The Problem is Systemic And Not Just A Few Rogue Cops

I went to the prayer vigil held yesterday July 10th by Churches United to Save and Heal (CUSH), and the GodSquad on the corner of Utica and Church Avenue. The messages were strong and important from many pastors in the community, but what kept ringing in my ears were their testimonies of how they were being treated by the police in their community. The master of ceremonies a female pastor in her 60’s spoke out about how she was driving a van picking up children for a church function, when she noticed a police car following her, when she turned the police car turned. She continued about her business picking up more children when she noticed the police car on her left and she turned to the right, and then siren started blowing. When the police officer came up to her window she asked him why he stopped her he said, “It looked like you were trying to avoid me.” There was another pastor that said he had been stopped making a turn, and the reason was equally frivolous. The pastor did say that it was important, if you are an African American and you are stopped in your car by the police, you should remain calm, remove the keys from the ignition, and then ask politely why you are being stopped. The last testimony was by Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte telling how she turned her car, and then the sirens started blaring. She had forgotten to use her turn signal. She was furious knowing that real crimes were happening and she was being stopped because she had not used her turn signal.

I commented to a neighborhood friend today about what I had heard at the vigil, and she told me last year she was stopped almost daily, and the time that stands out the most was when she picked up her son from school and went around the block twice. She was suddenly surrounded by three police cars. When she got out of her car they had their guns out. They were ready to kill her, and all because she went around the block an extra time. Their reason was that someone said she was acting suspiciously. Really, do the police respond that quickly when someone calls in 911, and someone says I see an individual acting suspiciously. They asked her did she own the car? They asked her if her car was registered. The asked her for her identification. They were looking for any reason to give her a ticket or arrest her.

Who benefits from African Americans being targeted for frivolous tickets? New York City benefits, as well as governmental systems throughout the country because this is not an isolated tactic. If this sounds all too familiar we are talking about “Stop and Frisk.” What does all this constant persecution do to African Americans and Latino communities? Is the aim to keep them submissive? Is the aim to keep them feeling that they are constantly being surveilled? The English social theorist Jeremy Bentham who invented the panopticon, a surveillance tower within a prison, theorized that its use kept the inmates well behaved, as they never knew when they were going to be watched. What effect does this have on the human psyche to feel as though you are always being watched? We are in essence criminalizing a segment of society, and constantly letting them know who is in power and has power over them. You are considered a criminal automatically because of your color.

One very stark effect from this systemized method of stopping and incarcerating African American and Latino young men is that once youths are exposed to the criminal justice system for non-violent crimes they become hyper-criminalized, and are for all intents and purposes labeled as criminals. Going forward they will be excluded from work, from owning a home or from going to school. This system perpetuates itself by creating a criminal class for use in institutions that have been privatized for profit. The only form of slavery still legal in the United States is prison labor. If you keep people from getting work legitimately, then they will have fewer options and are fodder for the prisons.

It is very clear that that recent shootings of African Americans by police officers is a part of a systemic problem and not one where rogue officers finally went too far.

If you are white and you are reading, ask yourself how many times have you been stopped by police officers for minor traffic infractions, or just because you seemed suspicious. If the answer is not at all, how can it be that someone else of color is stopped numerous times, sometimes several times in a day as my friend has been, and how can we say that this is not a systemic practice. And even better is ask your African American friends what is happening and they will tell you what has happened to them personally and to their families. Yes, we can cutoff the tail of the beast when it grows too long by catching a few police officers, and take some comfort that justice was served, but if the head of the beast is still alive and calling the shots then its business as usual, until the next time. This method of policing needs to stop and then justice will be served.

To fight against it if you have been stopped, make a mental note of the badge number (you don't want to alert the officer), the date, the time and the reason given by officer for stopping you. Please keep a record of your complaint. Keep a file if there are numerous complaints.

Civilian Complaint Review Board

https://www.nyc.gov/html/ccrb/html/complaint/online.shtml

NYPD Inspector General - Complaints - NYC.gov

www1.nyc.gov/site/oignypd/complaints/complaints.page

Equality for Flatbush (E4F) A Non- Governmental Organization

Equality for Flatbush (E4F) has launched a community survey on car stops and racial profiling. Community residents can fill out online surveys at https://kwiksurveys.com/s/ rONMZBp0
OR
Send an email toPoliceWork@EqualityforFlatbu sh.org to request a hard copy surveys:
Completed surveys can be scanned and emailed to PoliceWork@EqualityforFlatbush .org or mailed to: Equality for Flatbush 237 Flatbush Ave #193 Brooklyn, NY 11217