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The New York City Police Department needs to be restrained. The nonstop humiliation of young black and Hispanic New Yorkers, including children, by police officers who feel no obligation to treat them fairly or with any respect at all is an abomination. That many of the officers engaged in the mistreatment are black or Latino themselves is shameful.
Statistics will be out shortly about the total number of people who were stopped and frisked by the police in 2009. We already have the data for the first three-quarters of the year, and they are staggering. During that period, more than 450,000 people were stopped by the cops, an increase of 13 percent over the same period in 2008.
Anoverwhelming 84 percent of the stops in the first three-quarters of 2009 were of black or Hispanic New Yorkers. It is incredible how few of the stops yielded any law enforcement benefit. Contraband, which usually means drugs, was found in only 1.6 percent of the stops of black New Yorkers. For Hispanics, it was just 1.5 percent. For whites, who are stopped far less frequently, contraband was found 2.2 percent of the time.
The percentages of stops that yielded weapons were even smaller. Weapons were found on just 1.1 percent of the blacks stopped, 1.4 percent of the Hispanics, and 1.7 percent of the whites. Only about 6 percent of stops result in an arrest for any reason.
Two New York City police officers have been suspended without pay after video surfaced of them punching a suspect who was handcuffed and lying onthe ground.
The video, obtained by the New York Daily News, shows officers John Cicero and William Green repeatedly hitting Johnathan Baez in the head. Baez was one of eight men apprehended during an undercover drug sting gone awry in the Bronx on Jan. 5.
"This is not an isolated incident," Baez' lawyer, Jeffrey Emdin, said. "What sets this apart is that it was caught on tape."
Baez was initially charged with obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, but the charges have been dropped, the New York Times reports. It's not known yet if the two officers involved will be charged. Two supervising officers who were on the scene and did not prevent the attack on Baez have been placed on desk duty.
Two other NYPD officers were injured during the Jan. 5 drug bust, when one of the officers opened fire on a charging pit bull. The shrapnel from the bullet wounded two officers. A friend of Baez, Louis Miranda, told the New York Post that he too was assaulted by officers, and that in his case the violence was "even worse" than what was caught on film.
Both Baez and Miranda plan to sue the police department.
This training is open to community members that would like to learn more about Cop Watch and for those interested in creating Cop Watch teams in their neighborhoods.
The training will cover the following
- What is Cop Watch
- Some basic Know Your Rights information
- Do's and Don'ts while on patrol
- Street team formation and roles
- Equipment needs
- An opportunity to role-play scenarios Cop Watch teams have faced in the past
Time: 1pm-5pm
When: Saturday December 19th
Where: 4 West 37th St. 2nd Floor, Between 5th & 6th Ave.
Directions: Take N, R, Q, W, B, D, F, V to 34th St.
Facilitated by Justice Committee, a member organization of Peoples' Justice for Community Control & Police Accountability
*** Please note: Although we are in the process of designing a training that includes several different Cop Watch formations, this training is specifically for community members living in urban cities and will focus on community foot patrols. If you live in a rural area or are interested in conducting cop watch during parades and or demonstrations please contact us to request a training that better meets your needs. If your planning to conduct Cop Watch in vehicles you'll still benefit from this training and we can later provide you with a vehicle formation.
Important Announcement: Technical Difficulties with PJ Phone Number on Billboards and Outreach Material (212.614.5343)
Please be advised that the number on Peoples' Justice outreach materials and Washington Heights, Bushwick and Bed-Stuy "Watch the Cops" Billboards (212.614.5343) has, until recently, not been functioning properly.If you left a message at this number, you might not have heard from us.Your stories and interest are important to us and we sincerely apologize for this technical difficulty!We were recently able to retrieve lost messages, so if you are waiting for a response, you should hear from us within the next week.In the future, you can reach us by leaving a message at 212.614.5343 (it's now working properly) or by emailing
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.
Once again, our sincere apologies.We thank youfor your understanding and patience!
