DISTURBED SONS DEATH

2007-11-13T17:40:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (Nov. 13) -- A young man was fatally shot last night in a hail of more than a dozen bullets fired by five police officers who responded to his mother’s 911 call for help in a domestic dispute in Brooklyn, the authorities said.

According to the police, another witness described Mr. Coppin as concealing the hairbrush under his shirt, pointing it outward.A restless crowd quickly gathered and grew to as many as 150, as some neighbors shouted protests against police brutality. "You need training — this is absurd!" one woman shouted out a window to the police. Another man pressed against a yellow crime-scene tape and said: "I’m not trying to start a riot. I’m just saying it’s not right."

The site and surrounding blocks were cordoned off as dozens of police officers, detectives and community affairs officers arrived to investigate the shooting and control the crowd. Community leaders at the scene included City Councilman Albert Vann.Witnesses and the police offered different details about how the shooting occurred.

Mr. Sanchez said that just before the shooting, he went outside and saw several officers there with guns drawn. Mr. Coppin approached the window, backed away, then returned and stood on the sill, Mr. Sanchez said. When an officer told him to get down, he jumped to the ground and started to go through a gate in the fence in front of the building, Mr. Sanchez said.An officer told Mr. Coppin to put up his hands, and when he did he dropped the hairbrush and the shooting began, although one officer called out to stop the gunfire, Mr. Sanchez said.Officers started chasing Mr. Sanchez and knocked him to the ground after, he said, he protested: "Why you got to shoot him like that, for nothing?"

A similar description of the shooting was given by Precious Blood, 16, who said she heard about 10 shots fired, most if not all by one officer. Another officer called out: "Stop, stop, stop shooting — he’s down," she said, but the shooter kept firing, "like he was playing with a toy."

The law enforcement official gave a different version of the encounter, saying that Mr. Coppin charged toward the officers and refused repeated orders to stop.

The police said they were also exploring the possibility that Mr. Coppin was trying to prompt a shooting, a phenomenon that a handful of studies in recent years have shown can account for a small fraction of police shootings in some American cities. One study by researchers at Harvard Medical School in 1998, for example, looked at all officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles County in a 10-year-period — about 430 shootings in all — and found that "suicide-by-cop" incidents accounted for 11 percent of the shootings over all and 13 percent of the fatal shootings.

Mr. Coppin’s mother was at the 79th Precinct station house last night and gave a statement to the police, they said.The five officers who fired all passed Breathalyzer tests, the law enforcement officials said.

By BRUCE LAMBERT and ANAHAD O’CONNOR,
The New York Times

THE IMPACT ON THE HIGH BLACK MALE PRISON POPULATION RATE

2007-11-12T19:31:00.000-08:00

Each year, when 650,000 ex-prisoners return to communities all across the United States, many suffer from deteriorating health conditions and must confront a hostile environment where their rehabilitation will be difficult to achieve.

What’s more, the families and communities they are rejoining may have changed significantly during their absence—creating a totally new dynamic for these ex-prisoners to overcome at a time when their circumstances already make them vulnerable.

When America embarked on its aggressive campaign to “get tough on crime” by swelling the nation’s prison ranks, it’s now clear that not enough emphasis was put on creating healthy prison environments or considering the impact that incarcerating so many people would have on the families and communities that they left behind.

Needless to say, with America’s criminal justice system primed to incarcerate Black men, in particular, the impact of the mandatory sentencing and strict drug laws is being felt heavily in Black communities from coast to coast. Of the 2.1 million people incarcerated in jails and prisons in 2005, 548,300 were Black males between the ages of 20 and 39. Put another way, 4.7 percent of all Black males in the United States were incarcerated, compared to 0.7 of the White males.

The original “war on crime” back into the late 1960s centered on providing social programs to address poverty, which was widely seen as an incubator for crime. Many programs were developed that emphasized rehabilitating offenders. Twenty years later, however, the new mandate to the criminal justice system was “do something about drugs,” and that translated into the biggest increase ever in the nation’s prison population. Instead of training people for jobs, government money was spent on building more prisons.

Arrests for drug violations skyrocketed from 661,000 in 1983 to 1,126,300 in 1993. From 1980 to 1993, the percentage of White inmates rose 163 percent, while the percentage of Black inmates increased by 217 percent. And by the end of 1993, half of all federal and state prisoners were Blacks.

Perhaps the biggest victims of this policy were children—the sons and daughters of the prisoners. By 1999, there were 721,500 parents in federal and state prisons, and they were parents to1.5 million children. The social impact of so many children with parents in prison is devastating, especially in low-income communities. It fosters an environment where children don’t have role models and may fall into the same bad habits of their parents. We also must consider the psychological impact. While the father is incarcerated, children and families not only lose the financial and emotional support of the missing parent, but must deal with the stigma of having a family member in prison.

Moreover, the community receives another jolt—when the prisoner comes home. Prisons have become a nest for many infectious and chronic diseases ranging from HIV/AIDS to hepatitis to tuberculosis. In fact, the rate of confirmed AIDS cases in prisons runs five times higher than the general population. Inmates are ineligible for Medicaid when they are incarcerated, so their healthcare services are limited. When Medicaid benefits, as well as other benefits, are lost upon incarceration, there is often a lengthy lag time for reinstatement when a prisoner is released.
Generally, there are no federal or state requirements to ensure that benefits are available upon release from prison, a situation that increases homelessness and blocks access to needed health care. Unfortunately, because of lapses in record keeping neither federal nor state agencies know how many former prisoners permanently lose benefits. The federal government requires the suspension of benefits while someone is in prison, but allows a flawed process to exist for restoring those benefits. Thus, when inmates return home, they are usually in poor health—mentally and physically. Their poor health is another burden for their families, many of which don’t have health insurance; meanwhile, their community has to deal with the spread of diseases.

