Tagged: cops

“What’s emerging now is that, within the thin blue line of the NYPD, there is another divide – between black and white officers. Reuters interviewed 25 African American male officers on the NYPD, 15 of whom are retired and 10 of whom are still serving. All but one said that, when off duty and out of uniform, they had been victims of racial profiling, which refers to using race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed a crime. The officers said this included being pulled over for no reason, having their heads slammed against their cars, getting guns brandished in their faces, being thrown into prison vans and experiencing stop and frisks while shopping. The majority of the officers said they had been pulled over multiple times while driving. Five had had guns pulled on them.”

Source: Michelle Conlin. “Off Duty Black Officers In New York Say They Fellow Cops.” Huffington Post. December 23, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/23/off-duty-black-cops-nypd_n_6373496.

“Protests and looting naturally capture attention. But the real rage smolders in meetings where officials redraw precincts to dilute African American voting strength or seek to slash the government payrolls that have long served as sources of black employment. It goes virtually unnoticed, however, because white rage doesn’t have to take to the streets and face rubber bullets to be heard. Instead, white rage carries an aura of respectability and has access to the courts, police, legislatures and governors, who cast its efforts as noble, though they are actually driven by the most ignoble motivations.”

Source: Carol Anderson. “Ferguson Isn’t About Black Rage Against Cops. It’s White Rage Against Progress.” Washington Post. August 29, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ferguson-wasnt-black-rage-against-copsit-was-white-rage-against-progress/2014/08/29/3055e3f4-2d75-11e4-bb9b-997ae96fad33_story.html.

“Even as violent crime has receded across New York City, arrests are near historic highs, driven by an increasingly controversial imperative that no offense is too minor for police officers to pursue.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/25/nyregion/safer-era-tests-wisdom-of-broken-windows-focus-on-minor-crime-in-new-york-city.html?_r=0.