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Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

Police Limit "Hanging Out"


My friend and I were walking toward the subway, relieved to be out of school, when we heard a voice behind us. “You,” the voice said. It was deep and authoritative.

I turned to see a man dressed in a light blue shirt and dark pants. “Security officer,” I thought. I was ready to ignore him -- after all, I wasn’t in school anymore. Then I noticed the gun at his waist. He was a police officer.

Walking toward us, he signaled to my friend. “Let me see your ID.” My friend handed the card over to the officer. Turning it over in his hand, the officer looked at him, his eyes hidden behind shades. “Go to the dean’s office to get this back,” he said. He turned and walked away.

It was the second time that week that one of my friends had given their school ID to a police officer only to be told they would have to get it back at school the next day. This constitutes a major inconvenience, since students need their IDs to get into their school, Brooklyn Technical High School. To get the ID back, they have to go through another entrance and convince the security agents that they are students by jumping through hoops such as showing a class schedule and then answering questions to prove its theirs. This can take around 20 minutes -- just to get in the school.

More commonly, police will tell Brooklyn Tech students sitting on the steps of nearby apartment buildings, standing in the doorways of corner stores or hanging out on crowded sidewalks to go home.

Students can no longer hang out outside the school or even in the area. The police do not allow it. What was once a mass of chatting teens spread over several blocks has become a steady line of pedestrians, headed to the subway. And the situation is not limited to Brooklyn Tech.

No Loitering Allowed

When teens at Youth Communication, a nonprofit youth media organization, surveyed students at high schools around the city, they found that being reprimanded by police has become a normal part of teenage life in New York. Police officers have started clamping down on teens hanging out where, since time immemorial, they have always hung out: around their schools.

Of the 19 students surveyed from throughout the five boroughs, only four said that their schools and the local police allowed them to stay outside their school after classes ended. Many others responded as though the very idea was foolish. “Of course, no,” gawked Yaki Lin, 17, a student at Flushing International High School in Queens.

The teens said that both school security agents and the police regularly told them to “move along.” Some said that police even escorted students to the next block. This approach is not limited to so-called dangerous schools – ones cited by the state for high incidents of crime or required by the Department of Education to use metal detectors to scan all students entering the building.

New York City has the authority to institute this policy at any public school due to a section of the New York Penal Law, which says that a person is guilty of loitering when he or she “loiters or remains in or about school grounds, a college or university or grounds or a children’s overnight camp.”

Protecting Public Safety

Last February, Lee McCaskill, who was then principal at Brooklyn Tech, told the student body that the police clampdown on loitering near the school was prompted by safety concerns. Students from Tech were being robbed by outsiders and getting involved in fights, he explained in an announcement on the school’s Web site. “We are working very closely with the 88th precinct and other law enforcement officials to identify those involved in acts such as rowdiness, fighting, assault and even robbery,” the announcement read. It went on to ask the students to “whenever possible, travel in groups and leave” in a timely manner.

“ Students not involved in after-school activities should leave the school area immediately. Do not hang out near the subway, on our neighbor's property or other inappropriate areas. The officers of the 88th precinct may also ask you to move swiftly to your destination,” it continued,

A recent call to the New York City Police Department confirmed that the police presence at Tech was a response to fights and robberies in the neighborhood.

Students surveyed at other schools revealed that complaints from people who live near the school spurred police to approach students and tell them to find somewhere else to socialize.

“ We can’t stay next to the building because people in the neighboring apartment buildings complained to the school over noise,” said Ilya Arbit, 17, from Edward R. Murrow High Schoolin Brooklyn.

How to Hang Out

Many students find the policy inconvenient, especially if they live far from the school or want to wait for friends. “The police presence forced us to rush our after-school plans,” said Lionel Cox, 19, a former student at Tech, which draws students from all over the city. “We weren’t allowed to wait for friends who hadn’t left school yet or who were still in stores.”

Some of the teens surveyed have learned to outwit the police by walking, instead of standing, in front of the school building. As long as they do not stop in any one spot, the logic goes, they will not attract police attention. Others simply move to a block where police are less likely to go.

Many more teens end up spending money in local stores or businesses near their schools -- pizza parlors, corner stores, billiard halls or bowling alleys - just so they have a place to hang out with friends after classes end. And as they hang out in these establishments, the teens say, they buy and eat junk food. As private property, stores are not covered by the loitering laws.

A few especially productive students have found that after-school clubs, such as debate teams and the Model UN, provide a good way to socialize with classmates after school, far from the watchful eyes of the NYPD. But over all, when it comes to facing police officers or extracurricular activities, most teens choose the police.

