Police Abuse, 1992

Rev. Cecil Murray, center,
iral Los Angeles reacts

of the First A.M.E. Church of South
Saturday to verdicts in the trial of four

angeles police officers charged with violating the civil rights of

be hm ETS. ‘

Ae BY iyi or Ai fee og OPE en ae

ndantsa

The Associated Press

Laurence M. Powell, left, Stacey C. Koon, Timothy

nd and Theodore J. Briseno listen as federal court clerk James
os reads the verdicts in the Rodney King federal civil rights trial

‘day in Los Angeles.

carving up
cvey says

» study, conducted by a consult-
rm at the ge of the North-
orest Lands Council, gives am-
jon to groups who are fighting
tate controls on land use in the
ndack Park.
1¢ whole debate has been driven
ze part by concern that the back
ry is belng fragmented,” sald
Behan of the New York Biue
Council, a coalition of business
rs and others who are resisting
onmental groups’ proposals.
report says there is "9 frag-
ition of the back cc = 'y. ---
it to give the Legisia\...e pause
lect on what is the problem.”

While not questioning the study's
accuracy, environmentalists said the
findings could be misleading because
they include only tracts larger than
500 acres — possibly missing much
of the activity on the waterfront land
most coveted by vacation-home

builders.

And the study did not account for
events since 1991, a period when
struggling paper companies and
other landowners have pul some
400,000 acres on the market, they

- gaid,

“Now — this year and the latter
part of last year — we are seeing
more than handwriting on the wall,”
said Michael DiNunzio of the Adiron-

. dack Council.

“The signals are there. The red

flags are up," DiNunzio said. “The

See SURVEY, Page A8

j

|

Rodney G. King on March 3, 1991. The acquitta

The Associated Press
1 of all four defen-

dants of major charges in a previous trial jaat April touched off riots

in Los Angeles that left 53 dead.

| Capital Region activists

divided on significance

By DANA LYNNE SINGFIELD
Gazette Reporter

Some of the Capital Reglon’s civil
rights activists called Saturday's ver-
dict in the Rodney King trial encour-
aging.

Others, like Alice P. Green, said
the verdict offered a mirage of a
fair and just justice system.

“ft feel that this verdict will be an
exoneration of the American justice
system and it shouldn't be,” sald
Green, executive director of the Cen-
ter for Law and Justice In Albany.

A federal jury Saturday found two
white police officers guilty of violat-
ing the civil rights of black motorist
Rodney King. Two other white offl-
cers were acquitted.

Green said the American judicial

Serbs
agree to

truce

Cease-fire pact °°:

| expands U.N. role

By JON DANISZEWSKI
The Associated Press

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-lerzegovina
.~ Bosnian Serbs and ? ms signed
a cease-fire for the emwattled cast-
ern town of Srebrenica early today

system is a dual system — one for
whites and one for blacks and other
people of color.

“We can’t overlook the jury in that
first trial,” Green said,

In that trial almost a year ago, 4
jury without any black or Hispanic
jurors that was chosen from the Los
Angeles suburb of Simi Valley acquit-
ted all four officers of criminal
charges in the videotaped beating of
King. The acquittal last year prompt-
ed violent rioting in Los Angeles.

“We had a jury composed of main-
ly whites who lived in a middle-
income community that supported
the police at all costs,” Green sald,

The federal jury, with nine whites,
two blacks and one Hispanic, was

See CIVIL, Page A7

Raenian aentaiare Hae unm ©

nation,

Koon was convicted of allowing
King's civil rights to be violated.
Powell was convicted of violating
those rights.

Officer Theodore J. Briseno, who
at one point during the beating tried
to restrain Powel], and Timothy E.
Wind, a rookie fired after the incl-
dent, were acquitted by the jury of
eight men and four women. Two ju-
rors are black.

The officers are white and King is
black, but government prosecutors
did not allege racial motivation for

See KOON, Page A6é
—— meme

INSIDE

@ Prosecution tactics changed
outcome of case from {that in ear-
lier trial, Page A4

@ Two years after beating, King
remains an enigma, Page A7

@ One juror comes forward,
says jury relied on videotape,
Page A5

@ The four officers still face an
internal police department review,
Page AS

@ Cities across nation react
with calm, Page AS

By " 7
M, : 7“
Fy; Fe
PPS Bare
‘ Pe
2 . "
‘ i

The Associated Press

Phen alert artetda wf Trento P mtererd are
jz

Albany, N.Y.. Thursday, Jan. 9, 1992 A-7

+. ae FT

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Alternatives
to prison terms

Gov, Mario M. Cuomo on Wednes-
day called for expanding programs
that provide alternatives to prison
incarceration.

The governor suggested that the
State criminal justice system as well

state prisons and local jails.

“How does it make any sense to
keep a non-violent drug felon in a jail
cell... that costs maybe $130,000 to
build and maybe $30,000 a year to maintain?” Cuomo
asked in his a to the Legislature.

Instead, certain criminals should be given treatment
for their substance abuse problems and let the jail ceils

be used for violent criminals, he said,
Alternatives to incarceration, an umbrelia program

with a network that reaches to the local levels, will be
expanded this year, Cuomo said.

Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime serves the
Capital District as of the statewide coalition. Its

director, Joanne was encouraged by the
governor's on alternatives as a more sensible
approach than new prisons.

Its five counselors work in Albany, Schenectady,

alternative to the death penaity.
@ A law authorizing medica! parole for terminally ill

@ Legislation to ensure confidentiality between rape
victims and rape crisis counselors,
@ Merging the patchwork of state trial courts into a

single
~~ Carol DeMare

iiediee dine ie a a

MPR 9 emse

a oe ee ee
, om ee) om

Bros,

ag

4

officers
indicted

O Three are facing
misdemeanor counts
in the arrest of a

former city detectives.

The panel found that there was
enough evidence to indict now:
retired Detective Kenneth 6.
of Coeymans Hollow on charges
he beat James F. Lunda and

: Kindien, .i0

es

ra 1 Tanchak t suspect
a b e il

titty. | Es i as3u3
al a i a ‘i

Bait iH HE
TLE ht i

Laue: 5

til ity ce
a THINS a ley a
Put Li

Lite
aS
§

subsite : iE
HE tie
HE f. Hidateel

AS

VAL,

hots gave
police his name,
Mills confirms

eA TIM MceGLONE
zette Reporter

innenaeticiemensieabtetianmmiamanienennneeemaree oe

SCHENECTADY — Vada Hoggs is
one of five names listed on a search
warran ant that police used to rad raid #25
— > where police =

Cains oun belag Sik, The bee ily Ga-
zette has learned.

However, police have no substan-
tial evidence that Hoggs, who died 12
hours after he was shot during the
Jan. 24 raid, was involved in the sus-
pected drug a ctivities, said Police
Commissioner Charles M. Mills.

Hoggs’ cage met with reporte -
Monday to question police tactic
during and ber tee? aid and to a pr
dema va shy nnanacr ll er secede
ap ed to inv sn rhea ath
d fend
Hoggs, 27, was shot inthe head by
t

Ls oe
y oF
ee
of last
and he

srugie. They
they did

af flay
SHAE Hi fai
ihe Hae a ul
2 rr pase

ia a1; HTL Hilt ne an tilt i
nicks vis eb St Hi

ely a sais fa
8 ld.
hie vil
§

warrant, police official says |

Continued from Page Al

going Mane to
and I don’t think up and that’s why we we want a ppt’

the family was

‘ep be phbernba "he — said Lori Grace, Hoggs’

enough

ot
—
—

ys on

through

' it would

said.

le who “I thought

and two men identified

Hak
if
FL
Hogg’s name was on search|
ae

tony Rone ale tothe de
ee told police cocain
as being sold there, said Mills.

"Part-time Cit” ‘ourt Judge Guido
Se@*HOGGS’, Page AS

‘eR ee RII

of brutali

By JOHN MORAN 8/42

gpI a

Gazette Reporter oe

ALBANY ~— A 25-year-old Clifton
Park man has filed a complaint with
Albany Police alleging an under-
cover officer smashed the man's face
on the trunk of a car, breaking his
nose, and struck him with a
light, the man’s lawyer said.

G. Van Alen was dragged

out of the arg yn seat of a car
driven by Scott Lymburmer, 25, of
Selkirk, at about 2 a.m. Sunday, said
his lawyer, Terence Kindlon. Van
Alen was put chest down on the trunk
and by the officer, who was
wearing a baseball cap and dressed in
civilian clothing, said.

‘{Van Alen] lifted his head up a
little to look around and the “i 4
smashed his head on the car,”
lon said. “It was a pretty violent
smash, —— break his nose.”

Kindlon neither Van Alen nor
Lymburmer were arrested, although
Lymburmer was given a ticket for
Mm PA ea NMG R Mee Myce ne

allegedly 43 mph in a 30 mph
zone n said he did not know

the name of the officer yet. Traffic
police arrived at the Central Avenue
scene and they issued the ticket to

Lymburmer.

headq Monday
a formal Tom to the depart-
ment’s In Affairs Unit.

Police spokesman Lt. Robert Wolf-
gang said no complaint had been filed
when he left work a uttie ste 5 9.
Monday, but that in any case it is
department policy not to comment on
cases being investigated by Internal

when Lymburmer stopped the Cadil-
lac he was driving for a red light on

a
baseball cap in a blue sedan pulled up

Clifton Park man lodges charge
ty, by Albany policeman

drive so fast,’ and [Van Alen] basi-
cally ignored him and rolled up the
window. There were no profanities,
no tion,” Kindion said.

hen the light changed the two
soon found there was an unmarked |

and pulled [V 4
The officer] said something about

were separately by Inter-
nal vely matched
each other.”

the baseball cap as nervous and
shaky,” Kindlon said.

®; Experts disagree about

(/prison in the United States,
vAmerica an
black men five times that of black

|

By FOX BUTTERFIELD
Special ia The New York Times

BOSTON, Feb. 10 — The United
States, which imprisons a larger share
of its population than any other nation,
has widened its lead over the second.
ranking country, South Africa, a pri-
vate research and advocacy group said
today.

The group, the Sentencing Project,
which is based in Washington, said
there are 1.) rnillion inmates in Ameri-
can prisons, a 68 percent increase
from 1989 to 1990. That gives the United
States an incarceration rate of 455 peo-
ple per 100,000, while the South African
rate declined by 6.6 percent and is now
31} per 100,000, according to a report
by the Sentencing Project based on
Statistics provided by various coun-
tries.

The United States’ incarceration
rate is 10 times higher than those of
Japan, Sweden, Ireland and the Nether-
lands, the report found. And Federal
and state officials estimate that the

‘{number of Americans in prison wil!

increase 30 percent by 1995, it added.

why the
United States has such a high rate of
incarceration. But Virtually all special.
istS point out that basically it reflects
the extremely high rate of crime in this

country

Crime Rate ‘Astronomical’

| “What most people don’t realize is
that our crime rate and violent crime
rate are astronomical,”’ said Mark H.
|Moore, a professor of criminal justice
) at the John F. Kennedy School of Gov-
lernment at Harvard University.

In addition, the specialists Say the
| high incarceration rate results from an
jincreasingly harsh public attitude to-
fard crime, That, they say, has led to a
‘higher percentage of convictions by
|prosecutors, tougher sentences by
judges and more laws requiring man-
'datory sentences,

The number of Americans in prison
has doubled since 1980 and tripled
since 1970, the report noted,

The report also said there were
about half a million black males in
Biving
incarceration rate for

i

males in South Africa. The United
States rate for black males in now 3,370
per 100,000, compared to only 681 per

| 100,000 in South Africa.

An earlier report by the Sentencing

| Project, in 1990, found that almost one
‘| in four black men in the United States

between the ages of 20 and 29 is either

‘} #1 prison or on parole or probation on

any given day.
Criticisms From Lawmaker

Representative John Conyers Jr.,
Democrat of Michigan, said the new
report shows that “U.S. crime control
policies are not working.”

Mr. Conyers, who is chairman of the
House Committee on Government Op-
¢rations and the senior member of the

| Congressional Black Caucus, said in a

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (AP)
~ A I7-state survey of felons who
were sentenced to probation in
1986 estimates that within three
years 43 percent of them had been
arrested again on other felony
charges, the Justice Department
said Sunday

The study, by the Bureau of
Justice Statistics, a branch of the
department, estimated that the
re-arrests of 8.5 percent of the
probationers were for violent
erimes like murder and rape.

The estimated 6,700 probation-
ers charged with COMMUTE a
Violent crime accounted for about
20 percent of the 34,000 arrests of
convicts who had been placed on
probation, or supervised release,
the survey said,

li estimated that 0.8 percent of
those felons on probation in 1986
were charged with committing
murder within the next three
years

The survey was based on court

records from 32 metropolitan
SrtcreieoaninsintsessnbntianchteniaieNheehutentitsinnlsnesintihpnnbetcsbiatncodes acini ss
Statement; "We are neat Stopping
crime. We are not curbing drugs We

are not helping victims, and we are not
rehabilitating criminals. The only ben.
eficiary of our distorted ‘lock ‘em up’

43% of Probationers Repeat

CONVICTS Were rearrested. The
study was published in (989.
Peon Lain athaleinemnbeenntl aaron vein elndbeiAnihabe nh aeihidin cs sipspecetcstemensinleesinll

scernabnaenvecsegrc eae ee ee ee TT

U.S. Expands Its Lead in the Rate of Imprisonment

1990/1991

Locked Up

Selected rates of
imprisonment per 100,000
people in 1989 and 1990 or
1991, the latest figures
available from the respective
governments.

Source: The Sentenang Project

counties in 17 states plus follaw-
up information leaned from the
files of probation offices and state
police files

The recerds af 12.370 felons
studied in those jurisdictions
were infended to be a representa-
tive sampling of the 79.043 felons
PUL On probation in pose

The study did not offer any his-
torical data on the recidivism rate
of probationers to Make compari-
sans to earlier periods, The Jius-
hee Department said the current
Study was the first it had conduct-
ed fo gauge the crime committed
bY people on probation.

But the recidivism rate for this
Broup of probationers appeared to
be Significantly lower than among
# Rroup of Convicts released from
prison that the Justice Depart
ment had previously studied.

That study, among convicts re-
leased in 1983 from Prisons int]
States, found that 63 percent of the

criminal justice policies is prison con-
struction, not crime control or preven-
tion.”

The Sentencing Project's report,
written by Mare Mauer, the group's

assistant director, said that the cost off
keeping the 1.1 million Americans be
hind bars is $20.3 billion a year.

