Is there no protection for whistle blowers in the NYPD?
In The Village Voice's "NYPD Tapes" series, secret audio recordings by a police officer in Brooklyn's 81st precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant reveal a disturbing pattern of illegal police conduct:
* Manipulation of crime statistics to artificially lower numbers and categories of crimes;
* Threats against police officers if they don't meet their stop-and-frisk and arrest quotas;
* Intimidation of crime victims through "callbacks" to pressure them to downgrade or drop their complaints;
* Instructions to police officers to clear streets by arresting and detaining people for doing nothing more than standing around on streets in their own neighborhoods;
* Arrests of people for not showing identification outside of their own homes (this sounds like the NYPD version of arrests under Arizona's new immigration law, which even Mayor Bloomberg has denounced);
* Arrests by officers who didn't personally witness criminal activity (notwithstanding their own sworn complaints).
In the fourth installment of "The NYPD Tapes," the whistle blowing cop claims that a deputy chief stepped on his face with a boot, and subsequently dragged him to a psychiatric ward of a Queens hospital, where he was hospitalized and medicated against his will for six days.
The NYPD has had little to say about the accusations by the whistle blowing cop beyond stating that no one at the 81st precinct has been disciplined and claiming that there is an internal inquiry. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has declined to address a letter of complaint from City Council member Albert Vann and other elected officials, community leaders and clergy.
Unfortunately, there is no indication that investigations are underway by the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorneys of the Eastern or
Southern District of New York, or the Brooklyn District Attorney.
The police misconduct in Bed-Stuy is part of a broader pattern of police misconduct in New York City under Commissioner Kelly, which includes illegal arrests during the Republican National Convention in 2004; investigations and political arrests in Staten Island of individuals who did little more than "annoy" local politicians; bogus prostitution arrests of gay men; and hundreds of thousands of marijuana possession arrests each year, predominantly of African Americans and Latinos.
Civil liberties must matter in NYC. There must be accountability for systemic violations of our rights. We should never accept the attitude reflected by the police commissioner's recent statement that million dollar settlements of police misconduct lawsuits are simply the "cost of doing business" (New York Magazine, "Boss Kelly," May 24, 2010).
Surely we can fight crime without making criminals of NYPD officers. And surely things have changed in NYC, and the NYPD, since the days of famed whistle blower Frank Serpico, who coincidentally also worked for several years in the 81st precinct.
Scott
http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-15/news/adrian-school-craft-nypd-tapes-whistleblower/
http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-08/news/nypd-tapes-3-detective-comes-forward-downgrading-rape/
http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-05-11/news/nypd-tapes-part-2-bed-stuy
http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-05-04/news/the-nypd-tapes-inside-bed-stuy-s-81st-precinct/
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Post-Sentencing Statement: From the Family of Fahad Hashmi
From the Family of Fahad Hashmi
http://www.muslimsforjustice.org/2010/06/post-sentencing-statement-from-the-family-of-fahad-hashmi/
June 10, 2010
A chapter has closed in our brother Fahad’s ordeal with the United States government. Yesterday’s sentence reflects a harsh imposition of 15 years in prison. The proceedings were a clear indication of the government’s gross exaggeration, distortion of facts, and fear-mongering to serve their purposes. Before he was sentenced, Fahad was allowed to speak, his first public statement since being arrested 4 years ago. In his speech, he expressed his gratitude to all his supporters, Muslim and non-Muslim, for their work on his behalf and commitment to seeking justice, took responsibility for his actions, and questioned the government’s treatment of him and Muslims more broadly.
Fahad’s case reveals the reign of tyranny that the government has imposed on its Muslim population. A vague and fickle material support statute has been used to criminalize Muslims–and particularly the political and religious associations of Muslims. The statute itself is over reaching and compromises the First Amendment freedoms of speech and association. It is the subject of criticism by human and civil rights organization and a recent Supreme Court case.
The severe solitary confinement imposed on Fahad is what many experts have defined as one of the worst forms of torture. Such pre-trial isolation is punitive and used to break the human psyche. The (SAMs) Special Administrative Measures Fahad was put under make torture sound like a harmless bureaucratic act. It is in fact an act of malice manifested. Fahad’s solitary confinement was applied under the presumption of innocence, yet this presumption is often discarded when it comes to Muslim defendants. The Muslim population is the victim of due process violations that lead them to the conclusion that there is an apparent and pronounced double standard within the Federal system.
This case–and the organizing around it– have been a watershed moment to shine a light on the larger treatment of the Muslim population. Agent provocateurs besiege our communities to entrap our population; illegal and pervasive surveillance have grown commonplace. The government sows fear about our community as something radical and violent while Muslims in this country are witnesses to some of the most horrendous acts against Muslims at home and abroad. Torture and prisoner abuse at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the MCC in NYC are only examples. The language is clever to define radicalism in very broad terms so any sign of Muslims increasing faith or criticizing the US government is inherently a sign of radicalism. The “see something say something” paradigm fosters this atmosphere of mistrust and hate.