Donald Moore is now a senior at City-as-School in Brooklyn. This article is adapted from the pages of our partner youth communication.

 

Policing the Police


The case of two civil rights lawyers who say they were victims of police abuse has attracted outrage among ministers and other black leaders who say that New Yorkers, particularly people of color, continue to suffer mistreatment at the hands of the police department.


Photo (c) Kevin Connors

The case occurred as several reports have highlighted problem with police conduct. In August, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the independent board charged with investigating police behavior, found that the police department is increasingly unlikely to prosecute officers on charges of misconduct. A month later, the New York Civil Liberties Union criticized the complaint board itself for being too lax and lenient on the police. And even according to the mayor's own statistics, complaints against the police continue to increase.

The Warren Case

Against this backdrop, the new Interfaith Commission on Police Accountability gathered on the steps of City Hall on September 13 to protest alleged abuse. "Too frequently, we listen to accounts of the young and the old regarding their mistreatment at the hands of some of the members of the New York City Police Department," a statement signed by 12 religious leaders said. "And while residents of our communities suffer indignities, personal injury and in some cases death, we see no meaningful efforts on the part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg or Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to eliminate the problem."

The ministers expressed outraged over the arrests of Evelyn and Michael Warren. The Warrens, who appeared at the rally, are civil rights attorneys who are married to each other.

Michael Warren told the News that he saw officers hitting a handcuffed suspect in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, at around 6 p.m. in June 21. "It reminded me of lions chasing down a zebra," Michael Warren said. "We got out of our cars. ... We expressed our concerns and requested that it stop."

Michael Warren said he then returned to his car but Sgt. Steven Talvy came after him. According to Michael Warren he was punched by an officer and forcibly removed from the vehicle."

Michael Warren, who specializes in police brutality cases, was charged with obstructing government administration, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Evelyn Warren faces disorderly conduct charges. "I got hit in the jaw, upside the head and on my lip a few times, and you can see that my pants are torn, but I'm fine. I'm great," Michael Warren told a crowd of 20 supporters the next day. Evelyn Warren was allegedly struck as well.

A police source told the News that officers were arresting a man on drug and theft charges when the Warrens stopped their car to criticize them. The source also said Evelyn Warren scratched an officer's face while she was being arrested.

The Warrens' cases will next be heard on October 23 in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

Demands for Change

Whatever happens in the Warren case, the ministers at the September 13 interfaith press conference want changes in the way the city deals with the police. When the 30 or so ministers and their supports were asked whether they themselves had been subjected to police abuse, virtually every hand went up, however reluctantly.

Police abuse is "not just against Michael Warren-and his wife who are exemplary citizens, but those not as high profile who get even worse abuse," said State Senator Bill Perkins of Harlem. He called the police department "out of control" and said that many in the black community feel "terrorized."

The interfaith group put forth four proposals that in one form or another have been kicking around for decades. They are seeking:

 

  • A "permanent independent special prosecutor," because, they say, it is "unrealistic" to expect district attorneys to prosecute police when they are so dependent on police for their own investigations.

 

 

  • "Accountability in the office of the police commissioner"
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  • That the borough presidents, not the mayor, appoint the majority of the members of the Civilian Complaint Review Board
  •  

     

  • Creation of "a community connection" for the board in all boroughs and community boards, instead of just an office in downtown Manhattan.
  •  

    In another recommendation, City Councilmember Charles Barron of East New York called for passage of a bill mandating that police interrogations be videotaped or recorded. This, he said, would have the effect of "protecting the officers and those falsely accused." But the office of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had no response to any of the proposals put forth at the press conference. While hearings were held in the spring on police-community relations, no substantive legislative agenda has come out of them.

    The Civilian Complaint Review Board

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    Stop and Frisk
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    Up Against the Constitution
    The police department considers its handling of protests at the 2004 Republican convention a major success, but the courts do not seem to agree.

    A Police Shortage
    A police presence prevents crime, writes the head of the City Council Public Safety Committee, so we cannot afford to loose officers.

    The city does have mechanisms intended to improve police-community relations, but critics charge they are not effective.

    The number of complaints has risen dramatically in the last several years. Civilian complaints against members of the department went up by almost 50 percent from fiscal year 2003 to 2007, with 7,662 complaints last year. The department attributed the increase to the creation of the city's 311 non-emergency hot line, which has made it easier to file a complaint.

    In its report "Mission Failure: Civilian Review of Policing in New York City, 1994 - 2006," the civil liberties union said: "Even as complaints of police misconduct have increased sharply over the past five years, the CCRB has been closing more than half of all complaints without an investigation." (For a commentary on theboard by its former executive director, see "The Failure of Civlian Oversight".