To reduce the high cost of imprisond
ing so many people and to lower Amer-
ica's position as the world leader, Mr.
Mauer called for an alternative ap
proach to the country’s reliance on
prisons as the principal way to fight
crime and drugs. He suggested greater
use of social welfare policies like Head
Start and school dropout counseling
Programs as preventive measures to
head off crime.

Mr. Mauer also urged an end to
mandatory sentencing taws, which
were begun during the 1980's as part of
the war on drugs, and the creation of
mare community-based programs for
treating convicted criminals, rather
than locking them in jails.

Professor Moore said the data in the
Sentencing Project's report “could not
help make you (eel something is wrong
here.”

He continued: “You can't help but
notice that many of these people in

i of

prison are poor and black. You have to

feel a Jarge waste of lives and talent,|
‘reduction — and a minimum of 500

and a failure of the society,”

But he cautioned that the failure was
not of the criminal justice system
alone. The high rate of incarceration, in

fact, “may be a sign of the success of,

the criminal system,” Mr,

Moore said
Question of Violence

A larger question is why Americans
are so violent and so prone to criminal
behavior, Mr. Moore said,

Dane Archer, a professor of sociolo-
BY at the University of California at
Santa Cruz, said, “It is quite an inter-
esting mystery why we are so violent.”

In the mid-1960's, the homicide rate
in the United States was only 4.6 per
100,000, much lower than that in many
other industrialized countries, Profes-
sor Archer said. At the time, American
social scientists predicted that the
murder rate would go down.

lnstead the homicide rate climbed
sharply after the mid-1960's, until it
reached about 10 per }00,000 in 1973,
much higher than in other countries, he
said, and it has remained relatively
Stable ever since.

Oddly, during the 1960's, as crime
rose, the number of Americans in pris-
on actually declined. In 1960, there
were 212,953 Americans in state and
Federal prisons; in 1970 that number
had dropped to 196,441, said Patrick
Langan, the chief statistician of the
Bureau of Justice Statistics, a branch
of the Justice Department.

In recent years some specialists
have speculated that the growth in the
homicide rate was related to the surge
of haby boomers who were in their late
teen-age years, the period for maxi-
mum criminal behavior. But now that
the baby boom has passed and the
homicide rate has not declined, Profes-
sor Archer said, sacial scientists do not
have an answer to the prevalence of
violence in America.

justice

Stn ee eee teeter enenenmommnemenenanemeemennmntenmnnianitiinii = vn eseraen

vergiade San,

Under the or.ginal proposals, a food
manufacturer would have had to re.
duce fat, sodium, cholesterol or calo-
ries by at least 25 percent to make a
claim of “less,” and at least 50 percent
to make a claim of “reduced,”’ when
comparing a product to either its own
original product, another manufactur-
er's product or an industrywide norm.

The new proposal would eliminate
these minimum percentages, Instead,
the terms “less” and “reduced” would
be synonymous, and the product being
compared would have to meet these
criteria:

Fat: 3 grams less total fat or }
#ram less saturated fat.

"Sodium: 140 milligrams less sodi-
um,

"Cholesterol:
cholesterol,

§Calories: 40 fewer calories.

For example, a serving of ice cream
that contains 27 grams of fat — a hefty
amount — could be labeled as having
“10 percent less fat" if it contained just
3 grams less fat than the original ice
cream the company makes or if it had
3 grams of fat less than a competing
company's ice cream.

Likewise, if a manufacturer took 140
milligrams of sodium out of a serving
soup that originally contained 1,000
milligrams, it could make a claim of
“reduced sodium.” Neither reduction
is nutritionally meaningful

Under the Government's original
proposal, a minimum of 250 milligrams
of sodium would have to be removed
for a “less claim — the 25 percent

20 milligrams less

milligrams removed for a “reduced’’
claim — the 50 percent reduction.

There was criticism of the revised
proposals even within the F.D.A, “Our
concern,” said an F.D.A. official who
spoke on condition that his name not be
used, ‘is that such labeling would send
Signals that something is low in a nutri
ent when if has a significant amount of
that nutrient. The net effect is that
there are figures all aver the lot.’

The Grocery Manufacturers Associ-
ation, which found the original proposal
too restriclive, does not like the new
one much better. “We would have
found a universal one-third reduction
requirement better and much less con-
fusing to consumers,’ said Sherwin
Gardner, the association's senior vice
president for science and technology.
“The label is certainly going to be
confusing when they see all the differ-
ent percentages attached to it."

But Lester Crawford, the executive
vice president of the National Food
Processors Association, disagreed
“What the F.D.A. is trying to do is
clarify the earlier proposed regula-
tions,” he said. ‘'l think they are trying
to make it clearer, and we are not
opposed to that.”

The Office of Management and
Budget had a hand in these proposed
changes, both the P.D.A. official and
Mr. Silverglade said. The office's idea
is “to drive the market place as manu-
facturers try to outdo one another,” the
F.1).A. official said. “It seems to have
more ideological underpinnings than
anything else,’ he added, referring to
the Bush Administration's free market
policies,

in a statement, Dr. Kessler said the
agency's new proposals “reflect a de-
bate about the best way to inform
consumers of the comparative nutrient

content of foods."
THE TIMES UNION ©

Albany, N.Y., Wecinesclay, Feb. 12. 1992

8-3

Albany man who alleges police -
beat him acquitted on all counts

By John Caher

Statt writer

ALBANY ~ A man who claims in
a $7.1 million civil rights lawsuit
that he was beaten by city police
officers was acquitted Monday night
of charges that he attacked authori-
ties.

The jury seated before Supreme
Court Justice Thomas W. Keegan
deliberated for roughly 2'2 hours
before finding Robert Butler, 33, of
77 Dana Ave. not guilty of one felony
and three misdemeanor charges.

Butler had been charged with
second-degree felony assault for an
alleged attack on Lt. David Epting,
two counts of attempted third-
degree assault for allegedly trying to
punch Officer Joseph Hughes and a
single resisting arrest count involv-
ing Epting.

Butler is one of several Albany
black men whose claims of brutality
against white police officers galvan-
ized the minority community in the

past year.

Civil rights advocates contend
that police routinely abuse members
of rity and then charge
the person with a crime to cover up
their misconduct, But city lawyers
and prosecutors say defendants typi-
cally file civil rights suits against
police in an attempt to gain leverage
in a criminal action.

Jurors in the Butler case heard
sharply contrasting versions of the
Sept. 25-26, 1989, altercation.

Assistant District Attorney Paul
A. Clyne and several police officers
maintained that Butler, who has at

vietions, including two for resisting
arrest, was about to be questioned in
connection with a drug investigation
when he lashed out at authorities.

Evidence at trial showed that
police were looking for a black man
on a blue bicycle who, an informant
had said, was selling drugs, When the
paths of Butler and the police
officers crossed, Butler was riding
his daughter's blue bicycle near
Lexington and Clinton avenues in
Arbor Hill.

Police testified that Butler threw
his bicycle at Hughes and took a
swing at the officer. They said the
suspect was then restrained by
Epting, Detective Ronald McLaugh-
lin and now-retired Detective Ken-
neth Sutton.

Butler, however, said that his
bicycle was rammed from behind by
an unmarked car and that he was
attacked and beaten with clubs and a
flashlight.

Defense attorney Terence L. Kin-
dion told the jury that the police
were lying and that their version of
the altercation was illogical. He said
records from Albany Medical Center
Hospital, where Butler was treated
after the incident, prove that his
client was beaten.

“The charges were junk,” Kindlon
wai tas usligpene ones
insult to telligence ry.
The attitude of the police co? i
was really frightening, brutal and
racist.”

Clyne disagreed, contending the
ecdeal evidence “tended to refute”
Butler's claims of physical abuse and

suggested that the jury. if it had
known of the defendant's prior
convictions for resisting arrest,
would have convicted the suspect.
“My feeling on the thing is, the
jury wasn't allowed to hear about his
prior convictions for resisting ar-
rest," Clyne said. “I thought that was
an important part of the case. In the
event they had known about his prior
arrests, that would have had some
impact on their deliberations.”

Butler’s civil suit is pending be-
fore U.S. District Judge Con, G
Cholakis and is expected to come to
trial shortly. Kindion also is repre-
senting James F. Lunday, 36, of
Albany, in a similar action.

Lunday’s allegations, that he was
beaten and racially goaded by three
white police officers who mistook
him for a drug dealer, led to a grand
jury investigation last year and
misdemeanor charges against three
detectives.

The indictment alleges that Sutton
beat and racially taunted Lunday
while he was handcuffed. He is
charged with official misconduct, a
misdemeanor, and harassment, a
violation.

Also indicted on official miscon-

duct charges were detectives John
Tanchak Jr. and Thomas Schillinger.
It is alleged they witnessed a May
13, 1989, incident between Sutton and
Lunday and failed to report the
matter.
. The case, which is being prosecut-
ed by special district attorney Rich-
ard Kohn of Albany, is pendi me
before Albany County Judge John G.
Turner Jr.

Wednesday, .

' (pi4

THE DaILy GAZETTE

Owned and Published by The eg ee ge Co.

2345 Maxon Road, Schenectady,

-Y, 12308

John E.N. Hume Hl
Editor & Publisher

Denis P. Paquette
Managing Editor

Arthur J, Clayman
Editorial Page Editor

<tc DL

EDITORIALS

amen

Investigating a tragedy

gs about this

Strange, a seven-year veteran, lost a police
brutality lawsuit last year. However, the jury
awarded damages of only $11,400, and Strange
also received an award last year for disarming a

man who had a shotgun.
Hoggs is described by friends as a solid citizen,

a churchgoing student with a part-time Jeo

was not involved with drugs. Nevertheless, it is

le that he panicked and acted foolishly on
day evening.

The renctiete 10 ihe Mag 70 ee siery

ing He family wants the go to a
special prosecutor, Although there does not
appear to be a case against there is some

Siugus’ credibility, She admitted to a reporter appearance of a conflict of On the evi-
that she knew drugs were being sold from the dence available so far, an outside tion
house, and she has been charged with criminal would likely result in Strange being but
possession of a controlled substance that does not mean one is not needed.

cA, ° ‘ % cue di de ae cc ak iw

takes"
the heat

Police union head

became a

Police union President James Tuf-
fey traded barbs with the confer-
ence organizer and was re
by the parents of a man who

said hanged in the city

up.

Afterward Tuffey offered to meet
with conference organizers to see if
they could come up with common
ground to address the issue of police
racial bias.

“The worst point in your life ts

lose your child, and at that

ri |

Tuffey said.

Several people criticized Albany .
Police Chief dohn Dale for not at- (54 r20srh
tending the meeting. Green had sent ow
Dale an invitation, Schenectady Po- et
lice Commissioner M. Mills

“He works for you, he should be “Go ahead. Lrespect Alice, You

” Figueroa said. “If it was the 1 inane Neer epee’.

police commissioner of New York “You have no choice but to respect

City he would have been here.” me,” Green said, which drew a surge
le and the Albany Police De- of applause from the crowd of about

partment took offense to the w 100
mentioned communit cocaine in his system.
"sues related opie | een lowed at

to The point was why was he fo

“the role of ? said he looked different.
and pice misconduct in the all, better believe he looked differ-

ond Stallings and .” Green said.

tata PAS
land

WHITE
OPPRESSORS

EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING, ARBOR
Hill resident James White used to give his
girlfriend, Alice Hadley, a ride to her job at
Albany Medical Center. But March 20,
when White started to go warm up his car
at about 6 AM, he walked into a nightmare
that left him injured, angry and thinking
about leaving Albany.

White, 37, was in the hallway outside his
apartment door when he was confronted by
aman carrying a gun and moving quickly.
The man, later identified as an undercover
Albany police officer, yelled at White to get
down on the floor. But that was difficult,
since White wears a metal back brace.
Instead, White turned to the wall and put
his hands up over his head.

“When he came around the corner with
the gun, I thought he was going to shoot
me,” White recalled Monday during a
conversation in his apartment. “That's why
| put my hands up. I asked him what was
going on. But he never did say.”

Instead, White said he was handcuffed
behind his back and forced to the floor.

Soon two other men, whom he assumes were
police officers, arrived. The second, who was
about 35 years old and threatening, put his
foot on White's back, bending the brace’s
metal bars out of shape, White said. When
White’s position on the floor made it
difficult for the officer to open a hallway
door, according to White, he was kicked in
the head.

The third officer, the oldest of the trio,
next pulled White to his feet and, holding
him by the front of his jacket, slammed him
against the wall and then took him into
another apartment, While said. After being
roughed up some more, White continued, the
officers decided he was not the person they
wanted. The older officer returned White to
his own apartment, Standing in the middle of
the living room, the policeman explained
the officers were looking for some drug
dealers from New York and that eos +4
weren't taking any chances. He off, \
tepid apology and claimed, White saite
“that they were trying to protect me.’”,

Hadley, hearing the initial commotion
had stepped into the hall and asked what”.
was happening, But an officer ordered her °,
to go back into her apartment and stay
there. After White returned, Hadley
realized he needed medical attention and
dialed 911. A squad from the Albany Fire
Department finally came and called for an
ambulance, White was taken to Albany
Medical Center, where he was treated, given

ee

a prescription for a new brace and released.

White, who was not charged with any
crime, has met with an attomey. Heé has
filed a complaint with the Albany Police
Department and is considering additional
legal action. Lt. Robert Wolfgang, 4
department spokesman, said he could not
comment on an internal department
investigation, but confirmed that three men
from New York City had been arrested in @
neighboring apartment and hallway just
minutes before White was allegedly
assaulted.

White said the department has yet to
contact him, either to question him about
the assault, or to offer to replace the broken
brace. He believes he could identify the
three officers.

“T hope justice will be served,’ White
said. In particular, he thinks the
department should discipline the younger
officer who broke the back brace, kicked
him in the head and threatened to hurt him

Vict of brutal force: James White.

some more if he didn’t keep quiet. ‘I think
he needs help,’’ White commented.

More than two weeks after the assault,
White is still waiting for his new brace. His
left wrist, which he said was injured by
police handcuffs, is still heavily bandaged.

Every time he leaves his apartment,
White said he relives the incident. He used
to like living in Arbor Hill. “But iff!m
going to get beat up,’” he said, “I don’t
think this is the place for me. I don’t want
to live here ne more.”

— Jeff Jones
yy Tuna ete

-_ we oe

et ORE ED I TE em

ALBANY — The Police Depart-

brutality by asking them to with-
draw their support.

Alice Green, director of the Center
for Law and Justice, which has
organized Saturday's Community
Conference on Crime and Criminal
Justice at the Empire State Plaza,
filed a formal complaint with the
police on Monday morning.

