PLEASE SUPPORT OUR COURT MONITORING PROJECT
Dear Friends:
You've seen our recent mailings about PROP's Court Monitoring Project (CMP) & the numbers it produces documenting the stark racial bias of NYPD arrest practices -- in last week's mailing we presented the findings from 5 recent CMP trips: 80 of 85 cases observed, 94.1%, involved NYers of color. Here are some stories -- everyone concerning an African-American or Latino -- effectively putting flesh & blood on the bones of our stats & showing the unnecessary harm & hardship these abusive practices inflict on our fellow NYers.
THE STORIES:
** NYPD cops arrest a young mother in Brooklyn whose 2 daughters attempted to leave a grocery store with fish hidden under their coats. She claimed not to know what her girls were doing. In any case, they weren't stealing fish to sell on the black market; they stole 'cause they were hungry. The judge released her. She left the court room wondering where her children were & worried that she'd lose custody of them.
** Cops arrested a man in Brooklyn on the charge of "leaving vehicle unattended". A construction worker who just finished a 12 hour shift, he double parked in front of MacDonald's to get some food. Cops discovered an open warrant from 2 years ago for littering, so they cuff & confine him, losing him a day of work. The judge dismissed both charges.
** Cops arrested a man in his 40s in Queens. He had just left vehicle when cops run up, tackle him, & start kicking him. They take him into custody on the charges of MJ possession & resisting arrest. He admits he had MJ on him, but the cops started beating him up right away, breaking his nose.
** Cops arrested a man in Manhattan while he was picking up his daughter from school. He parked in a designated area in front of the school with other parents waiting. Cops told him to move the car, then tried to pull him out of the car. They tased him 2 times, & charged him with disorderly conduct & resisting arrest.
** Cops arrested a woman in Manhattan on the charge of drunk driving. She refused a plea offer, was released by the judge, & told to return for another court appearance. PROP representatives followed her out of court & asked why she rejected the plea offer. She responded that she was not guilty. She had gone clubbing in Harlem with a friend, drank too much, & left the club to sit in the car & wait for her friend to drive her home. She felt sick & opened the car door to throw up. Cops then came up to the car & cuffed & locked her up.
** Cops arrested an elderly woman in Manhattan on the charge of petty larceny. She was handicapped, walking slowly with the aid of a cane. She pled guilty to disorderly conduct & hobbled out of court. PROP representatives asked her about her case. She said that she had taken a package of ham & eggs from the Pathmark in Harlem. When we asked her why, she explained: "I was hungry".
** Cops arrested a young man in Queens on a contempt charge, cuffed & locked him up overnight. He had violated an order of protection. The judge released him after the man's public defender described the nature of his client's transgression. The man had called his ex-girlfriend & left a voicemail for her, saying: "Happy Mother's Day. I won't bother you again".
** Cops in Manhattan arrested & locked up a middle-aged man on the charge of weapons possession. He pled to a lesser charge, disorderly conduct, & walked out of the court, shaking his head, visibly aggravated. PROP representatives asked him how did the cops know that he had a weapon in his possession. He said that they didn't; they pulled him over in his truck, & when he opened the glove compartment for his license, they saw a utility knife. He explained to them that he was a janitor & needed the tool for his work -- they arrested & locked him up anyway. When we asked why the cops pulled him over, he said that they wouldn't tell him. "That's what you get for being Hispanic", he concluded.
** Cops arrested a 53 year old mechanic with a clean record walking home in the Bronx. They gave no reason, searched him, found nothing, but accused him of "throwing something away". They cuffed & confined him. He was locked up for 20 hours & missed his granddaughter's birth. The case was eventually dropped.
** Cops in Brooklyn arrested 10 people in a one afternoon for fare evasion; all locked up overnight, all without open warrants. The judge handed down Adjournments in Contemplation of Dismissal in all the cases.
** Cops arrested a 65 year old man in Brooklyn while he played dominos in a park. They charged him with trespass, cuffed him, & locked him up overnight. The judge released him the next day.
** Cops in the Bronx pulled over a young man, claiming his window tints were "too dark" -- an all too common NYPD tactic. They searched the trunk, found a folding knife required for his job, & arrested him. He was locked up for 24 hours.
** Cops arrested a man visiting a friend in public housing in the Bronx. He had permission to be there, & declined to plead. He was locked up for 2 days, & made 3 court appearances before the case was dismissed.
None of these arrests are aberrational. They are all emblematic, caused mainly by quota-driven broken windows policing, which targets low-income NYers of color for minor infractions & which is the NYPD's principal approach to law enforcement. All these & similar arrests are a function of institutional policy, of where NYC deploys most officers & what tactics the NYPD orders them to carry out.
As the year-end approaches, please seriously consider supporting our determined efforts to expose & end the NYPD's blatantly racist policing -- these efforts are a central part of the police reform movement's strategies to create a city that's just, safe, & inclusive for all NYers.
As always, many thanks for your interest & support. And a happy holiday season & good New Year to all.
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