There has been continuing controversy over the heavy use of stop and frisks in New York — 700,000 in just 2011 alone. Only 2 percent turned up contraband and minority groups have objected to what they claim is profiling and harassment. This video gives an insight into the type of abuse that can occur in such incidents. In this video, a teenager named Alvin is stopped by three officers on the grounds that he looks “suspicious.” The officers are caught calling him a “fuckin’ mutt” and threatening to break his arm and beat him. He is roughed up and repeatedly told to “shut the fuck up” when he tries to ask questions.
The teen is never given any reason for the stop or the abuse. His secret recording capturing a torrent of abuse. One of the officer responds to his questions with “You want me to smack you?” while another tells him that he is being stopped “For being a fucking mutt.” Alvin’s arm is held behind his back as the first officer says, “Dude, I’m gonna break your fuckin’ arm, then I’m gonna punch you in the fuckin’ face.”
There is no indication by the NYPD of any punishment for the officers, though it generally takes public pressure to force departments to act on such YouTube videos. It is yet another example of how important these videos have become to deterring police abuse despite the efforts by prosecutors like Anita Alvarez in Chicago to arrest citizens recording officers. For a prior column, click here. As discussed in prior columns and blogs, police across the country have been arresting citizens who film them — a clear abuse of their rights and an effort to prevent citizens from creating incriminating videotapes increasingly used against police. This trend has continued (here) despite court rulings in favor of citizens. Politicians have done little to reaffirm the rights of citizens in these cases and officers are rarely subject to discipline for such arrests.
Source: Nation
Malisha,
I don’t feel they are out of whack, these cops.
It is lesson 101 on provoking stoppees to violate the law post stopping. Speaking provocatively is not a crime, although against the published police manual.
So make your quota brother and use the SOP we all learned.
Dangerous? Only if you give them the lip. These cops were “nice”, they did not beat him up “resisting arrest”. Guess there sugar level was low at the time. Time to tank on a donut and coffee.
“Gene H.
1, October 11, 2012 at 11:05 am
“In Bloomberg’s world, the humiliation and abuse of this young man means nothing.”
I have to disagree, Justice Holmes. It means increased revenue for the cops and courts. If not a budgetary
decision, it certainly could be considered a form of tax shifting.”
I have to disagree, GeneH. I feel that these are minor factors in comparison with the suppression of elements judged to be possible sources of crime or seditious activity, or even those who lack the proper obeisance in the face of police power.
You can not create a police state without cracking heads.
I said that, but it could well be Bloomberg’s words.
Rafflaw,
This is I hope you understand not directed at you personally. You should not personally be held responsible for the dysfunction of our system. You just happened to be the lawyer standing there.
Just as the kid who got called mutt and worse, is only the one who stood there in place of the criminals the
officers are charged wit arresting.
Luck of the irish. to misuse an old phrase.
“rafflaw
1, October 11, 2012 at 10:51 am
Disgusting practice and I cannot see how it passes constitutional muster. Scary!”
Thanks for the idea that came in response. Not your fault at all for the idea.
You are one who represent the lawyer corps and the “better” class of citizens who seldom fear “stop and frisk” actions. That’s fine, maybe. But while we discuss that question, I ask, what can we, ie you lawyers do about this openly anti-constitutional system?
You tell me, that is an open question.
Put a lawyer as “citizen observer” with each cop duo on patrol?
That did not work in the USSR. Nor here I fear.
Based on the response here to similar challenges by unjustly treated citizens, I expect no answer.
Surprise me.
We don’t need to go to NYC to find such abuse. What was your last criminal defense all about? How was that handled by the injustice system?
Do we need a system of obligatory legal help for pro se litigants such as Kaysieverding? And preferably as a free-standing agency, and paid by taxes.
Medical health is partially covered. From my position of ignorance of our system, it would appear that nothing is covered regarding legal health.
But explain pro bono, please. Is that an obligation that must be met by all lawyers quota-wise?
PS Wonder if Justice Thomas would dare to wander the streets of NYC, without Scali and Bloomberg at his side? Black is black. But then he is not very young. But when nothing else is available, make do with gramps.
I was told that the worst violations of rights in Colorado are in the mountain towns. These towns have almost no black residents so the NAACP and organized civil rights advocates are no help at all.