She said Lt. Robert Wolfgang of
the department's communitiy rela-
tions division or his subordinates

Cassagneres seeks stories and photos Of Linen»

Conference spor

called at least three of the sponsors
asked them

“| believe that by approaching
conference sponsors, Lieutenant
z exceeded and abused his
jegal authority as 4 police official,
intimidated and unfairly coerced

of the conference and acted with

malice to undermine the center's
efforts,” she said.

Wolfgang, who is usually the
spokesman for the department, said
he could not comment because he is
the subject of the investigation.

Police Chief John Dale denied
knowing that his officers had called

ence.
The pamphlet says, “Many citizens
of the Capital District have com-

plained about ... stereotypes and
pp misconduct in the deaths of
we Stallings and Corey Shel-

n.

Sheldon, a robbery suspect, died
Jan, 3, 1991, in the Police Depart-
ment’s Division 2 lockup. His death
was ruled a suicide.

Stallings was determined to have
died in police custody in A ril from
a heart attack after he ed from
Bethlehem police and was appre
hended by Albany police.

ee a

. The case is being
reviewed by the U.S. Justice Depart-
ment's civil rights division.

Last week, Wolfgang aceused
Green of being reckless with the
facts by mentioning the two deaths
in the pamphiet to promote a
conference on police brutality.

“Tt's sad that someone would use a
death to further her own ,
Wolfgang said at that time.

Green said she did not intend to
imply in the pamphlet that
brutality was involved in the

| See POLICE / B-3

ec usnaNeaietaD ENE CP TP

POLICE

Continued from B-1

ceseenitenaaisnncnenitt Cl OOOO
but only that the deaths had generat-
ed controversy about the topic.

Dale said he had been invited to
attend the conference but decided

reading the pam)
and no Albany Police Ase nent
members are participating in the

not to after

event.

“I participated last r.” Dal
said aay others ee

of what was indica
phiet [ have no intention of

involved.”

Dale said the investigation was
immediately after |
complaint from Green but he

begun
the

can go, but in light
in this p

The pamphiet lists 41
including the State Police, the State
University of New York, Albany
Law School, Hudson Valley Commu- the

nity Col and the Albany Count
Se ice Department J J ing

in Troy.

Hudson Valley Community College

Green said she first heard about
police calls from Rubin, who

called her and said he was consider-

withdrawing his
based on what the wast bet

ee ils is scheduled 10 be him.

Rubin was unavailable for com-

sre
which gained gue god among
blacks in the 1 and early 1960s
when Maicolm X was its chief

Cone said certain Christian denom-
inations, Fag! wc ap Pentecostal
ones like the Church of God in Christ,
respond better to urban black popula-
tions than the ones that originated in
rural Southern areas.

The Pentecostal denominations
began in urban settings at the begin-
ning of the century and, therefore,
were more in tune with urban prob-
lems, he said.

The Johnson family at St. John’s
Church of God in Christ is an exam-
ple. jaar Johnson, 39, agg i said Will
¢ Jack’s gr a Nilliams-~

AcKis ; “Tt has to be aware of what is
Stor, MeKinley and Mare have oo wenn gole

f
i

g

q
|
; i

Eee
5S
3
F
E

H
i

Churches
reflect
on Davis

But funds for
continuing lawsuit
are hard to come by.

By Jay Jochnowitz ( of f / G2.
Staff writer ?

ALBANY — Eight years ago, the
elders and members of Mount Mor-
iah Missionary Baptist Church
helped bury Jessie Davis after he
was shot to death by Albany police.

On Sunday, a month and a day
short of the anniversary of Davis’
death, they passed the collection
plate around this church, a simple
building on Spruce Street in the
shadow of a Freihofer's factory, with
plastic appliques for stained-glass
windows and, on this morning, a
congregation of 10. When the money
was counted, Deacon Keith Smith
announced the total, $7.36.

None of it, however, was headed
for a lawsuit over Davis’ death,
despite a plea from Davis’ family
and the Albany Center for Law and
Justice, a civil rights group trying to
keep his federal case alive.

As part of “Jessie Davis Memorial
Week,” those involved with the case
had asked for special church collee-
tions Sunday, stating the case could
die unless they raise $10,000 by July
1 for expert witnesses.

But even in those congregations
that might once have been consid-
ered closest to the Davis case, the
money wasn't coming.

Church officials blamed two basic

roblems. Those like Smith and

iount Moriah’s pastor, the Rev.
Cleveland Everett, who handled Da-
vis’ funeral, said the call for funds
came too late to plan anything even
if the church was so inclined.

noted that Davis’ sister,

Louise Thornton, was once @ mem-
ber of the church, but bas not
communicated

returned in years or
recently any need of money.

“it’s Kind ot nard to do something
when you don’t know what you're
doing,” said Smith, adding that any
time people are asking for money,
the request needs to be examined.

There also a rs to be some
division about w the case is

worth pursuing after all these years.
While some said the Davis case is

alive in their minds, the feeling isn’t
universal.

“Por ... years, nobody said any-
thing,” said Smith. “Now, they come
back. It’s a forgotten thing.”

At Macedonia Baptist Church on
North Allen Street, where the Davis
funeral was actually held, the Rev.
Leonard Comithier said he was
surprised to learn last week the suit
was still going on.

But while the news came too late
in the week to arrange something for
Sunday, he said the shooting remains

of interest and some effort may yet
emerge.

“It's alive in people's minds in the
sense that historically, there is just
one example of many instances,” he
said, “In most people's minds, it’s an
issue that’s not resolved.”

Davis, a mentally ill black Arbor
Hill resident, was killed July 8, 1984,
when police responded to a report of
a man gone beserk and he allegedly
attacked them with a knife and a
large fork.

Police were cleared of wrongdo-
ing by an Albany County grand jury
and a labor dispute arbitrator. The
Davis family sued in federal court in
1987, claiming police had violated
Davis’ civil rights and the case,
handled by attorney Lewis Oliver,
has been in the courts since then.

The Rev. McKinley Johnson, co-

said he, too, got word of the
fund-raiser last week, too short @
notice to decide whether to partict~
pate or how. “It’s not that we're nat

going to do something,” he said. “We

about it.”

Also missing the fund-raiser was
Mount Calvary Baptist Church,
whose pastor, the Rev. Robert Dixon,

of St. John’s Church of God in.

haven't had an opportunity to talk

See DAVIS / 8-3

notice might cause

hoped churches wut Gat ae

her group would be contacting

chast the’ cane “an ue

mney need for
rches, she added, were not

expected to be the main source of

that many pointed to as an example

Members of the 3rd U.S. infantry, also known as the Old Guard, place flags in

only time each year they can be decorated. Memorial Day stories on B-1.

AP

Artington Natonal Cemetery to commemorate Memorial Day, the

Verdicts suggest juries swayed by race

@ Studies have shown minorities are awarded
less than whites in similar cases

By Joun Caner !#v 29, 1993

Staft writer

ALBANY ~~ Four recent verdicts
in local police brutality lawsuits
spotlight what some experts contend
is a disturbing pattern in the justice
system: Juries tend to award far less
to minorities than whites.

Several studies have shown that
when African-Americans and other
minorities win civil rights and per-
sonal-injury lawsuits, they are
awarded less than non-minorities
who prevail in similar cases. Recent

civil rights matters in Albany —
including a $35,000 verdict Thurs-
day in favor of a local black man who
was beaten and insulted by a white
detective — seem to follow that
trend.

“It ia more difficult to get justice or
fairness in the courts if you are a
black person,” said Thomas S. Cos-
tello, assistant dean of correctional
programs at Sage Evening College.
“Statistically, it seems the court
system has favored white plaintiffs
more than black plaintiffs.”

No cheap suits
for state authorities

@ To battle gadfly,
Thruway Authority and
MTA hire high-priced
legal talent

BY lane GOTTLIES
Capital bureau

It's costing private guy Robert
Schulz $250 to sue the Thruway
Authority over what he considers its
illegal use of funds to fix roads,

That's just what the suit's costing
the Thruway Authority. An hour.

They've hired Arthur Liman, the
nationally renowned lawyer who

ners. That'll run about $325 an hour.

“It's not intimidating,” said
Schulz, “I'm flattered. The adminis-
tration wants the best legal minds.
They can't hire them so they're
asking the authorities to hire them,
They've got a lot at stake.”

At stake are the state's borrowing
practices, being tested in a suit
Schulz and 11 other people have
brought in state Supreme Court.
The defendants must answer by next
Friday. Until then, a temporary re-
straining order imposed by a judge
bars the state from starting the
process of issuing $6 billion in

Although it is impossible to deter-
mine the role of race, if any, in recent
local civil rights matters, consider
the disparity in these verdicts: ae

@ Daniel Amiaw, a white man -

who was slapped around by an’ Al-
bany detective, won a federal civil
rights claim last summer. The jury
found evidence of exceasive force,
false arrest and malicious prosecu-
tion. Verdict: $190,000,

@ Ronald W. Grier, a black city
resident, sued over a 1988 altercation
with Albany police. A jury unani-
mously agreed that a 240-pound
police officer who stood or jumped on
Grier’s chest used excessive force.

@ The Troy NAACP com- y
plains that Troy cops ara
harassing blacks, 8-5 —

Verdict: $1.

@ Rosemary Bradway, a white
woman in Rensselaer. County, ac
cused the State Police of vating
her rights when. they raided her
home and arrested ‘her on. theft
charges in 1988. The jury found that
Bradway had been falsely arrested.
Verdict: $101,300.

@James F. Lunday UL, who is
black, alleged in the case decided

Please see LUNDAY A-§

Me a 5 if

4 percent , ... in last year's seco
half.

The revised rate was just half t
meager 1.8 percent first-quarter r:
that the Commerce Department |
ported a month ago. A big surge
imports — much of which appare:
ly went unsold and ended up
inventories —- accounted for ¢

downward revision in growth.

Meanwhile, first-quarter inflati
was at ita highest since 4.9 percent

. the first quarter of 1991. The broa

eat inflation measure rose at a <
percent ‘annual rate, the Commer
‘Départent, said, the'same'as ex
‘ mated:p month ago. That compar
‘with 3.4 percent last fall and ‘
percent in the summer. 3
‘Clinton administration officie
pointed to the revised GDP data a:
the inflation figures aa reasons |
advancing their agenda of econon

remedies.
“This shows why we needed t
President's stimulus package to ;

the economy rolling for the sh:
term,” Jack F. DeVore Jr., the ch

Please see ECONOMY A-

alt) it

Albany, N.Y. Saturday, May 29, 1993

TIMES UNION A-5.

eee

“This is a very important issue
that will likely go to the Court of

Appeals,” said Thruway Authority
top legal talent spokesman Arthur D'Isabel.
ties this action, and which the MTA and To Schulz, it all represents more
ved the Thruway Authority could have wasted money by an institution he
eys used as defense counsel as well. believes is simply addicted to borow-
MTA spokesman John Cun-  ingmoney.

case ningham said he was certain they “The constitution is so plainly
‘at- had a good defense against Schulz. worded it leaves no room for inter-
xes- But like the Thruway Authority, he pretation. They're going to interpret
‘al’s also acknowledged the seriousness the constitution differently than the
ein thecase Attomey General's office?” he asked.

+
| Q: Why

glass

does Waterford crystal have bubbies in th

° »

A: Waterford crystal is hand blown ty mouth ; j i
and cut by hand, and no two preces are ever { nil

exactiy the same. Each prece fas its own Kenrrenenetntnn setae atts

character. Just as fine onental rugs oF :

handmade lace are never the same, neither is David Adams

a prece of Waterford. The bubbles that may

be seen in the glass are Not flaws or defects. they are part of the handmade glass

process. The hand cutting 1s time consurmung. Cutters spend at lease 9 years a5

apprentices in learning their centurres old art. It takes over 40 workenan to create a
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ih 8 North Pear treet... Albany

i 463-3218 :
PERSONAL INJURY, BANKRUPTCY, ESTATE LAW

~

| Q: Why 16 @ enportant to have a Will?

|
{

|
{ | A: Without a Will your estate wall be distributed
ne For example. ifah

dies and is survived by a wife and 4 minor
children. the law requires that his estate be

This may result saevituation where the spouse's share of the estate may net te
sufficient to provide for the farnity financial needs. Everyone should have a Will
avord potential problems such as the one mentioned above. The cost of
aoe arang 2 Will w nominal and it avords headaches down the road.

I
their share of the estate will be placed in trust until they
-

thses
om

Continued from A-1

Persad comeIS Sa

LUNDAY: Small awards -

Thursday that he was physically and
racially abused by white police offi-
cers. The jury found that a detective
beat Lunday while he was hand-
cuffed, called him “nigger” and “jun-
gie bunny” and then lied about the
incident under oath, Verdict: $35,-

much leas than James Lunday in the
way of humiliation and much less in
the way of physical abuse. But Dan
Amlaw looked like he could have
been the son of anyone on the jury.”

its members from rural and subur-
ban communities outside Albany.
Mark S. Mishler, an Albany attor-
ney who represented Grier and who
defended Mathia Sidoti, the former
officer who testified against her col-
leagues in the Lunday case, said the
“disturbing pattern of jury verdicts”
suggests a racial element.

“White people who have their civil
rights violated receive significantly
higher verdicts than black people,”
Mishler said, referring to federal
District of
New York. “It's hard not to think
that the race of the plaintiff is a
significant factor in the amount of
recovery.”

Yet Mishler does not believe juries
are overtly racist. Rather, he sus-
pects that insidious, subconscious
attitudes of white jurors affect delib-
erations, “possibly in ways the jurors
are not even aware of.”

Stephen J. Rehfuss, an attorney
who has defended the city of Albany

may affect the size of the award.
However, Rehfuss pointed out that
with the many variables at work —
different juries, different fact pat-
terns — he is reluctant to su

of court administrators, social theor-
iats and reform advocates in recent
years, While studies can, and do,

prove that minorities fare less well
than whites in court, they don't
necessarily show why.

The state Commission on Minor-.
ties, in a 2,000-page 1991 report
based on a three-year study, declared
that there are, in effect, two court
systems, “one for whites and a very
different one for minorities and the
poor.” It found that there are so few
minorities involved in judicial sys-
tem that their concerns are often
overlooked and, at times, subverted.

More recently, a report by the
Capital District Black Bar Associa-
tion said the court system is ham-
pered by a quirky trend: Minorities
don't trust the court system and
don't want to get involved because

‘there aren't many African-Ameri-

cans and Hispanics in the system.

The Lunday trial was watched
closely by civil rights groups.