Clearly, the negative results from increasing the prison population has taken away any benefit that political leaders sought by supposedly taking criminals off the streets.

If America sticks with this misguided policy, there has to be significant changes made to better ensure that real rehabilitation takes place in prisons, that inmates have access to quality healthcare and that more support is available to help inmates on their reentry into their families, as well as their communities. Let’s correct bad public policy.

We have seen the impact of what more prison walls have brought us; now it’s time to invest in the health and well-being of people.

(Dr. Henrie M. Treadwell, associate director of Development at the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine, is also director of Community Voices, a non-profit working to improve health services, and healthcare access, for all Americans.)

UNJUSTLY IMPRISONED BLACK MAN SET FREE AFTER TWO YEARS IN STATE PRISON

2007-11-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

FORSYTH, Ga. (AP) - During more than two years in state prison, Genarlow Wilson was confident that he would find justice and be set free.

On Oct. 26, the hopes of the young man who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with another teenager finally became reality: The state’s highest court ruled that his sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

“I’d seen it coming,” Mr. Wilson said of his release. “But I didn’t exactly know when.”
Mr. Wilson, with his hands in his pockets, wore dark blue dress pants as he left prison. His attorney, B.J. Bernstein, said she had carried them around in the trunk of her SUV for months hoping for his release.

Mr. Wilson said he first heard about the court’s decision from another inmate who said he’d heard it on the radio. But Mr. Wilson said he didn’t want to believe it until he heard the decision himself.

His case led to widespread protests of heavy handed justice. His supporters said race was one reason he received such a severe sentence, noting that he and the girl—both black—were only two years apart.

He said he also wants to help other teens, offering this initial advice: “They should be very hesitant before they join certain crowds and make certain decisions.”

In its 4-3 decision, the Georgia Supreme Court noted that state lawmakers later scrapped the law that required a minimum 10-year prison term.

That change, the court said, represented “a seismic shift in the legislature’s view of the gravity of oral sex between two willing teenage participants.”

The justices also said Mr. Wilson’s sentence made “no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment,” and his crime did not rise to the “level of adults who prey on children.”
After he was imprisoned, Mr. Wilson became the subject of prominent editorials and national news broadcasts. His sentence was denounced even by members of the jury that convicted him and the author of the 1995 law that put him in prison.

Supporters including former President Jimmy Carter said the case raised troubling questions about race and the justice system. Mr. Wilson and the girl are both black.

Mr. Wilson was convicted of aggravated child molestation following a 2003 New Year’s Eve party in a hotel room where he was videotaped having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Mr. Wilson, who was 17 at the time, was acquitted of raping another 17-year-old girl at the party. The man who prosecuted Mr. Wilson, Douglas County District Attorney David McDade, said he disagreed with the decision, but he respects the court “as the final arbiter.”
Mr. Wilson’s supporters were jubilant.

“I never gave up hope in our judicial system, and I never gave up hope in all the prayers people sent out for us,” said Mr. Wilson’s mother.
Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat, said: “Each day that this young man spent in prison was a day too long.”

The 1995 law Mr. Wilson violated was changed in 2006 to make oral sex between teens close in age a misdemeanor, similar to the law regarding teen sexual intercourse. But the state Supreme Court later upheld a lower-court ruling that said the 2006 law could not be applied retroactively.

The high court had turned down Mr. Wilson’s appeal of his conviction and sentence, but the justices agreed to hear the state’s appeal of a judge’s decision to reduce Mr. Wilson’s sentence to 12 months and free him. That judge had called the 10-year sentence a “grave miscarriage of justice.”

Mr. Wilson said he plans to return to school and sports and possibly study sociology. For now, he was looking forward to spending time with relatives.

“I feel I’ve been away from them long enough,” he said. “At times, we’ve dealt with adversity. Now my family, we finally get to deal with happiness.”

Associated Press writers Dorie Turner in Atlanta and Ben Evans in Washington contributed to this story.

WESTCHESTER NBPA AND YONKERS NAACP TAKE A STANCE AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY AND MISCONDUCT

2007-11-07T12:20:00.000-08:00

On October 6, 2007 history was made in Westchester for the fight for justice for people of Yonkers. The Yonkers chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored Peopl( NAACP) and The Westchester Chapter of the National Police Association(NBPA) took a firm stance on Police Misconduct and Police Brutality.

"As the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), we applaud the federal investigation of the Yonkers Police Department. It is no secret to the law enforcement community in Westchester County, that the attitudes and actions of some of Yonkers Police Department professionals are appalling. Look at how they have treated the citizens that they protect and serve, especially the communities of color. We all can say that these are alleged complaints. The mayor and the police commissioner seem in complete denial about these alleged complaints. This is always the case when the victims are poor white, Black, and Hispanic citizens that lack the funds, knowledge and resources to fight City Hall", said Sterling Dixson Westchester NBPA President.

The Yonkers NAACP and the National Black Police Association are recommending:

More diversity on the YPD (currently approximately 35 African Americans are in the YPD, 38 Hispanics, no African-American Lieutenants, Captains, Deputy Chiefs in a department of approximately 650) to reflect the diversity of the City.

A newly created Independent Civilian Complaint Review Board or at least immediately, a police oversight committee within the City Council.

Police officers to reveal both their names and badge numbers while on duty

Cameras installed in patrol cars especially in the 3rd and 4th precincts

"The vast majority of Yonkers Police officers are professionals that put their lives on the line daily to protect the citizens of Yonkers. However, there are serious issues of abuse of authority and misconduct that need to be addressed. . The mere fact that the Justice Department has chosen to investigate serves notice that this indeed is a problem that we must face together and develop a process that will improve police professionalism," said Karen Edmonson President of the Yonkers NAACP

The police department has said that they have only 35 complaint and boasted that most of them came from people that had extensive police records.