    Overall, the board has substantiated only about 5 percent of the complaints -- well below national averages. Andrew Case, a spokesman for the board, maintained that many of the complaints were not pursued because the person filing the charge did not follow through as required. Many complainants,he said, fail to appear at the board's office and make the required formal statements.

    Case agreed with the comment on the police department's failure to cooperate with the board, but disputed the NYCLU's computation of its substantiation rate.

    "True to form, the NYCLU has distorted or ignored the facts to reach its predetermined conclusions," Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Paul Browne said in a statement. "The NYCLU cherry-picks data and information, much of it outdated, to distort findings."

    To remedy the situation, the NYCLU offered several proposals for reform. These include establishing an office to conduct audits of the complaint board, providing more resources to the board and setting up complaint board units in each borough.

    Even in those cases where the Civilian Complaint Review Board does find wrongdoing, the police department frequently rejected the board's findings and recommendations. "When discipline is imposed," the report states, "it is often strikingly lenient in light of the severity of the misconduct documented by the CCRB."

    The NYCLU could get support for this contention from the complaint board itself. From March 1 to June 30, the police department declined to seek internal departmental trials against 31 officers, most of whom were charged with stopping people in the street without probable cause or reasonable suspicion, according to figures from the board reported in the New York Times. In comparison, over the previous four years, the department reportedly declined to pursue only 49 officers.

    The police department has faulted the board for the decline in prosecutions, saying it does not apply "appropriate legal standards." But some at the board disagree. They reportedly believe the department is simply too easy on its people.

    "Misconduct is part of a continuum of behavior and the police commissioner is entitled to draw the line wherever he wants to draw it, meaning he can impose discipline where he sees fit," board chair Franklin Stone told the Times. "But he cannot tell us that the standard we are applying is inappropriate or suddenly, after 14 years, that it has become inappropriate."

    A Troubled Past

    The city's attempts to deal with civilian complaints of police abuse have a troubled history, recounted on the complaint board's own web site. And the New York Civil Liberties Union has a history of advocating to make it stronger.

    When Mayor John Lindsay put four people from outside the department on a review board in the late 1960s, police union president John Cassese said, "I'm sick and tired of giving in to minority groups with their whims and their gripes and shouting."

    The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association proposed a referendum to bar civilians from the board, and it passed overwhelmingly. The City Council restored civilian participation in 1986 and in 1993, and under Mayor David Dinkins, the board became the all-civilian body we have today.

    But that move spurred controversy. In September 1992, 10,000 police rallied outside City Hall to protest the Dinkins administration's policy on several issues, including the mayor's support for City Council legislation creating a truly civilian board and his opposition to issuing 9mm guns to police. Journalist Wayne Barrett has recounted future Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's participation in this race-tinged rally. "He screamed 'bullshit' twice in a condemnation of Dinkins' actions." When Giuliani beat Dinkins in 1993, he quickly moved to slash the complaint board's budget.

    The issue of civilian review of the police has remained largely absent from the front pages since. The arrests of Evelyn and Michael Warren, working their way through the courts and being protested in the streets, may not be high profile enough to force all sides to sit down together and hammer out some new reforms. But the incident has clearly touched a long-frayed nerve, especially among black New Yorkers. "We need things to change," said Rev. Charles Curtis, pastor of the Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Harlem at the press conference. "We pray that something will be said to cause change."

     

    A Dwindling Police Presence


    Photo of police officers in riot helmets

    Photograph (cc) 2006 Rabih Nassar

     

    Imagine walking alone along a dark street at night, perhaps heading back to your apartment after picking up some groceries. All of a sudden, you notice a pair of footsteps behind you clapping on the pavement, growing faster and faster. You turn to see a figure briskly walking between the shadows of street lamps, one hand held behind his back. Would you feel scared? Threatened?

    Now replay the same scenario with a New York City police officer standing at the end of the block. Whether or not this shadowy figure was about to commit a crime, wouldn’t the presence of an officer make you feel calmer and safer? Of course it would, and it should, because the chances of anyone being mugged are much less where there’s a strong police presence. It’s a fact backed up by both scientific data and common sense.

    Sadly, while the number of street corners in New York remains the same, the number of officers standing on them is dwindling. And our sense of security will soon dwindle with it.

    Since reaching a high of 41,000 police officers in 2001, the ranks of the NYPD have shrunk to less than 36,000. Since 9/11, no other major metropolitan police department has reduced its staff. I find it sad and strange that we alone have allowed our police force to decrease, especially considering New York always sits in the crosshairs of terrorists.

