From a police officer caught on camera allegedly stealing money from a man, to a pregnant woman being slammed to the ground by officers and separate incidents of two young men being punched and kicked while on the ground by cops, the cameras continue to record as police brutality in the city reaches what could be its peak.
However, questions come into play as to whether the NYPD is on a rampage or if the wide availability of smartphone cameras is just uncovering the NYPD’s true activities.
One of the most recent and talked about incidents involves an unnamed NYPD officer caught on video in Coney Island pinning a man against a fence before taking money then pepper-spraying the victim.
Thirty-five-year-old Lamard Joye, a Black man, alleges that the white police officer took the wad of money out of his pocket. The video has since gone viral and raises serious questions about the NYPD’s tactics.
“If there’s another explanation, the officer or anybody from the NYPD is invited to come forward with what it is, but that is what we see,” said Robert Marinelli, Joye’s attorney. “To me, it looks like what would be defined as a robbery.”
“The incident was precipitated by a call [regarding] a man with a gun,” the NYPD said in a statement. “When officers arrived at the scene, they encountered numerous people at the location. As a result of the allegations, the matter is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau and Civilian Complaint Review Board.”
“We will aggressively seek to get those out of the department who should not be here. The brutal, the corrupt, the racist, the incompetent,” said Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, speaking at the new police academy in Queens last week. “The reality is, at this moment, that there are some in the organization who shouldn’t be here. They’re not the right fit for the NYPD of 2014. There are a few, a very few, in a very large organization, who just don’t get it.
“They don’t understand that when they take that oath of office and put that shield on, that they commit to constitutional policing, respectful policing, compassionate policing.”
However, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch said the clip that’s been circulating is too short to allow any conclusions. “The rush to judgment will leave this city with an impotent police department where police officers will be afraid to act and neighborhoods will be left to the mercy of the criminals,” he said. “Resisting and interfering with an arrest is against the law. It is time to stop the amateur video activists who interfere with police operations from setting the agenda.”
Lynch has been in defense mode over what he calls “attacks” on police officers, who, he says, are underpaid and overworked.
Lynch recently called upon the city’s corporation counsel to deny citizens the opportunity of getting paid off their arresting officers by immediately ceasing the practice of settling lawsuits against police officers.
“These ‘quick buck’ cases bank on the city’s policy to settle so-called ‘nuisance’ suits for economic reasons rather than to fight them to conclusion,” he said. “The end result is a cottage industry in the legal community of generating baseless suits for economic gain that have a secondary impact of seriously injuring the reputation of good police officers, who often are not given the opportunity to defend themselves.”
Police unions recently filed a new appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals after being denied intervening status in the federal stop-and-frisk lawsuit by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres.
Communities United for Police Reform and more than 50 organizational signatories, as well as New York City Public Advocate Letitia James and other elected officials, including the New York City Council’s Progressive Caucus, law enforcement associations and legal experts, filed amicus briefs opposing the police union’s efforts to intervene and impede the court-ordered reform process to stop-and-frisk.
“New Yorkers and communities whose rights have been violated by stop-and-frisk abuses should not be forced to wait any longer for their civil rights to be protected,” said Priscilla Gonzalez of Communities United for Police Reform. “The court of appeals must uphold the legal rights of all New Yorkers by lifting its stay and allowing the reform process to move forward, and should deny NYPD union’s recurring attempts to create gridlock. It’s time for the police unions to do what’s right for our city and their members, and allow this collaborative process, that includes both communities and police officers, to move our city forward.”
James said it is time we enact justice for communities that have been affected by stop-and-frisk abuses.
“Police unions were previously denied intervening status in the federal stop-and-frisk litigation, yet today they have persisted in their attempts to impede the process through the contract negotiation process,” she said. “Enough is enough. These reforms cannot be further delayed. Let us stand united as we continue to improve the safety of city residents.”
Just weeks ago, many of the groups announced the filing of legal briefs opposing the obstinate efforts by NYPD unions to appeal the federal court ruling that the Bloomberg administration’s stop-and-frisk program was unconstitutional.
“The NAACP remains steadfast in our support of the much-needed remedies ordered in the Floyd v. City of York class action lawsuit,” said Hazel N. Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State Conference. “We need law enforcement officers who are tuned into the needs of the communities they serve, who work with our communities to end racial profiling and implement proven, community-based policing practices that will make us all safe.”