"How many complaints are to many? I haven’t turned in complains in months because you cant rely on them to investigate. All the complaints I receive are forwarded to the Department of Justice." Said Edmonson

"It is the opinion of the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association, NE Region, that an "Independent Civil Complaint Review Board" (CCRB) is established as an effective mechanism to adjudicate the ongoing epidemic of Police Brutality within Westchester County." Said Westchester NBPA Second Vice President Ray Gonzalez

"Our criticism is not an attack on the YPD as a whole or the fine officers that serve and protect the Yonkers community. Instead we are demanding critical and fair accountability of the few police officers that cross the line and that the administration recognize and correct their failure to address this ongoing epidemic .As stated in previous press releases, it is no secret in the law enforcement community of Westchester that the attitudes and actions of some YPD professionals are appalling. These attitudes have been ignored for years. More often these negative attitudes are displayed in the underprivileged communities of color", said Westchester NBPA Executive Director Damon Jones

"Yonkers PD has 650 members and only 35 are Black and 40 are Hispanic (keeping in mind that the black population in Yonkers is 19%). At least half of the 35 are soon to retire. The last academy of police officers was completely white and the majority were children of white officers who are currently employed by the YPD. Where is community policing? Where are the young adults of color that wouldn’t want a job making good money and benefits? On the other hand, why would a young adult of color be a part of a system that they see on a day to day basis, abusing there authority and power over the powerless" Said Dixon

The situation in Yonkers is a sign of the rest of Westchester. Black police represent only 9% of the total police force of departments that have 100 or more full time employees. With over 15% of our young black males in Westchester caught in the criminal system (parole, probation, jail). It will be harder and harder to find black men to their place in the law enforcement ranks in Westchester.

"If we dont take a stance for our people the black cop will never be respected in the black communities like the white cop is respected in their own in Westchester. If we continue down this road. In the next 50 years there will be no black cop in Westchester ," said Jones

CORPORATE EXPLOITATIOIN OF PRISON CALLS

2007-11-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

Ever thought about that? Many of us have heard that recording telling us the call is coming from a jail, the cost of which is $1.50 or more for the first minute or so, and that we should say “Yes” to accept the charges. Why do local calls from jails cost so much?

I thought all calls were pretty much the same. Long distance calls from prisons are expensive enough, and we know the phone carriers are ripping us off for them, but local calls? Why the exorbitant charge? That’s a rhetorical question, Brothers and Sisters—I know you know the answer.

Like other greedy, unethical, money-grubbing, corporate thieves, the phone companies that charge those outrageous rates for jail phone calls are among the list of profiteers that are steadily taking advantage of this country’s prison industrial complex by exploiting prisoners and their families.

Why do some local calls cost more than other local calls? The answer: Because the phone companies say they do.

I don’t know, but I would imagine that one of the rationales used to justify the high cost is the number of men and women who would be on the phones if the costs were normal. But, couldn’t that be solved by prison officials regulating the number of calls and the time spent on the phone by each prisoner?

This is probably a trivial point to many of you, but my reason for writing about it is to illuminate the fact that Black folks are, in many cases, allowing ourselves to be used as wealth creators for others, even to the ridiculous extent of doing stupid stuff that will land us in jail or prison. Then when we get to jail, we want to call our friends and families, at usury phone rates, to help get us out or just to “stay in touch.” Of course, that does not excuse the greed of the phone companies, and the only thing we can do about it is what Nancy Reagan said, “Just say no” to accepting the charges; but you know that’s not going to happen. We are going to continue to go to jail, and we are going to continue to accept the charges for the millions of phone calls that go out from jails and prisons everyday. Thus, a trivial thing like a phone call becomes a billion dollar advantage.
A close look at the jails will reveal that Blacks occupy the cells at a disproportionate rate.

Black people are not building jails, supplying the needs of the jails, doing the maintenance in the jails, or selling hair grease, toilet paper, T-shirts, jumpsuits, flip-flops, books, or anything else to the jails.

A multi-billion dollar industry located in our hometowns, in many cases funded by our tax dollars, and we have no economic interest in that industry. All we do is fill the cells.

Phone companies that charge $1.50 for a local call are ripping us off, but filling their coffers with the easiest money they have ever made.

No increase in their cost of goods sold, no added cost for personnel, and no additional expense for advertising and marketing; they are just sitting there raking it in, hearing cha-ching every minute of the day. Who’s the sucker in that scenario? We have given new meaning to the term, “phone home.”

It’s all about economics. The prison-jail system, both supply and demand, has grown exponentially, because of the high profit from prison-building and prisoner warehousing. We already account for the profit margins of many consumer product companies—that we do not own, spending our $800 billion willy-nilly on whatever someone else makes.

Now we are providing a huge profit margin for the prison industrial complex as we do our daily Bataan Death March into court rooms to stand in front of corrupt prosecutors and judges and be accused by “testi-lying” cops, in many cases. And the first thing we want to do when they escort us to that cell is make a phone call that cost the person on the other end an arm and a leg.

That’s stupid, as I have said before, especially if you intentionally do a crime or neglect to pay your child support or fail to show up for a court appearance for an outstanding warrant or traffic ticket. That’s stupid! It is also evil and just plain wrong if you are doing the more serious crimes like robbing, raping, assaulting, or killing. At the end of it all there will be someone, who looks nothing like you, who will profit from your stupidity and your evil deeds, while you sit in a cell and waste your life away.

When you get out of jail you look for a job, mostly from someone who does not look like you, and get frustrated because you can’t get hired. Then after so many turn-downs you decide to do something else stupid and go right back into the same system. Can’t you see the pattern here?
It is sad that Black people, especially, would subject ourselves to such a no-win situation, but we do it everyday. Even sadder is the fact that our illogical actions have a negative and exacerbating effect on our friends and families. We end up paying on both ends of the system folks.