    More Police, Less Crime

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    Policing the Police
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    The Failure of Civilian Oversight
    The former executive director of the Civilian Complaint Review Board argues that the agency is not doing the job New Yorkers need it to do.

    Stop and Frisk
    Police stopped and searched more than half a million New Yorkers in 2006, making the procedure as common in some communities as brushing one's teeth.

    Up Against the Constitution
    The police department considers its handling of protests at the 2004 Republican convention a major success, but the courts do not seem to agree.

    This drop is particularly troubling if we remember our recent history. Over the past three decades, the novel title that would best describe New York would be "A Tale of Two Cities." In the 1970s and 1980s, crime was rampant, drugs were plentiful, and economic development had come to a halt, leaving the government bankrupt. Today, we are the safest big city in the country, residents and businesses are scrambling over themselves to move here, and our coffers are plush with surpluses.

    The remarkable change in New York City can be directly tied to the drop in crime – a decrease of 75 percent since 1990 – which can be directly tied to a decision to flood the streets with more cops. The Safe Streets, Safe City initiative, started by my father City Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. and Mayor David Dinkins in 1991, increased the police department from 31,000 to 41,000 officers over 10 years. Although police departments were expanding around the country, that jump was three times the national average, and, in turn, crime rates here plummeted more than in other metropolitan centers.

    If you don’t believe me, ask the experts. In fact, New York City has been the focus of many academic studies concerning the unprecedented national decrease in crime during the 1990s, including one by noted economist Steven Levitt. In his bestseller "Freakonomics," which was co-authored with Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt proves that more police means less crime even when other factors are taken into account. Combined with more aggressive prosecutions, Levitt argues, New York’s influx of officers enabled it to outpace the rest of the country in lowering its crime rate.

    Of course, having been a prosecutor for six years, I could have told you the same thing without the complicated economic analysis. More officers mean more patrols to canvas and protect our neighborhoods. It means more low-level criminals will be caught and sent to prison before they commit worse acts. And it means more eyes and ears to spot suspicious activity before a terrorist can carry out a deadly plot.

    A Shortage of Officers

    Unfortunately, we are expecting the NYPD to do more work with fewer resources. Not only is our city expanding and growing every day, but our officers now need to be the city's first line of defense in the war against terror. I led the fight in the City Council for more police, and last year the mayor listened, adding funding for 1,200 additional officers in the budget. Yet today the Police Academy cannot produce classes large enough to meet the attrition and retirement rate of active officers, let alone out pace it at a rate needed for this expansion.

    The root of the officer shortage seems to be the poor compensation package given to rookie cops. New York City police officers have a difficult and dangerous job, one they deserve to be paid handsomely to do. The initial base pay of $25,000 does little to attract quality recruits, and the maximum pay of $59,000 does little to keep quality officers when other counties offer twice as much.

    Also contributing to the shortage is the low esteem many of our elected officials hold for our police. While critics have pointed to the disproportionate number of members of minority groups stopped by police, according to recently released police statistics, they have neglected other data. (See related article.) For instance, those statistics showed that police stop minorities in almost the exact same proportion as the race cited in criminal complaints by citizens. The information on stops was distorted and many irresponsible elected officials loudly proclaimed that these statistics were proof that the entire NYPD was racist. It would be naĂŻve at best to assume this attitude does not negatively affect police performance and recruitment.

    Without more recruits it will not take long for police performance, and our way of life, to suffer. For example, if the ranks continue to hemorrhage officers – and sadly, they show no signs of stopping – Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a recent Public Safety Committee hearing that he will have to abandon Operation Impact, one of the department’s most successful programs. That initiative brings the same general principle – more cops means less crime – to the local level, flooding high crime areas with an infusion of cops. Police officials credit Operation Impact for virtually saving several crime-ridden neighborhoods, where the quality of life has since improved dramatically.

    Public safety has been the catalyst for almost every positive development in New York City. No one would open a store if they and their customers were being robbed. No one would invest in housing if tenants were being attacked. Our police force is the dam that holds back the waves of squalor and danger that characterized the old New York.

    That dam is weakening, and we must reinforce it before it is too late. We must ensure our officers are fairly compensated and fairly judged for their noble work, allowing the ranks of the NYPD to swell to past levels. Because the next time you’re walking down the street, a blue uniform on the corner could make all the difference in the world.

    Councilmember Peter F. Vallone, Jr. represents Astoria and is the chair of the City Council's Public Safety Committee. He has sat on the council since 2002.

     



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