Calling Accountability of NYC Commissioner Kelly to End “Stop and Frisk”

 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012, Grand Council of Guardians, Blacks in Law Enforcement of America, their legal counsel Civil Rights Lawyer, Bonita E. Zelman, community leaders, clergy and activists joined forces in the courtyard of One Police Plaza to protest and denounce New York City Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly’s latest charge that the City’s Black Leadership, who have successfully challenged his illegal “stop and frisk” tactics, are “shockingly silent” about recent shootings in minority communities.

“The fact of the matter is that 96 percent of shooting victims are people of color, yet the community leaders are not speaking out about this. We’d like to hear from them,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told the press on July 17, 2012.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Commissioner Kelly has been hearing the community leaders loud and clear since his statement fiasco. There have been Black Community groups, Black Clergy and Black elected officials from all over the New York Metro Area condemning Commissioner Kelly’s statements.

The rally was organized through the social network of Facebook. Approximately 100 people attended thanks to the effort of Ms. I.C. Payne.

“We must all stand in solidarity against this evil that is being done in the city of NY, 700,000 stops, numerous murders & brutality from police officers in NYC and all Commissioner Kelly could try to do is pass the buck and claim that we as community persons do not stand against violence in our own communities when in fact we do,” Payne said.

Reverend Conrad Tillard, Senior Pastor of the Nazarene Congregational Church in Brooklyn said, “Kelly has never condemned the leaders in the Italian community for Mob violence, he has never condemned the Chinese community for Chinese gang violence, but when it comes to black people, you want to grand stand for some political reason. This is wrong and will not be tolerated.”

New York City Council Member, Jumaane D. Williams, co-chair of the Task Force to Combat Gun Violence, charged, “I am outraged at the presumptuous and patently false comments of Commissioner Kelly, which directly insult communities like mine, which are grieving for our lost and trying to save our young people every day.

In New York City, the police are stopping hundreds of thousands of law-abiding residents each year, the vast majority of which are African American, Latino and youth - and, on average, 9 out of every 10 stops. Data analyzed by the New York Civil Liberties Union show that last year New Yorkers were stopped by the police 685,724 times or approximately 1,879 times a day. Of those stops, 88 percent yielded no violation, fifty-three percent of those stopped were African American, 34 percent were Latino, and fifty-one percent were between the ages of 14 and 24.

Despite insistence by Commissioner Kelly that stop-and-frisk has helped reduce crime, the practice has never been shown to yield a statistically-relevant reduction in crime. In fact, the weapons and contraband yield from stop-and-frisk is the same as that from random check points, despite the Commissioner Kelly’s attempts to justify the program as key to confiscating illegal weapons.

The Black and Latino communities throughout New York City are like every other ethnic community; we want a safe community. Why should they tolerate the continuous disrespect, disregard and the use of policies like “Stop and Frisk” that violate law abiding citizens as a cover of keeping our community safe? Stop-and-frisk data has repeatedly shown that NYPD officers use physical force at a significantly higher rate during stops of Blacks and Latinos. Would any other ethnic community accept this disrespect? I don’t think so.

In the 1968 Supreme Court case, Terry v Ohio, Chief Justice Earl Waren wrote about problematic searches “It is a serious intrusion upon the sanctity of the person, which may inflict great indignity and arouse strong resentment, and is not to be undertaken lightly”. 

Recently, a federal judge in Manhattan granted class action status to a lawsuit over the practice and said she had troubling questions about its constitutionality, especially because in many cases there is no evidence of crime or cause for suspicion. Other judges have raised questions of its fairness. And Philadelphia has reduced its use of the tactic under a Department of Justice consent decree.

State Senator Eric Adams claims Kelly is the one who is disconnected, saying that Stop and Frisk actually adds to the problem. "Unfortunately, distrust and lack of communication between police and the community has fostered an uneasy and strained relationship between the two groups,” says Adams.

Many protesters that gathered at the rally also felt that Commissioner Kelly’s statement was a political smoke screen for his lack of his own accountability or outrage of police crimes and questionable police shootings of unarmed black men under his command.

One protester said, “He’s just grandstanding because he thinks he’s going to be mayor. He has said nothing about his police officers shooting unarmed black men. We will make sure that won’t happen.”

Frank Sha Francois of Fathers Alive in the Hood (F.A.I.T.H.) said, “We are out in the streets working with the youth. Instead of working with the youth on the crime problem, the police are becoming the problem”.

In New York State alone there have been 215 questionable deaths at the hands of law enforcement since the death of Amadou Diallo in 1999. There have been 14 questionable at the hands of law enforcement in 2012. A report called “No More Travons” says every 36 hours a black man, woman or child is killed by law enforcement or Security Guards nationwide.  

Civil rights attorney and advocate, Bonita E. Zelman, who has long fought for a major overhaul of the discriminatory practices of police departments throughout New York State said, “We continue to call for the City Council to create an independent Inspector General for the police department, and for legislation that explicitly bans racial profiling and illegal, unjust “stop and frisks” simply because the victims are people of color.”

Standing beside Zelman was the mother of Ramarley Graham, Constance, whose son was shot and killed by police in the Bronx, The Parents of Brianna Ojeda, whose daughter died after a NYPD officer refused to give her CPR and Danette Chavis, whose family member was also killed by police.

“Accountability is a two way street Commissioner Kelly”, said Ms. Chavis, “You have the nerve to say we are not accountable when you have yet to be accountable for you officers killing unarmed men”.