This article started with a simple phone call, but you can see the implications of our behavior when it comes to crime and punishment—and, I might add, wealth. In a system, things work together, in conjunction with one another; everything fits together, Brothers and Sisters.
As for the money-making prison system, let’s stay out of the cells and get into sales—legal sales. In the meantime, maybe we should look into using carrier pigeons to talk to one another.

By James ClingmanNNPA Columnist

AMERICA SHOULD BE PROUD OF DENZEL

2007-10-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio,Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the UnitedStates. There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses .

The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay for little or no charge. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time. While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked howmuch one of them would cost to build. He took his checkbook out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.

Thanks Denzel

THE QUESTION IS

Why does Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything and crazy lifestyles ???

Denzel Washington who is a true family man and now shows his Patriotism doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the Local newspaper in SanAntonio.

WE KNOW THE ANSWER ......... IF YOU REALLY THINK .... REALLY REALLY THINK...

YOU DO TOO

BLACKWATCH

WELCOME TO "JENA" NEW YORK

2007-10-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - Officials at Columbia University and the NYPD’s hate crimes unit say they are investigating the hanging of a noose on the office door of a Black female professor on Oct. 9.
The noose was found on the door of Teachers College professor Madonna Constantine who teaches a class on racial justice and has written several books on the topic, according to her online faculty biography.
The suspected hate crime comes less than two weeks after the appearance at Columbia University by Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the discovery afterwards of racist and Islamophobic graffiti at the same Teachers College, ranked the best graduate school education program in the nation.
Columbia University students staged a demonstration on the night of Oct. 9, chanting, “Not in my school!”
On the morning of Sept. 28, 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.
The New York daily Newsday recently reported that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Nassau County District Attorney’s office have created a joint task force to investigate the incident.
News reports indicate there is suspicion that the target of the noose was newly appointed deputy chief, Willie Dixon. At a press conference held on Sept. 29, Mr. Dixon, a 27-year police veteran, stated that he would not be intimidated: “The hangman’s noose is the ultimate symbol of disgust if you know American history, especially if you are Black.”
On Sept. 20, Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron, speaking to the hundreds that had gathered at Brooklyn’s Borough Hall, opened his speech with: “Welcome to Jena, New York.”
Councilman Barron shared what happened to a young Black man in Oceanside, Long Island, who was arrested on assault charges after he was assaulted by a gang of Whites. Aloysius Staton, 24, could face up to 25 years in jail if convicted, according to Marc Claxton of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care.
The councilman then explained that on Sept. 11, a group of White men allegedly attacked several Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Black basketball players and their coach.
“So, we don’t have to go to Jena to be brutalized,” Councilman Barron observed.
At a press conference on Sept. 19, BMCC coach Chester Mapp, 49, told reporters he had never witnessed the racism displayed as he did that day. “I’ve been all over this country playing sports, but never in my born days have I seen the kind of racism I witnessed right here in New York City,” Mr. Mapp stressed.
Several players had left practice and as they walked passed a bar, a group of White men shouted “n----rs” and “this is what slavery feels like.” According to the young Black men, someone in the crowd threw a bottle at them.
The young men say as they proceeded to their subway station they were jumped by “six” of the Whites. Marquis Scott, 18, the son of a New York City policewoman, said he was knocked to the ground and stomped. “When the police arrived they immediately handcuffed me,” Mr. Scott said. He was charged with misdemeanor assault, his attorney Benita Zelman told The Final Call.
“I am the victim and I get arrested,” Mr. Scott stated at the press conference.
Ms. Zelman explained that the initial police reports did not mention that the “n” word was used, which would make it a “bias crime.”
“It is outrageous that these young men and their coach were victims of a hate crime and the police wanted to sweep it under the rug,” commented Ms. Zelman.
Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Queens), the deputy speaker of the council sent out a press release on Sept. 26, calling for the Manhattan District Attorney to drop the charges against Mr. Scott. In addition, he said, “As a New Yorker, I am appalled that such an attack would occur on the streets of New York City, much less on Sept. 11.”
Ms. Zelman has since informed The Final Call that the NYPD has charged the Whites with a hate crime, which is a felony. “What is outrageous is that the district attorney’s office has yet to indict them on the hate crime charge, and issue orders of protection against the White males, who also attend BMCC,” Ms. Zelman said. She added that her client, Mr. Scott, is suing the police for assault. Calls to the Manhattan district attorney’s office were not returned.
“Clearly, once again, the mindset of the NYPD is that all African American males are predisposed to be criminals,” Councilman Comrie told The Final Call.
“I think what has happened is that in New York we have had a protracted period without any really meaningful organizational push to address the issues of racism, but Jena has forced us to confront it head-on,” Mr. Claxton said.

By Saeed Shabazz

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF POLICE BRUTALITY

2007-10-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF POLICE BRUTALITY ?

POLICE: An organized body of people trained in the methods of law enforcement and crime prevention and detection, and authorized to maintain the peace, safety, and order of the community.

BRUTALITY: The state or quality of being ruthless, cruel, harsh, or unrelenting.

Police brutality, police misconduct and police acting as judge, jury and sometime executioner is common practice in the black community. All of these abuses are not accidents or errors or simply acts of individual malice. They flow from the policeman's role as agents of an absentee white citizentry, which owns all property in the blacck community and/or have a stake in the political and economic status quo.

With this type of attitude , black people are at a tremendous disadvantage and can never hope to receive the service and protection from the police they are rightfully due.
If we, as law enforcement professionals, are sworn to protect and serve the community, how come so many people of color do not see it this way? To our own young we are seen as enemies of the community. Why are we so disconnected from the community? As Black Men ans Women in the position of power we have a duty to return to the community to reach and teach the young. If we do not respect our own, why would you think that law enforcement professionals of other races would respect them?