Alice Green, executive director of
the Center for Law and Justice,
promptly blasted the verdict, which
cleared three of the four police offi-
cers involved in Lunday’s arrest, as
well as the size of the judgment.

“I think the decision is so frighten-
ing,” Green said. “It sends a clear
message that police can continue to
violate the civil rights of blacks with
impunity, Every African-American
and every person of color should bv
frightened knowing that they ha®
no protection.”

On Friday, Merton Simpson, co-
chair of the Capital District Coali-
tion Against Apartheid and Racism,
called the “puny” $35,000 verdict
“another indication of the bankrupt-
cy of the criminal justice system.”

“You have this case of James
Lunday, with no criminal record, not
involved in criminal activity when
confronted by the police, who was...
brutalized — actually tortured —
and subjected to physical abuse,
including racial epithets,” Simpson
said. “The proper context to view the:
verdict is in the backdrop of Rodney:

But Simpson and other critics of
the verdict, while bothered by the.
size of the award, say they are en~
couraged that an all-white jury:
would believe the word of a 38-year~
old black mechanic over that of three.
retired white detectives. .

“The jurors condemned (a detec.
tive’s behavior) in a way they.
thought appropriate,” Kindlon said.
“I¢ would have been nice to have’
geen a more ringing tion>
But 1 don't thi e who are
white can connect with the idea ther.
when a black person gets cut.
bleeds and hurts just a8 much.”

Tough terms asked in King case :

Tue Daity GAZETTE

B

Fripay
Marcu 27, 1992

LocaL NEws

OPiniy..__
RENSSELAER
SARATOGA

ScHuenecrapy

Bu,e

Albany man alleges police brutality in raid

By JOHN MORAN
Gazette Reporter

reeves

ALBANY -- An Arbor Hill man on
disability said he was kicked and
stepped on by undercover police offi-
cers when they mistook him for a

dealer during a raid last week.

James White, 37, of 285 Colonie St.
said he filed a formal complaint with
the Police Department's Internal Af-
fairs Unit W ay alleging one of-
ficer kicked him in the head and step-

on his back, breaking his back
while he lay face down on the
floor.
‘The raid occurred last Friday.

The complaint also alleges another
officer threw him against a sink and
then against a wall. White said that
after he told this officer his name the
officer took White back to White's
apartment and he was not charged
with a crime. “He said I'm sorry,”
White said yesterday. “He said they
were on for some guys from
New York selling drugs.”

White said the incident took place
at a 6 a.m. Friday FF the haliway
outside his t. Later that day

ce cuoek & one release saying
y arrested three people at 5:40
a.m. on drug-related charges at 285

Colonie St., apartment E-3. White
lives in a t E-4.

Police esman Lt. Robert Wolf-
gang said Thursday that police did
make several arrests at that address
that morning but that he was not
aware of any formal complaint being
filed with Internal Affairs. Wolfgang
said it was too late in the gd find
out from Internal Affairs if they took
a complaint on the matter.

If a complaint was filed and an
investigation begun, Wolfgang said
he would not be able to comment on
it.

White, who said he wears a brace
because of chronic back problems,

said he was still in pain Thursday
because of the incident. He supplied
documents showing he went to Al-
bany Medical Center Hospital at 6:46
am. Friday where he was treated,
released and referred for further
treatment. He was given a prescrip-
tion for a new back brace.

According to White, he was on his
way out of the apartment that morn-
ing to warm up his car to give his
girlfriend, Alice Hadley, a ride to
work.

He was leaving the apartment
building when, “This guy comes
around the corner and he pulled a gun
out and said, ‘Get down,’ " White said.

Javea yneanpnnmnneanane aan

“I put my hands on the wall and he
threw me down on the floor, He had
his knee in my back when he put the
handcuffs on. I told him I had a brace
on and he stopped,” White said.

Next a second officer appeared
and stepped on White's back, break-
ing the brace, according to White.
This second officer also went to open
a door and could not because White's
head was in the way, and White said
the officer kicked him in the right
side of the head to move him.

“[ don't know what was going
through this guy’s mind but vio-
lence,” White said, “They just seem-
ed like they were mad.”

He described this second officer as
a white male, about 35 years old, 5
feet, 8 inches tall with brown eyes
and blondish hair.

The officers never identified them-
selves but White said he would “sure-
ly never forget” the faces of the offi-
cers. He said they were not in uni-
form and were wearing sneakers,
jeans and bullet-proof vests. White
said at one point he saw them talkin
with uniformed officers by a mark
police car in front of his apartment
building.

Hadley is listed on the complaint as

See POLICE, Page B9

eae

Police brutality alleged in Albany raid

ite gave his name, |
Continued from Page Bl A third officer appeared and, with ment after Wh
a witness, and White said she could Pn h age pa he a oo White said.
also identify the officers. ment E-3 next door, White on “] showed rep es he ry oht
came partment There the third officer threw White mya show a
ren Wi anne against the sink and against a wall, icine. He said he was sorry. That they

when White on the floor, but h
lice ordered her back into her ot the complaint states, This officer were trying to protect me,” White

ment, White said. then helped White back to his apart- said.

-_

THE TIMES UNION °

naa sr aman tnd athena enti onin ens

____ Albany, N.Y., Tuesday, March 31, 1992

area 1.4 eam arenes re

$1.2M awarded in Schenectady brutality suit -

(City officials
discuss award
despite gag order.

By Marv Cermak
and John Caher

Staff writers

SCHENECTADY A federal
court jury has returned a $1.2 million
award against the city in connection
with a 1989 lawsuit charging police
brutality

City Corporation Counsel Michael
R. Cuevas said that because the
judge in federai district court in
Binghamton has issued a gag order
regarding financial issues to ail
parties involved, he could not discuss
any possible awards in the John C.
Rodick case.

However, the information on the
award was learned from other city
officials. It also was learned that the
jury will reconvene April 9 to
consider possible punitive damages
against five city police officers
involved in the legal action

The officials said the city would

appeal the decision. Because the city
does not have insurance, if the
appeal fails the $1.2 million payment
would have to be borrowed.

The City Council Claims Commit-
tee met for about one hour. behind
closed doors Monday night to discuss
the matter.

On Thursday evening, U.S, District
Judge Thomas J. McAvoy issued a
gag order prohibiting lawyers in the
case from revealing what verdict, if
any, was announced by the jury and
why the panel and lawyers must
return to the judge's Binghamton
court April 9 for further proceedings.

Rodick, 45, contends that he was

pounded with flashlights and night-
sticks on Feb. 27, 1989 when he was
arrested by Schenectady police on a
warrant from Florida. Court records
indicate that police thought Rodick
was wanted for two homicide
charges, but he actually was sought
for an alleged violation of probation
stemming from a misdemeanor
traffic charge.

Rodick, of Broadway. pleaded no
contest to charges of leaving the
scene of a 1984 accident in Florida
that left two people dead. He was

placed on five years’ probation.

The federal civil ts lawsuit
alleges that Schenectady police sav-
agely beat Rodick at his home and
then dragged him out of the house
naked, Rodick lived on Front Street
in the Stockade section at the time.
The suit names the city and police
officers Kevin Coker, Brian Carroll,
Eric Yager, Robert McHugh and
Jack Palvo Jr.

City officials contend that Rodick
was oe by and that he struggled
with police officers who “no
choice Fat to restrain the suspect.

A jury heard | for about
two weeks and began
around noon on Thursday. After the
jury deliberated for po hours,
McAvoy released the panel, told
jurors and lawyers to return April 9
and forbade court officials from

disclosing what had occurred.

“In deference to the direction of
the court, no information will be
released nor comment made by the

attorneys or Mr. Rodick until the
conclusion of proceedings now
scheduled for _— 9 in Bingham-
ton,” accord state-
ment issued

Kevin A. Luibrand and John T.
Mitchell of the Albany firm of Tobin
and Dempf.

Trials sometimes are “bifurcat-
ed,” or split into two branches, with
the jury first determining liability
amd then returning to consider the
amount of damages. Luibrand said
the Rodick case was “not bifurcated
in that fashion,” but declined to
elaborate.

McAvoy is vacationing in Florida
and is scheduled to return April 8.

Federal judges, who are appointed
for life, have come under increased
scrutiny in recent months, Earlier
this year, Senior U.S. District Judge
John Elfvin of Buffalo was criticized
severely when he left for a 3\4-week
Caribbean vacation while a jury was

Attorneys in the Rodick case said
McAvoy's vacation plans had —
lutely no bearing on the course of

trial or the delay y in proceedings.

official in McAvoy's office, oi
tioned about the case, said, “The
judge has left instructions that no

comments will be forthcoming from
eeursiese on shabanetien:

1. @ f
a)

eras a

om 2yR oO5v2

~~ em
CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE, INC.

PROPOSED COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECTS - LONG AND SHORT TERM

(Listed are major goals or projects. Each project committee would
define its specific objectives and resource needs. ) .

ee HUMAN OUTREACH PROJECT - Organize a home and phone tree to make
human contact with all community residents, so that they can be
included in community meetings, conferences, demonstrations, etc.
The concern is to strengthen the existing ability to reach and
communicate with poor people, people of color, and other powerless
groups in neighborhoods and the general community. It is also
important to recruit community leaders who have not been visible
and involved in local issues around police misconduct and problems

of racism.

2. POLICE ABUSE LAWSUIT FUND - There is an immediate need to raise
up to $10,000 dollars to complete the Jesse Davis civil rights
lawsuit. Other pending lawsuits cannot go forward without
necessary funds for expert witnesses and other legal support
services. There needs to be a continuing effort to raise money for
this purpose. Successful lawsuits may be a potent weapon against
police abuse.

3. POLICE ABUSE VICTIMS' SUPPORT PROJECT - Community residents can
be trained to provide assistance to victims of abuse. Volunteers
are needed to assist victims with filing complaints, monitoring the
investigation process, providing social support, etc. The King
verdict could mean that victims will be more reluctant to file
complaints especially if there is no visible support in the
community.

4 CAPITAL DISTRICT COMMUNITY/POLICE INTERACTION STUDS © A strong

study of the existing relationship that exists between police
departments and the communities they are mandated to serve can be

helpful in promoting change. Areas of study could include: a
department's philosophy of policing; quality of leadership; role
of police unions; police/community relations efforts; a

department's ability to handle complaints; police staffing
characteristics; availability of stress reduction services for
police; etc.

~2-

The study might also include a survey that can capture the ideas,
concerns, and perceptions of specific neighborhoods about policing
in general. Police misconduct is only one concern in some
communities; there may be a number of others that need to be
understood such as the quality of police service, response time,
beneficial department programs, etc.

It may also be useful to compare survey results to those done in
other communities in the state and across the country.

5. YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROJECT ~- Additional quality attention

and programming must be given to inner city youth during the coming
months. The King verdict has made them feel more hopeless and
confused about their future in this society and in their
communities. Effective programs must be presented on streets,
community centers and wherever young people are. The programs
should focus upon learning legal rights; safely handling contacts
with police and other criminal justice officials; adopting
alternative to violence behavior strategies; and understanding the
need for and employing the use of good sound health care practices
that include the avoidance of drugs and alcohol. This would be an
important area to include local health care professionals and
medical students, particularly those of color.

6. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES AND THE COURT -

This project calls for the study and reporting of stated
affirmative action goals of area police, district attorney, public
defender, and probation offices as well as area courts. Included
should be an assessment of an agency's ability and receptivity
towards bringing in and retaining people of color in the workplace.
The community can promote change in a number of ways. It can
comment on the commitment of agencies to change; identify and
recruit all area affirmative action officers to aid in the search
for candidates of color. As well, community residents can offer
ideas for recritment and suggest applicants for the appropriate

positions.

eRe ATTORNE} LIC} POLICE SHOOTINGS - Absent the
existence of independent review bodies, district attorneys of area

grand jury for investigation. With judicial permission, the grand
jury should issue a public report pertaining to appropriate police
department policies and the execution of such policies by those
officers involved in the use of deadly force.

8. PUBLICATION OF OMMUNL' RIMINAL JUSTICE NEWSLETTER - The
community must keep informed about the progress of criminal justice
programs and projects undertaken by the Community Action Against
Racism and Violence project. Residents also need to be educated
about criminal justice issues, policies, and procedures, and
individual legal and civil rights.

9. SAVE "THE SCENE" - "The Scene" inner city monthly newspaper has
not been printed since November, 1991. There is a new campaign
underway to make the newspaper financially stable.

10. FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY ACTION AGAINST RACISM AND VIOLENCE - Some
financial and material resources are needed to carry out the
project. Of special need is a grantsperson who can assist with
writing proposals for funding. Also, in-kind contributions such
as copying, paper, mailing, etc. are needed immediately.

The Center needs a copy machine to produce large amounts of
material for distribution in the community.

1l. CONFERENCE RECOMMENDATIONS :

LIA. CITIZEN OVERSIGHT OF POLICE ~ A coalition is being formed in
Albany to work for the establishment of an independent Civilian
Review Board. The coalition is asking community residents to sign
petitions calling for the establishment of such a Board.

11B. COURT MONITORING PROJECT - Through this project residents
would observe and report on the condition and operation of area

courts. Of particular concern 15 maintaining a presence in the
court.

11c. SENSITIVITY TRAINING FOR POLICE, JUDGES, AND LAWYERS -
Residents would help develop and conduct training sessions for
criminal justice professionals on issues around violence, race,
racism, poverty, disabilities, etc.

11D. JURY DUTY ~- A campaign could be waged to examine the reasons
for the lack of involvement and exclusion of people of color in
jury pools and to make recommendations for change in existing
procedures for selecting and including citizens on juries. Efforts
to encourage citizens to register to vote and to serve on juries
should be undertaken.

Ils. ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATION - Examination should be made of
each area county's commitment to the use of alternatives to
incarceration and the availability of existing programs for people
of color and women in particular. It will be important to learn
how the community can be more involved in developing and sponsoring
alternative programs in their communities.

i eannerneneTer ent

~4a-

LIF. DIALOGUE WITH ALBANY POLICE UNION PRESIDENT JAMES TUFFY -

During the conference, Mr. Tuffy expressed an interest in beginning
a dialogue with community groups about racism in policing.

11G. NETWORKING AMONG GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES ~ Projects are more
likely to be successful if there is a sharing of information, ideas

and resources.

11H. CHILDCARE IN THE COURTS ~ The access of powerless groups to
the courts and justice can be enhanced when good safe childcare

services are provided by the courts.

12. VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR - The Center for Law and Justice needs
a qualified person to assist with the management and supervision

of volunteers willing to work on projects.

eae Wes tae win ath sim we Uh eam. ee: ON ON ca ea Tm ORY Ye AR em a tom a ay SOP a ie ey oe Ne

CAPITAL DISTRICT COMMUNITY ACTION AGAINST RACISM AND VIOLENCE

PROPOSED ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

COMMUNITY SPONSORS
(The Center for Law and Justice, Inc., et.al.)

COMMUNITY ACTION COORDINATORS (2)

PROJECT PROJECT PROJECT PROJECT

COORD. (2) COORD. (2) COORD. (2) COORD. (2)

(Community sponsors would select coordinators who in turn would be
responsible for defining project objectives and resource needs, and
coordinating the work and activities of the assigned project.

It is expected’ that project coordinators would be selected by May
22, 1992. Project committees would meet soon thereafter. A full
community action meeting should he called for some time towards the
end of June for a progress report on each project's activities.)

New Civil Rights Act
doesn’t call for quotas

By PHILLIP STECK
For The Sunday Gazette

ie 4 [= a quota bill.” “It’s not a

uota bill.” Like little chil-

n, America’s politicians

have taken turns characterizing the
Civil Rights Act of 1991.

First President Bush chastised
for presenting him with the
legislation, then he turned around
and, as part of a political com
mise, signed it into law. Later, Pat-
rick Buchanan lambasted Bush for
being a traitor to the anti-quota
cause, When all political rhetoric is
put aside, and replaced with sober
analysis, there is absolutely no sup-
port for the claim that the legislation
encourages the use of racial quotas in
employers’ hiring practices.

The association between the Civil
Rights Act of 1991 and quotas first
entered the political lexicon through
a surprising source, the U.S. Supreme
Court. In a 1989 decision known as
Ward's Cove Packing Co. vs. Anto-

», the court held that the employ-

ent practices of an Alaska
cannery did not inherently violate
Title of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 simply because they resulted in
an unskilled work force that was 52

t non-white and a skilled work
orce that was virtually all white.

Distinction is made

Although various discriminatory
reasons for the disparity were identi-
fied, such as nepotism in hiring for
the white-collar jobs, the court ruled
that the unskilled work force could
not be compared with the skilled
work force and that the employer
therefore had no burden to prove the
imbalance was justified by its busi-
ness nesds.

Justice Byron White’s majority
page= nip se the magic words:
“The only practicable option for
many emy if the lawsuit were
quotas, een pes tg

no 4
work force deviates in racial compo-
sition from the other portions
thereof; this is a result that a

was introduced to countermand the
Supreme Court’s decision,

Actually, Congress only sought a
return to the Su Court’s
nal pronouncement of the law in
these cases of so-called “disparate
impact” be racial minorities and
women. Eighteen years earlier, by
unanimous vote in G vs. Duke
Power Co., the justices declared
that the central objective of Title VI
was to eliminate ostensibly neutral
hiring practices that froze the sta-
tus quo of prior discrimination, un-
less necessity justified pres-
ervation of the employment prac-
tices.

In Ward's Cove, Justice White re-
pudiated the prior precedent and re-
wrote existing law to accord with the
— power of more conservative
poli philosophy. It was remark-
able how the court redefined “legisia-
tive intent” to suit its new agenda.
Three dissenting justices
extraordinary frustration with the
court's change of course: “One won-
ders whether the majority still be-
lieves that race discrimination is a
problem in our society, or even re-
members that it ever was.”

The decision lacked a sound legal
foundation. There was no evidence in
the case that quotas would result
from continued adherence to the
Griggs standard. Justice bela ggh bond
clusion was ee specula
ply the growing politiciza-

on of the Supreme Court, rather
than upholding the traditional role of
the judiciary as arbiters of evi-
dence,

successful.
the Civil Rights Act

Cagney rejected te dending ‘itle proof

The political outcry against the de-
¢ « was fierce, was not
imypcessed with the -

preten-
sion to be diviners of legislative in-
seek. Atuaest iguanadlablly \eqitiation

particular employment practices
See CIVIL, Page E4

Act and quotas

Rights

vil

i

C
Two attorneys receive honors
for efforts in civil rights causes

‘Center for Law &

Justice recognizes
Mark S. Mishler and
Ralph E. Powe.

By Caroli DeMare

Statt writer

ALBANY Two local attorneys
have been honored for their involve-
ment in civil rights and = anti-
discrimination causes

Mark S. Mishler and Ralph E.
Powe received awards earlier this
month from the Center for Law &
Justice,

The recognition, known as the
“Frederick Douglass Struggle for
Justice Award,” is given in honor of
the black abolitionist and human
rights activist.

The awards were presented by
Alice P. Green, director of the
Center for Law & Justice, and H.
Patrick Swygert, president of the
State University at Albany, at the
Capital District Community Confer-
ence on Crime and Criminal Justice.

Mishier, since coming to Albany in
1981, has been actively involved in
civil rights causes. A partner in the
law firm of Walter, Thayer &
Mishler, he concentrates on police
brutality and employment discrimi-
nation litigation, as well as criminal
Cases.

He represents a number of people
who have filed federal civil rights
lawsuits, alleging they were physi-
cally abused by police.

Mishler is a 1981 graduate of the
Boston College School of Law, He

E

Mark S. Mishier
civil rights activist

also graduated from Brandeis Uni-
versity in Waltham, Mass. He is a
member of the executive boards of
the Albany NAACP, the Capital
District Citizen Action and the
steering committee of the Capital
District Coalition Against Apartheid
and Racism.

Powe, a native of South Carolina,
is a 1937 graduate of the Tuskegee
Institute and the Howard University
School of Law.

From 1947-60, Powe served as
special counsel to the Civil Rights.

FE iene Me porcrenente omen

Ralph E. Powe
honored for efforts

Congress, an organization that was
involved in the fight against racial
violence, lynching, the death penalty
and McCarthyism.

Locally, Powe has been involved
in civil rights activities and has
served as the associate director and
housing program director for the
Albany Urban League.

Before coming to Albany, he was a
member of the Brooklyn Urban
League and served on the committee
to desegregate Brooklyn public
schools.

—_ -« OS ae a nm

a

Tue Dairy GazeETTE

Fulton

ome aanenaammimenanneneal

ounty

a eeennmanl

Thursday, April 9, 1992

Court jury

deliberates Richards’ fate

By SAM ZURLO
Gazette Reporter

JOHNSTOWN — Fulton County
Court jurors deliberated late into the
night Wednesday in the 19-count bur-
giary trial of Clarence Richards.

Richards was tried in connection
with burglaries at five different
homes in the Gloversville and May-
field areas last June.

Jurors had reached no verdict by
11:30 p.m,

Richards gained notoriety in Feb-
ruary during a four-day escape from
the Fulton at Jail that began the
day before the burglary trial was
originally scheduled to start. The
escape led to a critical state report on
jailkeepers and disciplinary action
against five of them by Sheriff Rob-
ert Wandel.

In his 35-minute summation, de-
fense Attorney Sven R. Paul of
Schenectady told jurors the
tion completely overlooked the intro-
duction of vital physical evidence by
failing to produce an eyewitness and
forensic evidence.

He said no fingerprints were pre-

sented and no proof offered showing
Richards was involved in the bur-
giaries.

Paul said accomplice James D.
Derusha, 22, of Orchard Street, Glov-
ersville, changed his testimony to get
five years probation instead of a
prison term. Describing Derusha as
the ’g star witness, Paul
said he had an obvious motive to lie
and to implicate someone eise in
order to get a lesser sentence.

He said Richards admitted hiding
some silverware off Route 309 in the
town of Bleecker, doing so after he
learned the goods were stolen. Paul
said the silverware was given to
Richards by Derusha, who claimed he
got it from his grandmother's es-
tate.

“Clarence Richards has been very
honest throughout this trial,” said
Paul, declaring the prosecution had
failed to oe proof that his client
was involved in the burglaries.

Giardino told the jury that three
separate police agencies conducted
probes into the burglaries and they
implicated Richards.

district attorney said or wit-

ness testified she was rg ay her
porch when she saw a tall, man
with dark hair standing near a home
that was pr] meio She then heard
the sound of breaking glass.

“That man was Clarence Richards.
He was looking around to ensure that
no one was watching.”

He added the identity given by Mrs.
Coons does not fit Derusha, who is
short and stocky with light hair, Giar-
dino said.

He told the jury they do not have to
like Derusha or approve of his five-
year probation. Giardino said Deru-
sha did not change his testimony, but
merely expanded on it in discussions
with other police agencies.

Richards is charged with seven
counts of second-degree burglary,
four counts of third-degree burglary,
four counts of third-de grand lar-
ceny, three counts of third-degree
criminal possession of stolen prop-
erty and single counts of petty lar-
ceny, second- and fifth-degree pos-
session of stolen property.

Richards’ escape ended Feb. 20
when he was yg ve at a Broadal-
bin-area motel following a manhunt
by several police agencies.

= as

Conference Saturday to focus

on racial bias of police and courts

By JOHN MORAN

Gazette Reporter .q-*
ALBANY — A conference Satur-

day bringing together local, state and

national criminal justice will

examine the role of ra bias in

local policing and the courts.

A black California police sergeant,
who used himself as bait before the
Long Beach police and had his head
thrust through a window for no rea-
son while a television crew captured
the incident on video, will be one of
the main speakers at the confer-
ence.

Donald Jackson is billed by
erence organizers as a law en-
forcement expert who studies, writes
and lectures about racism within law
enforcement. He will at 9:30
a.m. at the event at the State
Plaza Convention Center,

’ Police Commissioner
Luarles M. . Troy Assistant Po-
lice Chief Nick Kaiser, and civil
rights lawyer Mark Mishler will be
on the panel responding to Jackson's

comments. Merton Simpson, co-
chairman of the Capital District Coa-
and Racism,

muni — eo
Rewstre is free, but a $5 dona-

Wolfgang for allegedly aperonenns
several conference sponsors an

questioning them about their partici-
pation in the event.

Green considers Wolfgang's ac-
tions intimidation. Wolfgang said he
could not comment on the complaint
because the department had started
an internal inv tion.

After each speech, panel members
will each have a chance to to
the speaker and that will be followed
by a community discussion and agen-

sit on the panel
about Schenectady’s efforts to re-
cruit more minorities for the police

force.

“By the Fad 2000 more than 50
percent of the country will be minori-
ties and the trend in law enforcement
community is not keeping the same
pace,” said. “In other words, the
police community does not represent
the community.”
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.
at the Convention Center.

es

COMMUNITY NOTES

w

|

REEL AERATORS

Thomas Risi

CAROGA LAKE — Serv
be held for Thomas J. Ri:
Route 10, who died Tue
Nathan Littauer Hospital in
ville after being stricken at

Born in Queens, Mr. Risi
elementary school in F
Square, Nassau County, anc
ted in 1957 from Sewane
School in Elmont, Long Isla

He attended Villanova U
in Pennsylvania before rex
bachelor of arts degree fr
mingdale University in Lon
Mr. also earned a degre
ness administration from
Community College.

He was an electrical des
neer and last worked for Di
in Albertson before retiring
due to a disability.

Mr. Risi came to this area
Before moving here, was a (
ter for Pack 280 in Syosset
County. He also coached CS
ball for St. Edward the C:
Church in Syosset.

Mr. Risi was a communica
Immaculate Conception
Catholic Church in Johnstow

Survivors ine'ude his w:
bara Kolody Risi, whom he
Feb. 10, 1962; three sons,
Risi of Gloversville, Thoma:
Farmingdale, Nassau Cou:
i Robert Risi of Stoner Li
mother, Mary Risi of F

Square; a sister, Maryenne H
Franklin Square; and a gran

A prayer service will be !
| a.m. Friday at the A.G. Cole

Home, 215 E. Main St. Jot
followed by a Mass of Ct
burial at 9:30 a.m. at the Imn
Conception Church in Joh
Burial will be in Evergreer
a Fonda.

alling hours will be fron
| this afternoon and 7 to 9 this

at the funeral home.
Contributions may be mac
ay Children's Hospital, M
enn.

‘John’ Oddy

GUILDERLAND CEN’
Services will be held for Jea:
“John” Oddy, 15, of Main Str
died Tuesday from injuries
in a bicycling accident on
Road in Guilderland.

Born in Albany, he was

ade student at Guilderia:

hool.

Survivors include his r
Patricia Alger Oddy of Guil
his father, Kenneth Oddy of
Park, Fla.; two sisters, Miche
belli of Kinderhook, Co

County, and Nicole Oddy of '

laomd: bon henthore Waonnath

{ i

emery ri 4 eS

THe Dairy GazeTrTe

B

FRIDAY -
Marcu 27, 1992

Albany

By JOHN MORAN
Gazette Reporter

ALBANY — An Arbor Hil man on
disability sald he was kicked and
stepped on by undercover police offi-
cera when

ico <everemnaigespcioesii-al

- — “- Senin

LocaL Nrews

Muon 271900

man alleges police brutality in raid

The complaint also alleges another
officer threw him against a sink and
then against a wall, White said that
after be told this officer his name the
officer took White back to White's
apartment and be was not charged
with a crime. “He said I'm sorry,”
White said yesterday. “He said they
were looking for some guys from
New York sallieg drugs.”

White said the incident took place
at about 6 a.m. Friday in the haliway

outside his a Later that day
police 4 Pong release saying
they arrested three people at 5:40
am. on charges at 285

Colonie St., apartment E-3. White
lives in apartment E-4.

Police Spokesman Lt. Robert Woll-
gang said Thursday that police did
make several arrests at that address
that morsing but that he was not
aware of any formal complaint being
filed with Internal Affairs. Wollg
said it was too late in the day tof
out from Internal Affairs if Look,
a complaint on the matter.

lf « complaint waa filed and an
investigation begun, Wolfgang said
- would not be able to comment on

t.

White, who said he wears a brace

because of chronic back problerns,

said he was still in pain Thursday
because of the Incident, He supplied
documents showing he went to Al-
bany Medical Center Hospital at 6:46
a.m. Friday where he was treated,
released and referred for further

~ treatment, He was given a prescrip-

tion for a new back brace.

According to White, he was on his
way out af apartment that morn-
ing to warm up his car to give his
girlfriend, Alice Hadiey, a ride to
work.

He was leaving the apartment
building when, ‘This guy comes
around the corner and he agua
out and said, ‘Get down,’ ” White said.

ae

ity alleged in Albany raid |

A third officer appeared and, with ment after White gave bis same, |

Contineed. from Page Ai rod

the bel of the first officer, picked White sald.
a witness, and White said she could aise we Married blm into apart ° ae
also identify the officers, ment E-3 next door, White saft. 1 showed him my

then helped White

This officer

' threw White my & i
Hadley Sasee ou etal poe vee t the aink and against a wall, Oy a nald be waa sorry. That
oa the complaint states.

were
to his apart» said. .