Most of the Colorado mountain towns have only one “newspaper”. The “newspapers” such as the Steamboat Pilot rely on local real estate and local governments for their revenue. In Steamboat Springs, Colorado, over 90% of the economy is based on tourism and second home sales. The locals unite to cover up anything and everything that could even possibly hurt tourism and second home sales. Even the medical professionals rely on tourism as a significant source of their customers are tourists who get hurt skiing. Then someone steers them to one doctor or another. So everyone who is anyone unites to cover up police misconduct.
Any police department which doesn’t tape citizen encounters in my opinion shows an advance commitment to cover-up.
I went to the police station in Steamboat Springs with proof of a felony and they told me to take my evidence and get out of the station.
I have a list of cities and towns where I will not go for a variety of reasons, this kind of thing being one of them. New York made my list a long time ago. I will stay away and spend money elsewhere.
On the other hand, if anything like this happened to any of my family members, I would make those officers my hobby for the foreseeable future. Nothing I could be indicted for such as stalking, but social media is a powerful thing, not to be trifled with. Lt. John Pike out in California and Anthony “Tony” Bologna of NYC found that out the hard way. This blog entry by Professor Turley is a powerful opening shot across the bow for these trolls in uniform. Hopefully, other social media outlets and blogs will pick it up and run with it as well.
Could it be the plan for a “voluntary” emigration? Get all Blacks and Latinos out of the city? Is most of this happening in Manhattan? Wouldn’t it be lovely for all of Manhattan to be a haven for rich white folks?
In addition to everything else that’s wrong with this picture (such as, “they didn’t do that in Moscow in 1977!”) the sound of the cops doing the stop of that guy (“the mutt”) were using profane language while the stoppee was NOT; the cops were threatening and obnoxious while the stoppee was NOT; and the cops sound completely nuts and out of control and I wouldn’t want to be near them at all unless they were medicated. How did they qualify for the job of protector of the public safety when they’re unsafe?
This is the police state; the folks who ARE the police are not only mentally unstable, they’re dangerous.
“In Bloomberg’s world, the humiliation and abuse of this young man means nothing.”
I have to disagree, Justice Holmes. It means increased revenue for the cops and courts. If not a budgetary decision, it certainly could be considered a form of tax shifting.
The attitude that citizens are fair game to be stopped and harassed in order to set them up for a long list of charges is not limited to NY. It is a nation wide problem. While there is no question that people of color suffer more from this attitude when a person of color is not around anyone will do, the them versus us mentality that is drilled into police officers leads to a mind set that constitutional protections are stupid inconveniences that can be ignored at will. The mayor of New York and his police commissioner have raised the concept of constitutional rights as nuisance to a new “high” or low depending on your perspective. People of the human variety mean very little in the City; corporations and developers are kings. This version of the world permeates every aspect of life from zoning to police activity.
In Bloomberg’s world, the humiliation and abuse of this young man means nothing.
Disgusting practice and I cannot see how it passes constitutional muster. Scary!
Powerful and very disturbing.
“We’re gonna go out there and violate some rights.” -NYPD police captain (from the video)
“The stop-and-frisk program of New York City is a practice of the New York City Police Department to stop, question, and search people.[1][2] About 684,000 people were stopped in 2011.[1][3][4] New York residents have questioned whether these stops are based on reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.[5] According to NYPD statistics, over 80% of those stopped have been completely innocent.[3] The vast majority of these people were African-American or Latino …. In early July 2012, stop-and-frisk protesters who videotaped police stops in New York City were targeted by police for their activism. A “wanted”-style poster hung in a police precinct headquarters, without any allegation of criminal activity, accused one couple of being “professional agitators” whose “purpose is to portray officers in a negative way and too [sic] deter officers from conducting there [sic] responsibilities”,[10] and police officers later surveilled and recorded the exit of persons from a “stop stop-and-frisk” meeting held at the couple’s residence, allegedly in response to an emergency call of loitering and trespass.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_stop-and-frisk_program
The real deterrent is supposed to be the ability of citizens to file in federal court under section 1983 for law enforcement misconduct. Sorry to keep talking about myself, but I do have documentation galore.
