The NYPD is once again under fire over a Brooklyn family’s claim that 43-year old Carls Alcis suffered a fatal heart attack after police raided their home.
New York Judge Shira Scheindlin has ruled that the city’s Stop and Frisk policy is unconstitutional: “No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life.”
14-year old Shaaliver Douse was shot and killed by police after ignoring commands to drop his weapon.
Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) just dropped a hard-hitting public service announcement to draw attention to the NYPD’s Stop and Frisk policy. The video – “Don’t Tread on Me” – highlights the harmful impact of this racist, unconstitutional policy, and the fight to have it struck down.
The Justice Committee has released a video featuring mothers of young men killed by the NYPD, calling on musicians to write and submit lyrics or original songs that demand justice for their families.
Despite multiple eye witness stories and the initial police report; the NYPD claims that Tamon Robinson killed himself by running into a stopped police car. In a police report filed just one week after the incident, it is clearly stated that the police vehicle hit Robinson.
NY State Senator Eric Adams says police commissioner Ray Kelly wanted the Stop and Frisk program to “instill fear” in young black and Latino men “that every time they left their homes they could be targeted by police.”
During the Floyd v. City of New York Stop and Frisk trial, an officer admitted to commanding an innocent 13 year-old boy to “stop crying like a little girl” during a stop and frisk. The boy had done nothing wrong, but he was still handcuffed and detained.
Two NYPD whistleblowers have testified that abuse of the Stop and Frisk program was propelled by a quota system, in which officers were pressured to make a certain amount of stops per month. They;ve since been harrassed and labeled as ‘rats’ by fellow officers.
The NYPD is now requiring officers to run criminal background checks on both the accused and the victim of domestic violence. Domestic violence is already an under-reported crime. Wouldn’t such a policy dissuade victims from reporting incidents of abuse?
Last night, Brooklyn teenagers took to the streets to express their outrage over the death of 16 year-old Kimani Gray. What began as a vigil for Gray quickly turned into a much more confrontational protest. These young people are fed up.
7 year-old Wilson Reyes was accused of stealing $5 from a classmate, and a scuffle ensued. Instead of being sent to the principal’s office, the NYPD took him to a police station, handcuffed Reyes to a wall, and interrogated him for hours.