“{ put my hands on the wall and he
threw me down on the floor. He bad
his knee in my back when he put the
handeuffs on. 1 told him I had 4 brace
on and he ” White said,
Next a second officer appeared
on White's back, break~

ea
:
F
€

head to move him.
‘I don't know what was going
through his a fe mind but vio-

“They just seem-

“7

|

Lo ETE AN

Insipe

He described this second officer as
a white male, about 35 years old, $
feet, @ inches tall with brown eyes
and blondish hair.

The officers never identified them-
selves but White said he would “sure-
ly never forget” the faces of the of fi-
cers. He said they were not in uni-
form and were weariog sneakers,
jeans and bullet-proof vests. White
said at one point he saw them
with uniformed officers by a

or gl om el apis cadena
é:

Hadley is listed on the complaint as
See POLICE, Page B9

a

4

Police
coercion
alleged

Complaint filed
with Albany dept.

By JOHN MORAN
Gazette Reporter

ALBANY — A police watchdog
group made a formal complaint at
leging the head of police
services “intimidated and unfairly

9 wee, coerced” i
4 "| tions in an ft
7 get them to drop
their co-sponsor-
ship of a confer-
ence on police
bias.
fF Alice Green, di-
| rector of the Cen-
ter for Law and
Justice, charged in
a complaint to the
Police Depart-
ment’s Internal Affairs Unit that Lt.
Robert Wolfgang “exceeded and
abused his legal authority” by ap-
proaching erence sponsors about
their participation in the event.

The second annual Community
Conference on Crime and
Justice is sponsored by Green's cen-
ter and co-sponsored by 48 other
who told her he was called by Wolf-

said Wolfgang indicated he was

Sa

Wolfgang said he could not com-
ment on the matter because once an
prs a wt en poeta

the investigation is

yy Police Chief
Wolfgang John Dale said he
would also wait

until Internal Affairs had completed
its investigation before comment-

ing.

“The Police Department mai
| bones about not liking what she

in the complaint, Green listed
been contacted by Wolfgang or his

The three — Council of Albany
Neighborhood Associations Chair-
man Harold Rubin, Hudson Valley
Community College Criminal Justice
Chairman Donald Gilbert and Trin-
ity Institution Program Director
Ruby Hughes — all said Monday that
although the conference had been
brought up to them by police, they did
not feel intimidated or coerced.

Green said she knew of at least
three other that were contact-
ed by Albany police.

Only Rubin expressed interest in
Pr: Be = was told by
Green the program already gone
to print with CANA's name on it.
Rubin said the co-sponsorship issue
was not a big deal, but that Wolfgang
had pointed out some of the language
in a flier on the conference.

The wording on the flier is the crux
of the issue because the Police De-
pais agarm including the chief, thinks

says police misconduct and stereo- .
typing were involved in the deaths of

See COERCION, Page B2

made po
wrote, It says ‘misconduct’ not ‘alleg-

of a shopping center in Delmar by a
Bethlehem detective. An autopsy
showed he died of a heart attack and
a federal investigation is still being
i gl by the Justice Depart-
men

ings at a board of the Police
Athletic League. Both Rubin and |
Wolf, are on the board.

uals may not have felt intimidated,
Wolf and Given had no right to
thern about the conference.

But, as in all the communities surround-
ing it, Albany has no policy oF

placed in danger.

ALICE P, GREEN, Ph.D

Exeentive Director
Center for Law & Justice inc.
Albany

RAAT An enero eee MSL OO T EE ee»
ane io titnavers ae ee new win Tweet b
working on the case.

OF JUSTICE A | | - attack on our client's right to ¢ as their
| lawyer someone who they think has some

Law and Justice e achievernen politically active and work on a professiona
of activist a ney Mark 8. Mishler by basis on similar issues. .

making him one of two recipients of its first ‘This is becoming anew game in town,”
annual Frederick Douglass Struggle for commented noted civil rights lawyer
justice Award. Meanwhile, the city of William Kunstler, speaking from his

Albany is trying to use Mischler s yecordas Greenwich Village office. “The name of the
a human rights attorney to get him thrown —game is to get rid of the lawyers who they
off a $1 million lawsuit now working its think will be effective.”
way throughthecourts. =. In a recent case, New Jersey officials

The city wants Mishler disqualified from —_ unsuccessfully sought to prevent Kunstler
representing Ronald W. Grier, a African- from representing a client based on an
American in his mid-30s who was arrested alleged conflict of interest. The attorney also

in October 1988, when police broke up an represented Brice Cutler when Cutler was ¥\
morning brawl on Second Street. Police barred from representing recently convicted
said Grier had incited a crowd to attackthe Mafia kingpin John Giotti, on the grounds
officers on the scene. Grier ¢ ims that that Cutler might be called to the witness
after his arrest he was beaten and suffered stand, Cutler was barred, but never called,
a broken rib. Kunstler offered to assist Mishler if asked.
One year later, Grier, represented by . Jeff Jones

Mishler, filed a $1 million civil rights

lawsuit against the city, Mayor Thomas M.

Whalen Ill and former Police Chief John
Reed. In addition to his claim that he was sy
beaten and his constitutional rights THE G ARB AGE
violated, Grier charges that the city has

been indifferent to complaints about the

way minorities are treated by the police. SINCE WARREN AND WASHINGTON
Last week, assistant city corporanion counties’ garbage incinerator in Hudson
counsel Stephen J. Rehfuss filed a request Falls went on-line late last year, it has been
that Mishler be ualified as Grier 8 plagued with problems. There have been

attorney, because Mishler could end up on shortages of garbage, creating the need for
the witness stand. Mishler was the Albany trash to be trucked in from outside the

Community-Police Relations Board's first counties. County taxpayers have been

secretary and has been a consistent forced to shoulder the financial burden of

advocate for increasing the board’s powers. _ the plant, and Washington County may

Now, Rehfuss complains, the lawyer need to borrow $2.3 million just to pay its

represents Grier, who argues that the lack trash bills.

of those powers helps prove his case. “We're going bankrupt and we’ re asking
“We've taken the position that Mark taxpayers to support something that

Mishler should be a witness on the part of should’ ve never been built,” said

his client,"” Rehfuss said, "{and] that he Washington County supervisor Bruce

might be a wi on the part the Ferguson.

defense. And even in the event he is nota Now the state Commission of Investigation

witness, his credibility will be is starting to ask questions a t the

during the course of the trial. As an incinerator, according to county Is

“We think it’s outrageous,” countered what comes down,” said Ferguson, one of

* J
BG __ THE TEMES UMION

Albany, N.Y. Feiday, April 24, 1992

ALBANY C'

Brutality conference sponsor
wants Whalen to investigate

By laina Jonas

Statt writer

ALBANY - The head of the
Center for Law and Justice has
asked the mayor's office to deter-
mine if city police officers acted
improperly when they contacted
scheduled participants in a police
brutality conference.

Law and Justice Director Alice
Green criticized a police depart-

ment's internal investigation in a

Saturday, April 25, 1992

Colonie Community Center
1653 Central Avenue
(2 miles west of Wolf Road)

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SSNHODE Heurs: Mon. Fri. 9.a eas **

letter to Mayor Thomas M. Whalen
itl.

That review cleared Lt. Robert
Wolfgang or members of his staff of
wrongdoing when the officers con-
tacted three sponsors of the Confer-
ence on Crime and Criminal Justice
prior to the session on police brutali-
ty. One of the sponsors pulled out
before the conference began.

Green criticized the internal in-
vestigation for what she said was a
lack of thoroughness. As the com-
plainant, she was never interviewed,
and only a limited number of
sponsors were contacted, she said,
“The main issue is how they investi-
gated the complaint,” she said.

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168

The investigation never revealed
why Wolfgang contacted the spon-
sors or if it was appropriate to do so,
she said.

“| want to underscore the point
that the department is not Payne
ing to those two questions,” Green
said. “This is not the function of the
police department to make these
kind of inquiries.”

Wolfgang had refused to comment
while the internal affairs investiga-
tion while it was ongoing. He was not
available for comment Thursday.

in her complaint, Green said the
officers intimidated the sponsors and
asked them to withdraw their sup-
port. One of the three sponsors said
he withdrew his support after speak-
ing informally to Wolfgang at a
meeting they both attended.

But the one-time sponsor, Harold
Rubin, who is president of the
Council of Neighborhood Associa-
tions. denied that Wolfgang asked
him to withdraw the association’s

support.

“I'm saying you can coerce some-
one without twisting a person's
arm,” Green said.

Wolfgang showed him a pamphlet
promoting the conference and point-
ed out a paragraph that implied
police brutality was involved in the
deaths of two men while in custody
of Albany police.

In a public statement, Green also
attacked the Internal Affairs’ ability
to investigate any police activity,
calling it “too constrained and lirnit-
ed in its authority to carry out a
thorough and fair investigation of
any complaint made against a police
officer.” She reiterated a call for an
independent body to investigate citi-
zen complaints against police offi-
cers,

Assistant Police Chief William
Murray said Green was furthering
her own agenda in asking the
mayor's office to review the depart-
ment's own investigation.

“Dr. Green has long been critical
of internal affairs investigations,”
Murray said of Green, who has a
doctoral degree. “She has pushed for
a separate commission or review
board, | don't think in every one of
those circumstances Dr. Green has
been as objective as she could be.”

Whalen didn’t return calls for
comment left at his office Thursday.

—— a

ra ano eva DEMARE
. ALBANY — After city police officers shot

snl killed Jessie Davis, a black mental

patient, nine years ago, a grand jury investi-
gated for two months and cleared the white

Says
what may be a critical

recently revealed photograph
Davis holding a toy truck and a key case, and

not the knife and fork he allegedly bran-

dished when police approached him.
In an interview with the Tiynes Union, the

* Comatente Snare -—- whose name

: Juror: We never saw photo of man

While not shown pictures of Davis, the
grand jury was shown other pictures taken in
the victim's Arbor Hill apartment,
one of a 4-inch buck knife that police
ec claiee a adwecde ae
liquor bottle and other items, the juror said,

District Attorney Sol Greenberg on Friday
defended the grand jury probe. “The case
was fully presented, and it was subject to
judicial review,” Greenberg said. _
(Joseph) Harris ... was the one to whom
(grand jury) report was handed up, and he
reviewed everything. He couldn't decide

killed by Albany police

what to do with the report without first
looking at the testimony, the transcripts.”
Police claim that Davis, 35, was killed
shortly before noon on July 8 1984 after he
Peete ent
r t at 60
‘The photo of Davie, end
which the
sale daguie ir taneex ota! eu
as he lay dying, holding a toy truck in his
SC precoget  heaapa op ee
George Venter, who arrived on the scene

sinemente ates Cenlirenlag tes iies
in the Times Union on Jan, 28 after it wag
a ie ee ere Lewis B;

iver, represents sister in state’
a

grand jurors took an vote

hulies ah the oihdaan had heatsme sees
them, the juror said. They concluded “that it,
was a good shoot,” the juror said,

plaid
graph given pe oa uo g

the first time in the Times Union,
gnswered, “Yes, I've had many.”

: But the juror would not speculate
dn whether the photo might have
Had an impact on the jury's eventual
decision not to indict the officers.

» The juror recalled also feeling at
the time that prosecutor Rutnik ap-
peared from the outset of the case to
le defending the police actions.

- In the routine criminal matters
that the grand jury heard before the

rtm

The juror would not
speculate on whether
the photo might have
had an impact on the
jury’s eventual
decision.

Davis shooting case, the juror said,
Sit seemed to me that when the
assistant district attorney would
tome in to explain the case to ua, it
vas always as a prosecutor, When he
aoe in to explain the events in the
dessie Davis case, he was more like a
flefense attorney. It was amazing
how the whole climate changed.”

pocranrnimrmraaaerne, nm

Fe manent ennmmnneneniaant inns

man berserk,”

Greenberg said the Davie case

“was presented in a normal, usual |

presentation by a prosecutor's office.
if this grand juror, in his or her mind
feel the presenters acted like defense
lawyers, that's their opinion.”

Rutnik handled the grand jury
case along with the late Daniel S.
Dwyer, the chief assistant district
attorney,

Rutnik previously cited the secre-
cy provision of grand juries in refus-
ing to discuss the Davis case. At-
tempts to reach him Friday for
comment on the grand juror’s re-
marks were unsuccessful.

Greenberg said it’s unlawful to
disclose grand jury information, and
suggested that “we might look over
the list of grand jurors since one of
them spoke to you in violation of
215.70 of the Penal Law. We might
put all of them under oath to see who
spoke to the press.”

Stephen J, Rehfuss, a former as-
sistant corporation counsel who is
defending the city in the Davis civil
case, said Friday he feels “it’s inap-
propriate to comment on the presen-
tation made by the district attor-
ney's office or the investigation done
by the grand jury.”

The juror’s comments come as
both sides in the lawsuits brought by
Lauise Thornton, Davis’ sister, ap-

pear to be moving toward trials in |
federal court and state Supreme |

He
re searaneionrcems aucecemmmatinaneqas yma imseeiohe vents snaneme seme gS

Davis’ apartment

Sunday Ning on a call of “a

eighbors told pelice
at had been breaking
#laxs in the front windows of

the
his

apartment and exposing himself,
Police said Davis could not be

subdued in the apartment as he
came at them with the knife in his

eet

right hand and the long-tine serving
or carving fork in the left hand
despite being shot once in the front
of his bedy and hit across his shoul-
ders and back with a nightstick.

Davis was then shot four more
times, went into cardiac arrest in an
ambulance and was pronounced
dead at Albany Medical Center Hos-
pital,

The killing sparked anger and
outrage in the black community and
criticism of the police department. It
led Mayor Thomas M. Whalen II to
create a Community Police Rela-
tions Board with limited power to
review misconduct cases,

Attorney Oliver is challenging the
police scenario of Davis’ death in the
multi-million dollar civil rights and
wrongful death suits filed in 1985
and 1987, Oliver contends that Davis
was not armed and did not pose a
threat to the officers.

The suits, which are seeking a
total of at least $40 million, name Lt.
Thomas F. Shields, Sgt. David J.
Aloisi, Officer Charles Peters, all of
whorn remain on the force, and Offi-
cers Robert Ekstrom and Keith C.
Wells, who have since retired. Wells
and Aloisi were the officers who shot
Davis, according to police.