"We are going to elevate the black policeman in black community to the same image-status enjoyed by white policeman in the white community"
Afro-American Patrolmans League

No matter how you my think, "Self Preservation Is The First Law Of Nature". For those who say they are doing something, then show me. The African proverb says "you can judge the tree by the fruit it bares". With more black men in jail than in college and the the NY State recidivism rate at over 60% in our local and state facilities and with black children graduating without basic reading, writing and math skills, our tree is sick.

"We will no longer permit ourselves to be relegated to the role of brutal pawns in a chess game affecting the communities in which we serve. We are mothers,fathers,husbands,wives,brothers,sisters,neighbors, and members in the black community. Donning the blue uniform has not changed this. On the contrary, it has sharpened our perception of our responsibilities as black men and women in a society seemingly unresponsive to the needs of black people. We see our role as a protector of this community and that is the role we ented to fill"
Afro-American Patrolmans League

As Black Law Enforcement Professionals we know first hand that the legal system is against the poor of all races especially the people of color. We boast about our positions in public, however, we take a stance of fear at work and fail to challenge the status quo. Some feel that they are separate when they are promoted – that they have arrived. They don't need any association with the common body. This is not true brother/sister law enforcement professionals. If they didn't respect you from the beginning, you are really their Negro now - their little back flunky. Make no mistake they fear the ones with unity. They will not admit it to you but they fear organized thought that creates movement and motion. It has been the fear of this country organized black people in motion.

"Moreover, it should be stated here,that many black police are against the system and have been for many years. However, they know if they would have spoken out against it, they would be subjected to unbearible pressure and even might suffer loss of their job. Black police are at a disadvantage in numbers and political backing; therefore, they are afraid to challenge the police structure."
Afro-American Patrolmans League

ORGANIZATION: Something made up of elements with varied functions that contribute to the whole and to collective functions

Black police properly organized could lead the strongest most effective movement for change, while still being considered within the system.

Organized black police represent black police power and organized black police represent a real political and economical threat to the white power structure.

Black Law Enforcement Professionals organization are the key. We are the best educated and trained black men and women in the world equipped to deal with the social and economic ills of our community. We have the knowledge to create and implement programs for our community instead of allowing outsiders making their pockets fat of a grants and initiatives for our youth. We are far from the dreams of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, W.E.B Dubious, Elijah Muhammad.

So I ask you. ?

Is it the white cop (the usual suspect) that abuses his authority and commits POLICE BRUTALITY? Or, Is it the black law enforcement professional, the one that sees the ills in the community but does not have the testicular fortitude to stand up to power and claim his community?

YOU DECIDE.

FROM THE BLACKWATCH FILES

HATE CRIMES ON THE RISE IN THE US

2007-10-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - A 10-day rash of racist crimes and Ku Klux Klan propaganda including nooses and racial torture spread over the National Capital area in mid-September, from Washington, to Prince Georges County, Md., even to a Maryland state prison, and to Virginia and West Virginia.
The bloodiest incident took place in a ramshackle trailer, deep in the rural hills of West Virginia, where for at least a week, a young Black woman was held captive, forced to eat animal waste, stabbed, choked and repeatedly sexually abused—all while being peppered with a racial slur.
Six people, all White, including a mother and son and a mother and daughter, were arrested in the suspected attack on 20-year-old Megan Williams, whose injuries included four stab wounds in the leg, and black and blue eyes. Her right arm was in a cast.
“I don’t understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter,” Carmen Williams said from the Charleston Area Medical Center, according to AP. “I didn’t know there were people like that out here.”
The woman was forced to eat rat and dog waste and drink from a toilet, according to the criminal complaint filed in magistrate court based on what the suspects told deputies. She also had been choked with a cord, it alleges. Deputies say the woman was also doused with hot water while being sexually assaulted.
At the University of Maryland in College Park, the administration reacted quickly to assure its community that they were devoting the utmost seriousness to the investigation of a noose found near the Nyumburu Cultural Center, home of the African American Faculty and Staff Association, and the Black Explosion newspaper.
“The University of Maryland will not tolerate discrimination, harassment or acts of hate,” University President Dr. C.D. Mote told a student “Speak-Out” Sept. 11.
“Our programming, which deals with progressive musical contributions of African Americans and people of the African Diaspora, in terms of whoever did this heinous act, it’s not going to stop us. We’ve been around too long. Our legacy is too strong, and our message is just too clear for us to step aside and let something like this deter us from moving on with our strong vision and mission,” Dr. Ronald Zeigler, Director of the Nyumburu Cultural Center told The Final Call.
But elsewhere in the state, in Westover, Md, a monthly newsletter published by a White supremacist group has sparked a controversy at the Eastern Correctional Institution, where the warden tried to ban the publication after an issue was sent to an inmate that included a cartoon of a Black woman drawn to resemble an ape. A White man in a suit makes a racist remark about her hair.
The publication, known as All the Way, is produced by the Nationalist Movement, based in Learned, Miss., and is edited by attorney Richard Barrett.
A spokeswoman for the Department Correctional Services said warden Kathleen Green banned All the Way out of concern for inmate safety. The Eastern Correctional Institution is Maryland’s largest prison, and about three-quarters of its roughly 3,100 inmates are Black.
Meanwhile, some Manassas, Va. residents complained that their neighborhood had become the target of the Ku Klux Klan, which left flyers some described as hateful. Several homeowners said they discovered flyers on their driveways which were apparently distributed along a 10-block stretch, according to broadcast reports. The flyer claimed to outline the history of the Ku Klux Klan.
Thousands of flyers were distributed over the weekend in Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. Those messages listed a Compton, Arkansas address, where the person describing himself as the national membership director said in a statement read over the phone: “We had people in that area of Virginia; they see the problems and they’re looking for solutions.”
The membership director said someone in the area asked the Ku Klux Klan to distribute the flyers. Racial tensions have risen in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington over undocumented immigrant workers and local law enforcement of national immigration statutes.
The backdrop for all these incidents was a spirited rally Sept. 6 at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium. Nearly 2,000 students from predominantly Black Howard, Morgan State, and Bowie State Universities turned out to support the Jena Six, six high school students charged with beating a White student during a racially tense season which began with White students hanging three nooses at a tree where three Black students sat.
The Howard University rally was just five days after the Ku Klux Klan literature appeared in the area, and one day before the noose was found at the University of Maryland’s Nyumburu Cultural Center.
The Klan leafleting also drew public scorn in Manassas, Va.
“Today is not about immigration. It is about taking a stand against hate and intolerance,” said a Democratic candidate for a State Delegate’s seat told a rally according to a published report. “And it is about sending a message that the Klan is not welcome here.”
But Ricardo Juarez, a representative from Mexicanos sin Fronteras (Mexicans Without Borders), complained in a statement that Prince William County, Va.’s recently adopted resolution aimed at denying county services to undocumented immigrants helped “to create a hostile environment for people of color” and “opened the door to racist organizations that shared their goals.”

