Last month, in a
dispatch for The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote, "The police are
representatives of a state that derives its powers from the people." The
gravity of Coates's words are not lost on me, and I have considered the
sentence's trueness many times in the preceding weeks. "We, the
people," our founding fathers inscribed in the preamble to the
Constitution. But our present condition-one that finds the NYPD
constantly at odds with the community it is designed to protect-is a
reality our founding fathers perhaps had not predicted: a citizenry
devoid of power, and a petty police force with no sense of moral
obligation to the communities it serves. The deaths of Eric Garner and
Akai Gurley-and all the lives the NYPD has unfairly taken, and will
likely take again-are what happens when the people have no power. I am
troubled.But Coates continues, writing: "The killings of Officers Liu and Ramos
prompt national comment. The killings of black civilians do not. When it
is convenient to award qualitative value to murder, we do so. When it
isn't, we do not. We are outraged by violence done to police, because it
is violence done to all of us as a society. In the same measure, we
look away from violence done by the police, because the police are not
the true agents of the violence. We are." These words are also not lost
on me. I am now wondering: How do we reclaim the power that we have
given the NYPD, how do we reform a system so rooted in city politics-the
consequences of which have become an unending and expected American
practice-and alter our present existence? By showing just how toxic this
system has become, and by continuing to chip away at the cracks..
As
part of an ongoing series, Gawker is publishing stories from New
Yorkers who have been victims of, or witnesses to, police harassment and
brutality by the NYPD. Police brutality, which we believe should be
treated as a national crisis, is not limited to the streets of Brooklyn,
Cleveland, or Los Angeles. But examining the actions of the country's
largest and most famous police force, and giving a voice to the victims
of its violence, is a start.
1. My laptop was stolen in Grand
Central Terminal. The crime which was record by surveillance cameras was
assigned case #10-12692 by officer O'Donnell, after officer Zimmerman
claimed the item was not stolen, but lost, and refused to accept the
complaint. As part of a scheme to fudge the crime statistics, officer
O'Donnell prepared a "lost property incident report" case #10-12629,
containing statements he knew to be false, including; "The victim stated
that he did not have a phone and did not possess identification. He was
irrational, argumentative, and belligerent. He did refuse to provide a
date of birth or social security number. Address provided was checked
and is a homeless shelter." As a result, officer O'Donnell has caused
the crime to disappear, false information to be entered into official
record, and the Police record is bogus. I live in fear. [male]
2. A few years ago, I was on the Q train heading to 34 Street and a
woman had a massive seizure. While she lay on the floor shaking, no one
did anything so I went over and shifted her and held her head so she
wouldn't swallow her tongue. They held the train in the station and two
cops showed up. As the woman's seizure subsided one cop asked me if I
was was "with her". I began to explain the situation but after a few
words he suddenly screamed at me "ARE YOU WITH HER!!" I again tried to
explain but he stepped very close and screamed again "I'M ASKING YOU,
ARE YOU WITH HER!!!" At this point I completely shut down and said
nothing. Two women who had been watching began to cry and pleaded with
the officer, "He was just trying to help!" Then he turned back to me and
I just said quietly, "No I am not with her."
He left me alone
for a minute when the paramedics came, but then returned and said: "Hey
buddy, I know you're ok I just don't take shit from anyone, you know?"
It was totally bizarre. When he was screaming at me I felt like he could
have done anything. I also felt that he was on something. He was
terribly aggressive for no reason. And the whole time his partner acted
like nothing was happening. The cop was a white male in his 30s and I am
also a white male in my 30s. [male]
3. [I] was on the E this morning - a middle aged black dude in
traditional "corporate" clothes (ID card hanging around his neck and
all) walked through the sliding doors between subway cars (technically
not legal). A cop in the subway car stopped him, asked for ID (ok, so
far standard), and then asked him over and over if this man had ever
been arrested before (no)...then asked him over and over if he'd ever
gotten a ticket or citation. The dude paused and the cop immediately was
like "oh, you had to think about it" - then verbally harassed him for 5
minutes about whether or not he'd ever been in trouble with the law -
eventually forcing him to get off at the next stop to come with
him....all for being black and walking between the subway cars -
something many NY'ers do daily. [male]
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