Lawyers for the city and some of
the officers named in the lawsuits
have said that Oliver ia using select-
ed pieces of a complex case to try to
discredit the officers. For example,
they said, police have hundreds of
pictures of the scene but Oliver is
focusing on only one.
| Oliver, who has about 100 photos,
| said he still is trying to obtain all of
the pictures in the case, He said
police have told him, however, that

cones

he has the complete series of pictures
taken before the body, the knife and
the fork were moved. None, he said,
appears to show where the knife and
fork were.

In the civil case, Oliver also plans

Sol Greenberg
to refer to an autopsy report that
mentions that one shot hit the top of
the 6-foot-2-inch Davis’ head and
another entered his back at such a
angle that the pathologist, Dr. John

came senbanenreane ewenegamannae

“uy. might put all of (the grand jurors) under
oath to see who spoke to the press”

~ Sol Greenberg,
district attorney

N.P. Davies, concluded that Davis
was bending over at the time,

A recent deposition from one of
the officers indicated Davis was also
either on his knees or crouching.

In a grand jury report that was
initially sealed in December 1984
and unsealed a month later by Har-
ris, grand jurors said paramedics,
who arrived on the scene minutes
after the shooting, said they found
the knife one to two inches from the
fingertips of Davis’ right hand and
the fork beneath his body.

The Venter photo show both of
Davis’ hands but neither the knife
nor the fork,

While the grand jury declined to
indict any of the officers on either
murder ot manslaughter charges, it
did criticize three of the officers fot
their handling of the matter and:
recommended departmental disci!
plinary action. "

The department charged Shield?
Aloisi and Wells with failine
follow proper procedures in tr
dling of berserk calls, but 7”
were cleared by a stat
after a hearing brough’
the police by their unt

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By Michael McKeon for the ed frequent applause and support
Statt writer People. from the public.
ALBANY — The Albany Count A an proposal, which = 44 he

1 Y groups nine Democrats together in’ jator sr a. digg

Democratic Party ~— its chair-
rC-

man, Harcwred Weineoday a2 rac

for their treatment of

several districts includes the ' . ,
‘ questioned the NAACP’s credibility
NAACP districts. The Democratic to Bull Connor, the racist police

plan has three districts in which ommissioner
minorities make up at least 63 et Shania sols
civil rights demonstrators.

percent of the lation. But the
Gill, chairman of the New York

lan draws its in a bay the
AACP claims would butcher lack
State African-American Political
ttee, said it was ironic

neighborhoods.

official.
Joyce said that as g product of a
working-class neighborhood,

little progress,
up in the control of a federal judge.

While other speakers criticized the
Gill was by far
and he prompt-

Democratic Party,
the most outspoken,

cause it gives two black lawmakers
-- Ruby Hughes and Lucille Me«
Knight — separate districts. The
png plan combines them into

In

response to a question
ee 2 eee ee
who tried to combine the districts
represented by the only two black
lawmakers into one district would be
called a racist.

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STRONG STAND Angrya

200 protesters mar

By Donna Liquori

Statf writer

ALBANY — About 200 out-—

raged demonstrators marched
peacefully through the city
Thursday night, crying out in
frustration over the verdicts in
the Rodney King case.

Carrying candles, chanting sio-
gans like “Fight the Power” and
holding signs declaring, “No Jus-
tice, No Peace,” the protesters
started at the state Capitol,

wound through downtown, Arbor
Hill, and Center Square, where, at
one point, they sat down at the
intersection of Lark Street and
Madison Avenue. They then
moved toward the Executive
Mansion and onto the state plaza
before returning to the Capitol.
“lm totally enraged to believe
our system, our law system ... Rs
said Victoria Santos, a State
University at Albany graduate
student, tears streaming down
her face, too choked up to finish

Times Union photo by Tom LaPolnt

t the Rodney King verdicts, about 200 protesters walk along Delaware Avenue in Albany Thursday.

ch through Albany

the sentence. “I never expected
this to happen.”

The demonstration, which be-
gan at 9:15 with a candlelight
vigil, was organized by SUNYA
students. It grew as
convinced bystanders to join
them. Blacks, whites and Hispan-
ies, young and old, expressed
frustration with what Santos
called “the most blatant example
of racism.”

Colia LaFayette Clark, a SUN-

YA teacher who was an aide to
slain NAACP leader Medgar Ev-
ers, spoke out at the end of the
demonstration near the Capitol
steps, denouncing rascism.

She said she was disappointed
that Gov. Mario M. Cuomo did not
come out of the mansion to greet

the protesters.

Bryan Keith Barcelo, who was
angry about the violence in Los
Angeles, said, “It’s not a racial
thing. It’s an injustice thing.”

To black leaders,
a mockery of justice

By Tim Beidel
Staft writer

Peter Pryor is from the pinstriped
set, a corporate attorney who spe-
cializes in insurance and workers
compensation. He was the first black
to graduate from Albany Law
School. He also is deeply involved in
his community, urging Afri-
can-Americans to continue strug-
gling against a tide that seems to
crash against them every day.

That task got tougher Wednesday.

“We would always say, ‘Through

law a Pryor said a
day after a jury acquitted
four police officers of charges they

system.’ I know that that’s not true,
but that’s the that has been
sent by that 6

At a news conference called by
Albany Law School and the Albany
chapter of the NAACP, a range of
eg cegperte george mys oom

the belief that the King verdict

was a miscarriage of justice,

that it bas seat. troubling signal ©
and law

others on the central point: The King
verdict was inexplica

and expressed
ramifications here, The NAACP and
other organizations have a

happened, but we have a legal
system and Mr. will be vindi-
cated, the legal will work,
these policemen will be punished’ "?
Baker said. “You had confi-
dence that the system work.
The system did not in my view

‘

1

we

5/2 / Fe
ae

Video used to teach
children about protest

By Donna Liquori Several police officers stood inside
Statt writer the lobby of the building, visible

ALBANY — Arthur James Bowen, through the glass walls, and Byrd
a video camera on his shoulder,
taped the ring of protesters that :
slowly marched around Friday night  Noarrests were reported.
shouting their dismay at the acquit- A young child danced to the
tal of the four Los Angeles police rhythm of the chants and 4-year-old

who curiously scanned the crowd of learns to 5
about 300 from her vantage point in from the protest and the
a backpack. Bowen's home video will verdict.

aiso show his children they were “1 came to the United States six

and Racism. found institutional racism.

eyewitness to the beating of Rodney violence in Los Angeles, while others resisting arrest. “I don’t care. That
King that shocked the nation, and the carried signs like: Burn, Hollywood, doesn't give the police the right to

not guilty vores rae pron to Burn.” beat someone,” he said.
rauy _ O'Brien = “fo break out a window means “T'm sick of it,”
Federal Building and at other nothing. To burn down a house wPhis is nothing new,” said Wari-

tests throughout the United States. = means nothing. Let's barn down a = thu-Deen Umar, a representative of

violence ev , including Al- City Seventh-day Adventist

bany, using like “Can't take Church through a micro = “The in Simi Valley (where

no more! phone as the protesters the trial was held), they w
Police kept a low le at the around the microphone y: they've been doing as long as they Ye

eaceful, but angry, rally. About four Another speaker, John Parsons, @ control,” said Umar, who

been in
atrol cars were parked near the youth council member of the told the crowd that he used to live in
said he Los Angeles and was beaten by

——

| Albany protest draws crowd
ec seen

Friday in front of the Leo W. O’Brien Fed-
eral Building.
The protesters, who marched peaceful-

_. ly in a cirele for 30 minutes shouting,

scivssaiciisineesanemneminnmnmnnnnessmenrmnnentnee nr a ‘ bg
rt. fe “Pired Up, Won't Take No More” and
More -than 000. pon : Police Violence Has

voiced their anger and outrage with the “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, a
Rodney King verdict during a protest See ALBANY Page A 3

on ail

By DAVID SKOLNICK
Record Reporter

SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1999 A-3

naan

| Protest

Continued from Page A-'

Got to Go,” said justice wasn't
served when a California court
found four white police officers
not guilty of beating the black mo-
torist.

Many protesters carried plac-
ards with statements that varied
from “Stop Police Brutality” to
“Burn, Hollywood, Burn,” and
“Civil Rights or Civil War.”

Merton Simpson, co-chairman
of the Capital District Coalition
_— Apartheid and Racism,

h co-sponsored the protest
with the local chapter of the
NAACP, said he was pleased with
Friday's crowd,

“This kind of gathering is a re-

to the outrageousness in

lifornia,” he said. “The verdict

is a clear response that racism is

the cradle of this nation. We have

to understand that inaction allows
this racism to exist.”

Alice Green, of the Center for
Law and Justice, said what hap-
pened to King occurs in the Capi-
tal District.

“It's easy to condemn violence
3,000 miles ving. ee easy to con-
demn violence that we've seen on
a videotape,” she said. “We have
lived with racial violence with the
Albany Police Department, the
Schenectady Police Department
and the Troy Police Department.
When something happens in our
community and you don’t speak
out about it, you give passive
approval to violence.’

Inridante mene =~ -

draws crowd

“What we see in Rodney King is
mirrored in our cities, including
Albany,” added Anne Pope, local
NAACP president.

The gathering Friday was the
largest one in the Capital District
in connection with the King ver-
dict.

Several people at the protest
said they were outraged when they
saw the highly publicized video-
taped beating of King.

“When I watched them beating
him, they were beating me and ev-
eryone who believes in justice,”
said Maria Santos, a State Univer-
sity at Albany graduate student.

But others said they were even
more disturbed by the recent ver-
dict in connection with the inci-
dent.

“When I heard the verdict, I was
distressed,” said Kenneth Wil-
liams, a member of the NAACP
youth council. “This menage has
been going on for too . A lot of

young men have receiv beatings
like Rodan King.”

People arsigees agen om the pro-
test also said the looting and vio-
lence that has occurred in Los
Angeles since the verdict was an-
nounced is as much a tragedy as
the King beating.

“It's easy to destroy, but we
must build up,” said Derek West-
— a University at Albany stu-

f.

scope taking
close look at the bombshell decision
and the aftershocks it was continu-

tape. “Eighty-one seconds is a very
long time,” he said. “It sure indicat-
ed to me the force definitely was
excessive. Once the resistance (of a
suspect) stops, then the force should

for the controversial verdicts,

those officers.”
Albany Police Officers Uni
President James W. Tuffey

that the

iH
ak
t

g

H
:
Bel
E
:
:

iF

Hi

3
i
a / fy?
Be / al / y

Times Union, Albany, New York - May 5, 1992

Friday outside the Leo O'Brien Federal Building in
erdict in the Rodney King case. The demonstration
Apartheid and Racism and the Albany
including Albany,

ON THE STREETS - Marchers appear
Albany at a demonstration to protest the v
was sponsored by the Capital District Coalition Against
Branch NAACP. Local protesters denounced police violence everywhere,
using chants like "Can't take itno more.” Approximately 600 were in attendance.

| : mn Ko
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Police get
away with
brutality

By Rochelle Sharpe
Gannett News Service

Police turn soft on crime when
they investigate their own brutality.

Across the nation, officers who
beat, choke and torture citizens
escape discipline routinely. In fact,
brutal cops get promoted more often
than they're punished, story Sou a

four-month study by Gannett News
Service.

One year after a videotape cap-
tured Los Angeles police beating
Rodney King, the lesson of the
incident seems clear: Some officers
believe they can get away with
viglence. Indeed, taxpayers are pen-
alized more for brutality than the
offieers responsible for the beatings.

A study of 100 major br
lawsuits, where victims won $100,000
or more found that the officers
‘nvolved almost always kept their
$92 million in these civil lawsuits
between 1986 and 1991. Only five of
the 185 officers involved were fired.

At least 19 others either got

eg weg in their departments or

for higher ranking jobs in law
enforcement.

“What does it mean when a jury
says your cop lied and we're going to
stick you for a million dollars?”
asked Jim Fyfe, a criminologist at
American University in Washington.
“Shouldn't that send a message?’

Police supervisors say losing a
civil suit doesn't prove anything.
They complain that citizens often
use the courts like a lottery, gam-
bling they can persuade juries to
al them pity in the form of a
check,

“It’s not like math. It’s not an
exact science,” said Deputy Chief
Jeffrey Marek of Berkeley, [1., who
thinks the $366,000 verdict against
his city in 1990 was inspired by
jurors’ sympathy. Most ts
don't even consider jury verdicts
when evaluating officers, relying
instead on internal investigations

_ conducted by their own police. These

in = 4e8 almost always exonerate
th  ficers. See POLICE / A-10

Pree "

Continued from A-1

But all juries can’t be wrong,
lawyers argue.

remain on their jobs — after getting

former priest, who said the

pushed him to the kneed him
in the back, e his nose and
dislocated his shoulder — all be-
cause he wanted to help victims of a

The authority, which is appealing,
was ordered to pay that amount to a
truck driver who said the officers
cracked his skull and ripped his
while he was waiting for a bus. None
of the four men received any
punishment, and Danese is now head
of his local police union,
defend other officers charged

brutality.

James Green Jr. and
Glenn Barnes cost Goldsboro, N.C.,

life
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6 ee cane a a .
ents find officers y
a t is often light. Officers

Caught brutalizing handcuffed sus-

typically were 8 for less
than 10 days, the Christopher Com-
misison found.

To get fired from any t
usually requires behav-
ior that would make cringe.

Linda Whitt, a Seattle officer, lost
her job after she was accused of
kneeing a handcuffed rape in
the groin, smashing his The
man, who was never charged with
oCommunity
leaders gather to
examine social
injustice.

Albany
tell one participant that he was headed for a
ong at the Martin Luther King Jr. Commis-

“He said, ‘I have
Luther King,” the
meeting. “Here he is, involved in the cleanup,
and he’s got anger. Resentment.”
him in an
baby who still had
stabbed with stuck in his ear.

“yiolence is on television, in our magazines,

nner”

By John Caher

Staft writer

Attorneys in the Capital District
. jneluding those who defend and

to the Los Angeles verdicts with
outrage and horror.
“If Lam a black man in America, I

am going to be very skeptical about
the criminal justice system and
whether it is ee on what
happened out .” said Albany
Cc ation Counsel Vincent J. Mc-
Ardie, whose office frequently repre-
sents police officers.

“The lawyerly thing to say is we
weren't sitting there and didn’t hear
the evidence, but frankly I'm
shocked,” McArdle said. “Even if
Rodney King came out of his car and
was firing at them with a gun, once
they had him in a position where he
was on the ground . . . I can't imagine
re justification for that use of
orce.”