By Askia MuhammadSenior Correspondent

FINALCALL.COM

BOOT CAMP EMPLOYEES NOT GUILTY IN BLACK YOUTHS DEATH

2007-10-21T06:18:00.000-07:00

PANAMA CITY, Florida (AP) -- Eight former boot camp workers were acquitted of manslaughter Friday in the death of a 14-year-old boy who was videotaped being punched and kicked. The scene sparked outrage and changes in the juvenile system, but it took ALL WHITE jurors just 90 minutes to decide it was not a crime.

Anger over the verdict was obvious outside the courtroom, where bystanders screamed "murderer" at former guard Henry Dickens as he described his relief at the verdict.
Martin Lee Anderson died a day after being hit and kicked by Dickens and six other guards as a nurse watched, a 30-minute confrontation that drew protests in the state capital and spelled the end of Florida's system of juvenile boot camps.

"I am truly, truly sorry this happened. Myself, I love kids," said Dickens, 60. He added that Anderson "wasn't beaten. Those techniques were taught to us and used for a purpose."
The defendants testified that they followed the rules at a get-tough facility where young offenders often feigned illness to avoid exercise. Their attorneys said that Anderson died not from rough treatment, but from a previously undiagnosed blood disorder.
The boy's mother, Gina Jones, stormed out of the courtroom. "I cannot see my son no more. Everybody see their family members. It's wrong," she screamed.
"You kill a dog, you go to jail," said her lawyer, Benjamin Crump. "You kill a little black boy and nothing happens." He spoke outside court, which is across the street from the now-closed Bay County boot camp.

Anderson's family repeatedly sat through the painful video as it played during testimony. They had long sought a trial, claiming local officials tried to cover up the case. The conservative Florida Panhandle county is surrounded by military bases and residents are known for their respect for law and order.

The guards, who are white, black and Asian, stood quietly as the judge read the verdicts. The all-white jury was escorted away from the courthouse and did not comment.
Special prosecutor Mark Ober said in a statement he was "extremely disappointed," but added, "In spite of these verdicts, Martin Lee Anderson did not die in vain. This case brought needed attention and reform to our juvenile justice system."
The defendants would have faced up to 30 years in prison had they been convicted of aggravated manslaughter of child. The jury also decided against convicting them of lesser charges, including child neglect and culpable negligence.

By mid-afternoon, about 150 people -- many from nearby Florida A&M University -- were protesting the acquittals outside the state Capitol. They chanted, "No justice. No peace!"
Several black legislators also expressed outrage. Anderson was black; the guards were black, white and Asian. The jury was all white.

"Ninety minutes of deliberation for a child's life, a child who we saw beaten to death on videotape over and over again?" asked Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. "Ninety minutes and not guilty. That's un-American. That is racist, discriminatory, bigotry."
Officials from the Department of Justice in Washington and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced they were reviewing the state's prosecution. Defense attorneys, however, said they considered a federal civil-rights case to be unlikely.

"With a 90-minute verdict after a three-week trial (in the state case), it would be the same result," said attorney Bob Sombathy, who represents ex-guard Patrick Garrett.
Aside from hitting Anderson, the guards dragged him around the military-style camp's exercise yard and forced him to inhale ammonia capsules in what they said was an attempt to revive him. The nurse stood by watching.

Defense attorneys argued that the guards properly handled what they thought was a juvenile offender faking illness to avoid exercising on his first day in the camp. He was brought there for violating probation for stealing his grandmother's car and trespassing at a school.
The defense said Anderson's death was unavoidable because he had undiagnosed sickle cell trait, a usually harmless blood disorder that can hinder blood cells' ability to carry oxygen during physical stress.

Prosecutors said the eight defendants neglected the boy by neglecting his medical needs after he collapsed while running laps. They said the defendants suffocated Anderson by covering his mouth and forcing him to inhale ammonia.

"You may not hear anything coming out of that video sound-wise, but that video is screaming to you in a loud, clear voice, it is telling you that these defendants killed Martin Lee Anderson," prosecutor Scott Harmon said in his closing argument.

Anderson died January 6, 2006, when he was taken off life support, a day after the altercation. The case quickly grew and shook up the state's boot camp and law enforcement system amid the boy's family alleging a cover-up.

An initial autopsy by Dr. Charles Siebert, the medical examiner for Bay County, found Anderson died of natural causes from sickle cell trait. A second autopsy was ordered and another doctor concluded that the guards suffocated Anderson through their repeated use of ammonia capsules and by covering his mouth.