Organizations like the Colorado Intergovernmental Risksharing Agency insure law enforcement misconduct. See a copy of CIRSA’s insurance with the City of Steamboat Springs Colorado on my blogspot
http://what-is-cirsa.blogspot.com/
CIRSA arranged for my case Sieverding v. City of Steamboat Springs, Colorado et al. to be dismissed and retaliated against me for filing it to begin with by having DOJ imprison me without a criminal charge or a bail hearing and by having former judge Nottingham order me to pay their bills — without them even filing a Rule 11 motion and without a Rule 11(c)(6) order. CIRSA isn’t a public entity, doesn’t pay income taxes, doesn’t report its claims paid total, isn’t claims handling procedures, or its executive compensation. I had charged that the police let the wife of the city council president, whom they had reason to know was a convicted felon, initiate criminal charges against me because I complained about zoning violations. The form was supposed to be used only by police officers who witness a crime in action and don’t have time to get a warrant. No police officer signed the form and the police report shows no evidence that they thought I did a crime — they didn’t even interview me or someone else who was nearby when we were discussing the zoning while I was on the street adjoining my home in the afternoon. The City also allowed Kevin Bennett to barricade and convert Princeton Ave, a misdemeanor, and to build extra buildings that violated the zoning and weren’t put onto the Routt County property tax rolls. And the City extorted me and forced me to give up my rights to the street adjoining my home and sell Bennett land for $1.
There are only 2 or 3 lawyers in Colorado who take section 1983 lawsuits and those they take are for long term imprisonment released on DNA evidence (Tim Masters) and for age discrimination in employment. So everyone else is pro se. And in the District of Colorado, no pro se plaintiff has EVER gotten a trial or any financial compensation.
The CIRSA insurance policies are only a $10,000 deductible so there is no reason for any local government official on CIRSA policies to be avoid unconstitutional acts at all. In fact, I read about one case in which local government employees bulldozed someone’s home and then were found to have “immunity”. And research I did a few years ago seemed to show that the City of Denver has the authority to test police for steroids and other drugs but never does.
There are inexpensive video cameras that an officers can wear on their heads which would film everything but they choose not to because that way the police can do what they want.
Police act to benefit themselves. It isn’t just a matter of impulsive beatings and rape. Police also steal. One of the things police steal are illegal drugs. The federal Government Accounting Office did a report on that a few decades ago before they turned their attention to fighting international terrorism and decided to let local government thugs oppress the population uncontrolled. Now DOJ is starting to file actions against a few police departments but it is doing nothing to help victims.
Lawlessamerica.com is a group that is attempting to document complaints by people of judicial misconduct. A significant proportion of them are people who attempted to sue local governments and police. USCourts rule making is partially at fault because it hasn’t adequately documented who has “immunity” and therefore section 1983 litigation is considered to be “complex” and therefore expensive and therefore it is hard to get an attorney unless you can put down $100 K for starting legal fees. The Cornell Legal Institute reports that the case law about “immunity” is contradictory and therefore there is no way to know how a judge will rule. Of course, all the Rules of Civil Procedure are optional; there is no one to complain to and no one to intervene when they are not followed because the judicial discipline authorities don’t want to rule on misconduct in office and the appellate courts hate pro se litigants and just want to get rid of them.
That is part of the reason for the growing distrust of government.
What does it tell you when the police secretly record their own performance reviews?
mIKE Spindell:
dont you think a guy who made billions is going to think he is right about everything.
Mike Bloomberg is a privileged billionaire who won his mayoralty by investing hundreds of millions of his own money to win his position. His concept of NYC is one where rich people like himself can live in their personal version of Disneyland. His stop and frisk policy is completely racist in nature. As a born NY’er who has lived extensively in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, I no longer recognize what it has become in terms costs and gentrification. This trend began under Giuliani, but there was resistance because Giuliani was not a likable or affable man (think Richard Nixon). Mike Bloomberg comes across as mild, affable and reasonable. In truth he is o different from Giuliani in dictatorial style, but covers himself with a bland exterior. He is supported by the Media in NY because that media has always been corporate shills and Bloomberg is the ultimate corporate favorite. Thus his portrayal to the people of NYC is always positive and they are fooled.
The state religion of NYPD is the bully religion, with its priests, evangelists, and zealots.
That’s a real interesting display of protecting and serving. Good thing the kid wasn’t drinking an extra large soda.
I am the judge at the civil trial of the suit against the LEOs (Law Enforcement Offenders). First thing I say to the cop when he or his lawyer speaks is “Shut The F up you mutt!”
Parents: where you thinking of sending sonny boy to NYC for college? Think again. Parents who live in NYC: are you thinking about stopping the abuse of civil rights in your town? Sonnyboy is next.