There is clearly a clever and inflammatory campaign on Islam and Muslims and it is having a devastating effect on families and communities across the country. It is necessary for the government to change its stance, and policies regarding treatment of Muslims. As we have shown through this case many Muslims and non-Muslims will not be silenced about these rights abuses and will demand justice, fairness and humane treatment.
STATEMENT OF THE FAMILY OF SYED FAHAD HASHMI
http://www.muslimsforjustice.org/2010/06/post-sentencing-statement-from-the-family-of-fahad-hashmi/
June 10, 2010
A chapter has closed in our brother Fahad’s ordeal with the United States government. Yesterday’s sentence reflects a harsh imposition of 15 years in prison. The proceedings were a clear indication of the government’s gross exaggeration, distortion of facts, and fear-mongering to serve their purposes. Before he was sentenced, Fahad was allowed to speak, his first public statement since being arrested 4 years ago. In his speech, he expressed his gratitude to all his supporters, Muslim and non-Muslim, for their work on his behalf and commitment to seeking justice, took responsibility for his actions, and questioned the government’s treatment of him and Muslims more broadly.
Fahad’s case reveals the reign of tyranny that the government has imposed on its Muslim population. A vague and fickle material support statute has been used to criminalize Muslims–and particularly the political and religious associations of Muslims. The statute itself is over reaching and compromises the First Amendment freedoms of speech and association. It is the subject of criticism by human and civil rights organization and a recent Supreme Court case.
The severe solitary confinement imposed on Fahad is what many experts have defined as one of the worst forms of torture. Such pre-trial isolation is punitive and used to break the human psyche. The (SAMs) Special Administrative Measures Fahad was put under make torture sound like a harmless bureaucratic act. It is in fact an act of malice manifested. Fahad’s solitary confinement was applied under the presumption of innocence, yet this presumption is often discarded when it comes to Muslim defendants. The Muslim population is the victim of due process violations that lead them to the conclusion that there is an apparent and pronounced double standard within the Federal system.
This case–and the organizing around it– have been a watershed moment to shine a light on the larger treatment of the Muslim population. Agent provocateurs besiege our communities to entrap our population; illegal and pervasive surveillance have grown commonplace. The government sows fear about our community as something radical and violent while Muslims in this country are witnesses to some of the most horrendous acts against Muslims at home and abroad. Torture and prisoner abuse at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the MCC in NYC are only examples. The language is clever to define radicalism in very broad terms so any sign of Muslims increasing faith or criticizing the US government is inherently a sign of radicalism. The “see something say something” paradigm fosters this atmosphere of mistrust and hate.
There is clearly a clever and inflammatory campaign on Islam and Muslims and it is having a devastating effect on families and communities across the country. It is necessary for the government to change its stance, and policies regarding treatment of Muslims. As we have shown through this case many Muslims and non-Muslims will not be silenced about these rights abuses and will demand justice, fairness and humane treatment.
STATEMENT OF THE FAMILY OF SYED FAHAD HASHMI
Supreme Court Disses Rendition and Torture Victim
Source: DemocracyNow.org
Supreme Court: Torture and Rendition Victim Maher Arar Cannot Sue in US Courts
In a major setback for holding US officials accountable for rendition and torture, the Supreme Court has rejected Arar's lawsuit against the US government. Arar was seized at New York's Kennedy Airport in 2002 on a stopover from a vacation abroad. Instead of allowing him to return home to Canada, Arar was sent to his native Syria, where he was tortured and interrogated in a tiny underground cell for nearly a year. Just after the Court's decision was announced, Arar revealed a major new development: Canada's federal law enforcement agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is conducting a criminal investigation into US and Syrian officials for their role in Arar's rendition and torture. We speak to Maher Arar.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/15/supreme_court_torture_and_rendition_victim
Supreme Court: Torture and Rendition Victim Maher Arar Cannot Sue in US Courts
In a major setback for holding US officials accountable for rendition and torture, the Supreme Court has rejected Arar's lawsuit against the US government. Arar was seized at New York's Kennedy Airport in 2002 on a stopover from a vacation abroad. Instead of allowing him to return home to Canada, Arar was sent to his native Syria, where he was tortured and interrogated in a tiny underground cell for nearly a year. Just after the Court's decision was announced, Arar revealed a major new development: Canada's federal law enforcement agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is conducting a criminal investigation into US and Syrian officials for their role in Arar's rendition and torture. We speak to Maher Arar.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/15/supreme_court_torture_and_rendition_victim
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