"I am feeling a little vindicated. People got to see a lot more than what's been publicized in the media," said Siebert, who was widely criticized for his autopsy. He said he was going to celebrate with some of the guards.

Anderson's death led to the resignation of Florida Department of Law Enforcement chief Guy Tunnell, who established the camp when he was Bay County sheriff.

Then-Gov. Jeb Bush had been a strong supporter of the juvenile boot camps, but after Anderson's death he backed the Legislature's move to shut down the system and put more money into a less militaristic program.

Bush appointed Mark Ober, state attorney for Hillsborough County, as special prosecutor in the case. Bush also scolded Tunnell for exchanging e-mails with current Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, in which he criticized those who questioned the effectiveness of the boot camp concept. He also made light of the protesters in the state capital.

The Legislature agreed to pay Anderson's family $5 million earlier this year to settle civil claims.
CNN.COM

NOOSE FOUND IN HEMPSTEAD POLICE DEPARTMENT LOCKER ROOM

2007-09-29T23:33:00.000-07:00

President Corey Pegues Long Island NOBLE.. Courtesy of Eugene Jordan

The Long Island Chapter of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) Held a press conference on Saturday Sept 29, 2007 at the steps of the Hempstead Police Department(HPD). The press conference was in regards to a discovery of a "NOOSE" that was found in the men's locker room of the HPD. It is believed by (NOBLE) that the noose was directed at the the highest ranking black official in the department.

Organizations and elected officials attended the press conference to show support for NOBLES fight for justice.
New York Senator Eric Adams
Grand Council of Guardians
Nassau County Guardians
100 Blacks In Law Enforcement
Latino Officers Association
Westchester NBPA
Urban League
NAACP

WHILE THE MEDIA PARADES OJ... THIS STORY IS UNREPORTED

2007-09-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

This happened in West Virginia, USA very recently and yesterday, Wednesday, 9/12th 2007, Megan Williams was still being treated for this in the hospital.

She was Tortured and Raped for a whole week, by Six White individuals, Three males and Three Females Between the ages of 20 and 49. CNN normally does not reveal sexual assault victims' names. But Williams, who is hospitalized, and her mother, Carmen Williams, wanted her identity revealed.

Police said Bobby Brewster raped Williams, forced her to lick blood and drink from a toilet, and told his mother to kill Williams if she tried to escape. Authorities previously said Williams was also forced to eat rat and dog feces.According to criminal complaints filed in the county, Williams was assaulted, stabbed in the left leg, choked with cords and beaten for at least a week. When she was found, big parts of her hair had also been torn off of her scalp.Williams says that Alisha Burton 22 cut her ankle with a knife while saying, "That's what we do to Niggers around here," police records show."I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," Carmen Williams told The Associated Press on Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."

Deputies received a tip and Saturday visited a home owned by Frankie Brewster in Big Creek, West Virginia.As the deputies spoke with a woman on the front porch, "a female inside the residence limped toward the door with her arms held out, saying 'Help me,' " according to a news release from the sheriff's department."It's something you'd expect to see in a horror movie, not in Logan County," Abraham said. "She was subjected to unendurable torture down there." The six are charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and battery. If convicted of kidnapping, a suspect could face a sentence of up to life in prison. The penalty for first-degree sexual assault is 15 to 35 years. Abraham said he is seeking the maximum sentence on the kidnapping charges. In addition to the Brewsters, the suspects are Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, West Virginia; and George A. Messer, 27, Karen Burton, 46, and her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, all of Chapmanville, West Virginia. "They all have previous records and have been arrested numerous times," Sheriff W.E. Hunter said Tuesday. "They are familiar to law enforcement." Frankie Brewster was charged with first-degree murder in 1994, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of an 84-year-old woman. She was released in 2000 after serving five years in prison, according to court r ecords cited by the AP.

All of the six individuals that are involved in this case are accused of 108 different cases of crimes all combined.All six were being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and all requested court-appointed attorneys, the AP reported.Investigators are still looking for two other people suspected of driving Williams to the home, according to the AP.Carmen Williams had not reported her daughter missing, saying Megan Williams often disappeared for weeks at a time. Carmen Williams said she is "horrified" by her daughter's injuries."She wakes up crying, and the first thing she hollers is 'Mommy,' " she said.

BLACK WATCH TAKE ON THIS

When are we going to learn? Bill O’reilly, who is surprised that black people are civilized to the Yonkers City Council member who feels that the reason there are only have 35 out of 650 black cops in Yonkers is because we cannot pass the test. We should not be astonished to find that the media feels that the life of a black man or woman is not considered important enough to report. WE STILL DON'T GET IT DO WE? With all the Oprahs, Bill Cosbys and millionaire sports stars in the world, it is a travesty that we do not own a syndicated television station. YET, we have FOOLS like Michael Vick and others that will be ballers at the bar and invest in dog fights instead of our communities. If we do not stand up and invest in ourselves, WE WILL LOSE IT ALL IN THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS!!!!!!!!!!

RESPONSE TO YONKERS PD FULL PAGE AT IN JOURNAL NEWS ON SUNDAY SEPT 23, 2007

2007-09-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

In response to the Yonkers Police Department’s (YPD) nearly full-page ad in the September 23, 2007 edition of The Westchester Journal Newspaper, the Westchester Chapter of The National Black Police Association feels that the advertisement is a misrepresentation of the issues. Our criticism is not an attack on the YPD as a whole or the fine officers that serve and protect the Yonkers community. Instead we are demanding critical and fair accountability of the few police officers that cross the line and that the administration recognize and correct their failure to address this ongoing epidemic.As stated in previous press releases, it is no secret in the law enforcement community of Westchester that the attitudes and actions of some YPD professionals are appalling. These attitudes have been ignored for years. More often these negative attitudes are displayed in the underprivileged communities of color.

6,700 arrest and 34 complaints sounds very impressive. After attending the forum of the NAACP in September 2006, where wall to wall citizens of Yonkers who had complaints (obviously more than 34). The victims were either scared to file a complaint due to fear of retaliation by the accused officers or they didn't know how to file a proper complaint.Since September 2006, complaints have been filed at the Nepperhan Community Center and with the Yonkers NAACP, as well as the National Action Network. It is well documented that most victims of police brutality admit to being victims, but do not file formal complaints. This is not to say that police brutality does not exist.

It is an outrage to the Yonkers communities of colors and its voters that only 5.3% of its Yonkers police officers are black when the black population of Yonkers is 19%. Again, where are the young men and women of color? Or is the perception of YPD so horrible that no young black man or woman that has grown up in Yonkers wouldn't dare take the job. To build trust in the communities of color and its voters, the Mayor, the Police Commissioner, along with the City Council should support an independent Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) in order to build trust in the communities of color and its voters. An independent CCRB will serve as a balance between YPD and the community it claims it wants to serve and protect.

Independant CCRB is Needed for Yonkers PD

2007-09-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

There has been recent debate over establishing a complaint review board in the city of Yonkers. This has also been the topic of certain counsel members running for election or re-election.
It is the National Black Police Association opinion that the only effective review board is an "Independent Civil Complaint Review Board" (CCRB). Other cities have review and adopted systems that are independent of the police force. The most effective have the following:
1) Appointed board with a team of non-police investigators.
2) Complaints received by civilians, not police officers.
3) The power of subpoena vested in board.
4) Review of police policy and training as a regular function.
Our system of government is based on checks and balances; each possessing the power to curtail the activities of the other. State and local levels use similar models. This is to ensure that those who represent the interest of the people do so in accordance within the law and so not abuse the authority they have been granted.
Law Enforcement professionals, like government employees, are hired and paid for by the citizens of the community. Law Enforcement professionals are giving the exclusive right in our society to exercise physical and deadly force in requiring citizens to comply with the laws and their commands.
Police departments establish policies the affect everyone in the community. Yes, there are few and in some cases no checks and balances within Law Enforcement to protect the interest and rights of civilians that we are sworn to serve and protect.
Will we wait for another Abner Louima, Tomkins Square Park incident to ignite the city counsel to act on something that is most definitely needed in Yonkers. ONLY a true and dependent body that has the power to review police polices, as well as behavior of individual officers is fundamental to good government(including the police force).
This hallmark of a truly democratic system. A system that is accountable to the citizens for whom they serve.

Blacks in Law Enforcement Speak Out On Yonkers PD

2007-09-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

As the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), we applaud the federal investigation of the Yonkers Police Department. It is no secret to the law enforcement community of Westchester County, that the attitudes and actions of some Yonkers Police Department professionals are appalling. Look at how they have treated the citizens that they protect and serve, especially the communities of color.
We all can say that these are ALLEGED complaints. The mayor and the police commissioner appear to be in complete denial about these ALLEGED complaints. This is always the case when the victims are poor white, Black, and Hispanic citizens that lack the funds, knowledge and resources to fight City Hall.
We have attended the forums given by the NAACP at the Yonkers Public Library. With each one attended, there were wall-to-wall people of all ethnic backgrounds but mostly people of Black and Latino descent. This is not surprising when the Yonkers PD has 650 members and only 35 (or 5.3%) are Black and 40 (or 6.1%) are Hispanic (keeping in mind that the black population in Yonkers is 19%). At least half of the 35 Black police officers will retire soon. The last academy of police officers was completely white and the majority was children of white officers who are currently employed by the YPD. Where is community policing? Where are the young adults of color that want a job making good money and benefits? On the other hand, why would a young adult of color be a part of a system that they see on a day-to-day basis, abusing their authority and power over the powerless? ALLEGEDLY

WESTCHESTER BLACKS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT JUNETEENTH PARADE

2007-09-23T18:35:00.001-07:00

Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth is the name given to Emancipation Day by African-Americans in Texas.
On that day in 1865 Union Major General Gordon Granger read General Order #3 to the people of Galveston, TX. It stated "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them become that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."
Large celebrations began in 1866 and continue to the present. To African-Americans this day is treated and celebrated like the Fourth of July. In the early days, the celebration included a prayer service, speakers with inspirational messages, reading of the Emancipation Proclamation and stories from former slaves, food and red soda water, games and rodeo dances. The tradition spread as African-American Texans migrated. Celebration of Juneteenth declined during World War II but revived in 1950 and fell away again during the 1960's as attention focused on expansion of freedom for African-Americans.
In 1976, after a 25 year hiatus, House Bill Number 1016, passed in the 66th legislature, declaring June 19 "Emancipation Day in Texas," a legal state holiday effective January 1, 1980 and the celebration of Juneteenth continues.

NO BAIL FOR JENA 6 TEEN

2007-09-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

(AP / Jean, La.) — A relative of one of the Jena Six said a judge denied bail Friday for Mychal Bell, the only one of the teens who is jailed in the beating of a white classmate.
Attorneys would not comment because juvenile court proceedings are secret. But the father of one of Bell's co-defendants said Bell's bail request was rejected.
Bell's mother left the courthouse in tears and refused to comment.
Bell is the only one of the group known as the Jena Six to have been tried so far in the December beating of a white classmate.
Bell was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery, which could have led to 15 years in prison. But his conviction was thrown out by a state appeals court that said he could not be tried on the charge as an adult because he was 16 at the time of the beating.
On Thursday, the case drew thousands of protesters to this tiny central Louisiana town to rally against what they see as a double standard of justice for blacks and whites. The march was one of the biggest civil rights demonstrations in years.

SOURCE TIME.COM