“] think it is going to make police
bolder,” predicted E. Stewart Jones

Jr, a Troy trial attorney who is
among those suggesting a federal
investigation. “It is going to instill

@ Aug. Ii-
section of Los Angeles: 34 dead.

@ July 12-17, 1967 — Newark,
N.J.: 26 dead.

corporation counsel who is currently
defending city police in several
pending civil rights lawsuits filed by

members, said: “It’s
t you see in that 81
seconds Po videotape, what could

possibly justify that type of punish-
ment?”

“The feeling I have is the feeling I
had after Kent State in May of 1970:
What are we doing?” said Terence L.
Kindlon, an Albany defense attorney.
“T think it will force us to confront
directly the economic and racial
problems that have built up over the
past 15 years or so.”

Neither Paul M. Collins, an attor-
ney defending an Albany police
officer accused in a brutality case,

special prosecuting attorney

that case are not remotel
the facts and circumstances of this

@ April 5-9, 1968 — Chicago: 11

enced by an a ational
case in California.”

F. Lee Bailey, a nationally promi-
nent defense attorney who was in
Colonie for a speaking engagement
Thursday night, called

Bailey, of Waltham, Mass., said he
would not have taken the case a5 a
defense attorney after seeing the
videotape because he felt the four
police officers were clearly guilty.

Among the reasons for the verdict,
he said, were a change of venue, the

“Aberrations like this wake us U
to things that need to be prince
The stories told pi the police officers

2

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one

re

QQ
me
a5
ie

Such incidents are more
commonplace for the new beat offi-
cers as warm weather brings more
people onto the street, they said.

a knife he said.

Jerry , 37, of Street
had just stabbed Atriss sev-
eral times in the head, chest and arm
with an 18-inch machete and a lino-
leum knife and was —

treated at St. Peter’s Hospital, wherd
he received 50 to 60 stitc
released, Wolf said. +

fry Bagels, ong on Coun Ja

sentence in state prison after
pulled a knife on a cab driver
stole his taxi at Clinton Avenue
Ten Broeck Street in 1987.

Wolf praised Croskey and Rae
ducci for their restraint and
deadly co ye force would have
been in this case. *

“It’s an example of the

the officers would be justified is

using lethal force, but opted not to.
deal of restraint was used

great
the officers. This eBags. *

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Review Schenectady police tactics

i iat AC

ISSUE: Data show Schenectady police arrest black
suspects at a much higher rate than other
cities.

OUR OPINION: Procedural reforms are needed.

Ww

It’s a story typical of life in Schenecta-
dy’s Hamilton Hill neighborhood: A black
driver on his way to, or from, home is
pulled over by police and arrested on a
charge of disorderly conduct, resisting
arrest or obstructing governmental ad-
ministration. The reason? According to
statistics, it may well be only that he is
black and lives in Schenectady.

That's no exaggerated reading of the
data. The figures can’t be twisted to suit
an agenda. They show, clearly, that this
scenario is more common in Schenecta-
dy than elsewhere in the state. That’s the
conclusion reached in a story in today’s
paper by reporter Harvy Lipman.

Schenectady police are far more likely
to arrest a black person on a minor
charge than in-Albany, or in other cities
of comparable size. To put it another
way: Schenectady officers arrest white
suspects at about the same rate as other
police forces throughout the state, but

arrest black suspects at a rate 50
percent higher than the statewide aver-
age.

Fifty percent.

The difference comes as a surprise to
Mayor Frank Duci, and puzzles Schenec-
tady’s police commissioner, Charles
Mills, although he insists the a

)

on the scene.
While it's true that police are under

Viewpoint

pressure to halt the drug trade in
Hamilton Hill, so are police in other
cities. Yet they do not find it necessary
to make nearly as many minor arrests as
Schenectady police do.

Understandably, many of Schenecta-
dy’s black leaders see a racist pattern in
the arrest statistics. The only possible
other explanation comes from George
Roman, a former New York City police
officer who served for 15 years as
director of the Schenectady County
Human Rights Commission. He notes
that other police forces use narcotics
detectives to follow up on drug investi-
gations. In Schenectady, he continues,
“everybody (on the force) is trying to run
that big drug bust. How are they going to
make that happen? By stopping 4 lot of
people in the street.”

Even if all the statistics could. be
attributed to an overzealous force, it still
leaves the perception of racism. Nor
does it change the dismal percentage of
black officers on the Schenectady force.
They number only two out of 148
officers.

drawn the he deserves from his
boss, Ma Commissioner Mills
knows his force has to change to

meet Schenectady’s public safety needs.
It’s time Frank Duci said so as well.

LA

}

}

| ing of a black

1992

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To Criticism, U.S. Unveils
Report on Police Brutality

1s uh inane acne cuanaarcalbonesiinmeanenyressnerrnarenen en?

By JASON

DePARLE

Special to The New York Times

WASHINGTON, May 19 -- More
than a year after completing a study of
police brutality in response to the beat-
Angeles motorist, the
Justice Department released the sur-
vey today but said it was unable to
draw any conclusions about when,
where or why police officers engage in
misconduct,

Crities in Congress, whose pressure |

on the Justice Department finally
forced the report's release, quickly
criticized it as an attempt to paper
over the problems of police brutality to
appease law-enforcement officials and
conservative voters.

“This is a travesty of research,’ said
Representative John Conyers Jr, a
Michigan Democrat who pressed the
Justice Department to undertake the
study. He said the Department, which
declined to release its data for more
than a year, “does not want to find out
how much police abuse is a blight.”

Paul McNulty, a spokesman for At-
torney General William P. Barr, said
the department had been reluctant to
release the data because it represented
only allegations of police abuse, not
corroborated incidents. He said the de-
partment 1s undertaking two subse-
quent studies to get better information.

“Politics has nothing to do with it,”
he said.

Begun After King Beating

John R. Dunne, the head of the Jus-
tice Department’s civil rights division,
which conducted the survey, would not
comment today on the criticism of the

—_

e department undertook the study
in March 1991 after the videotaped
beating of Mr. King at the hands of four
white Los Angeles police officers pro-
yoked a national outery about abusive
police. At the time, department offi-

cials said the study demonstrated the |

department’s concerns and Mr. Dunne
promised that it would reveal “‘any
geographic or systemic patterns to ihe

But in a summary of the report re-
leased today, the department said, “Af.
ter careful analysis, this —_ does not
reveal any statistically significant pat-
terns of police misconduct.”

The criticism, from Congress and
academia, come at a sensitive time for
the Bush Administration, which is (ry-
ing to demonstrate sensitivity to the
social problems beneath the Los Ange-
les riots without alienating its Conser-
vative suburban base.

The report examines the number of
police brutulity complaints received by
the Justice Department over the past
six years. It does not include com-
plaints filed with local prosecutors or
review boards.

The heart of the report is 4 listing of

the police jurisdictions with the highest
‘number ofcomplaints about police
abuse a year. But the report does not
adjust those numbers to account for
the vastly differing sizes or training
policies of police epartments or for
different practices that might encour-
age or discourage brutality com-
plaints.

It did find that the number of com-
plaints received by the Justice Depart-
ment bore little relationship to the size
of the police jurisdiction. New Orleans,
for instance, generated the most com-
plaints, 35 a year, even though it ranks
21st in number of arrests, 26th in num-
ber of police, and 35th in population.

New York City, which has the high-
est number of police officers and the
second highest number of arrests,
ranked 10th in the number of com-
plaints.

Mr. Conyers asaailed it for its omis-
sions, particularly on the subject of

pinsnesipaboesainesincnoelientsaeliene yeni nietiaaiasneNte AMEN

Congress forces
release of Justice
Dept. study a
year after
completion.

race. the report gives no indication of
whether the complaints of abuses were
y filed by minorities.
id the study was

_ see if any seas be reopened for p

said,

Mr. McNulty, Mr. Barr’s §
Bewse If ge ago co ten gl
since the st was un under for-
mer Attorney ral Dick Thorn-

| burgh. :
Despite the Administration’s insist-

Resman,

ence that its numbers lacket meaning,
some experts called them an important
indication of where 18 are con:

centrated. While there are about 20,000
police jurisdictions in the country, for
instance, nearly half the department's
complaints come from just 187 juris-

dictions.

And while the report does not cifi-
cally calculate ratios of complaints to
officers, the raw data show dis-

parities. New Orleans, for instance,
generated one complaint for every 38
officers, while New York produced only
one for every 1,898 officers.

Area’s black

By JOHN MORAN
Gazette Reporter

eR SETS e eee ee eosuasamaaoemenmmnatel

ALBANY — The black church has
traditionally been a source of spirit-
ual ir and political activism
for blacks in A.

But the future holds more chal-
lenges for the black church than it
has faced in a long time.

Federal cuts in urban aid; compli-
cated , from crack cocaine

One professor of ,
black churches, as well as white
churches, have ‘lost some of their

3. of
the black t at the
State University of York College
at New Paltz also said the church
lacking mic leaders who can ar-
ticulate the problems their communi-
tos ae ee oe ©
at Union Theological Seminary. in
New York City, adds: “I hope the

black church would begin to see its
own limitations and be more

self-critical; otherwise, it will lose its

Cone said one of the black church's
historical strengths is its independ-
ence from white control, Many of the
major black Christian denominations
were founded more than 100 years

when blacks broke away from
their white counterparts because,
among other issues, were seg-
need Tron Saas ee

55 independent churches

In the Capital Region today there
are at least 55 independent black
churches, according to the Rev.
McKinley Johnson, assistant pastor
of Albany's St. John’s Church of God

End, and the church has for years
been a source of spiritual and social
activism.

Social activism

“My father was one of the few local
ministers who went to Martin Lather
s march on spree ome said
McKinley Johnson, 54, w father
the Rev. “Jack” Johnson, 83, founded
St. John’s in 1953.
sigeal ie people and ee
: come
when they found it wasn't comfort-
able to meet elsewhere,” said McKia-
ley Johnson. He said his church has no
ties to any political party or politi-

cian.
In the early 1970s, McKinley John-

son became the parent esman

for students at the old Philip
ayler High School

|
:

that attracting young blacks is @

are

Louis Farrakhan is. popular wit ‘
young blacks because he strikes a

FD 4 we

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nat F

Color of justice in Schenectady

If you’re black, you’re suspect |

First of two parts

By Harvy Lipman
Staff writer

If you are black and live in
Schenectady. your chances of
being arrested are far greater
than if you lived somewhere else
in New York.

While Schenectady’s police offi-
cers arrest white people at about
the same rate as police around
the state do, they bust blacks at a
rate 50 percent higher than aver-
age.

Those extra arrests of black
people aren't primarily for seri-
ous offenses, such as drug traf-
ficking and violent crimes. The
overwhelming bulk of the dispari-
ty is made up of arrests for such
minor charges as disorderly con-
duct, resisting arrest and ob-
structing government admminis-
tration — offenses that give
police officers the greatest dis-
cretion over whether to make an
arrest

Schenectady police officers are
Six times as likely as police
elsewhere in New York to arrest
a black person for disorderly
conduct, according to a Times
J/nion analysis of data obtained
from the state Division of Crimi-
nal Justice Services.

They are six times as likely to

bust a black for resisting arrest,
and seven times as likely to

a
dl
tbe

STREET
SCENE ..
Joseph Alien,
president of
the
Schenectady
chapter of the
NAACP, on
the streets of
his
neigndornood
recently.

Times Union
phote by John
Cari D Annibale

urns ree aon

charge a black with obstructing
government administration.
Schenectady's cops also use
those charges against whites
more often than police in the rest
of the state do, but in those cases
the difference is far more modest
Whites in Schenectady are twice
as likely as those in the rest of the
state to be charged with resisting
arrest or obstructing government
administration, and four times as

See COPS / A-8

Young black drivers
targeted, some claim

By Harvy Lipman

Stat writer

A lot of the city’s black resi-
dents believe the police rely on a
standard profile to decide wheth-
er to pull over someone driving a
car through the Hamilton Hill
neighborhood:

If you're a young black man
with a newer model car, they say,
you can count on being stopped —-
whether you've done anything
wrong or not.

Charles Frazier, 23, is one of
those who believes that's how the
Schenectady police operate. It
happens so often, he's gotten
almost blase about being pulled
over by police officers when he
drives on the Hill.

But Frazier vividly recalls the
first time he was stopped. He and
his girlfriend were on their way
home from Jerry Burrell Park.
They had traveled about a block
when a police car pulled them
over,

\ HAMILTON]
rae i pu : - ,

BLACKS
in SCHENECTADY

“I asked the cop why he
stopped me, and he said I didn't
use my (turn) signal light, which I
did,” Frazier said. “Then he told
me to get out of the car.”

Frazier said the officer told
him he shouldn't have been talk-
ing with some “guys at the park”
who were drug dealers. When
Frazier said the men weren't
drug dealers but his cousins from
out of town, the officer responded
by frisking him.

“He told me to take off my
sneakers,” Frazier added, and

See PROFILE / A-9

277.7

Black and busted .
in Schenectady ©

The Schenectady police :
arrest Dlacks at a far higher
rate than do ther
counterparts in other parts of
the state ~ and most of thai
increase is for charges like
disorderly conduct and
resisting arrest, where the
decision to make an arrest
largely rests on an individual

police officer's judgment. Fe

Arreat oo eS lee ee

TOTAL
ARRESTS

Sengn.

i (4) Blacks Schen. |

: ieee }

: siomaomeon rene eeiseoned OW Mpa tna Dy (J Blacks NYS

pine 4 | £") Whites Schen

: 1

obstructing | WM Whites NYS |

i

government _ e
administration* © ainaniaonaaies pedi :

0 20 40 60

*Rat 1991 arrests; al Others for 1990.
Source: NYS Owision of Criminal Justice Services

Times Union chart by Richard K. Stoddard

PROFILE

Continued from A-1

searched them, apparently looking
for drugs. Throughout the incident,
Frazier said, he was never c

with anything nor advised of his
constitutional rights, noting, “I didn't
even get a ticket.”

By this time, Frazier said, five or
six other police cars had pulled up
and the officers told his girlfriend to
empty her pockets. ‘ went
through the car, pulled up the back
seat,” he added. “All for what was
supposed to be me not using my
signal light.”

Stories like Frazier's abound
among black residents of Hamilton
Hill ~ or other blacks who have
driven there. Over the past several
months 11 of them recounted inci-
dents of what they consider petty
harassment by the city’s police
officers.

Most agreed with Frazier’s assess-
ment that the cops are using such
traffic stops in an effort to crack
down on drug dealing on the Hill.

In fact, a Times Union analysis of
police arrest records for the first six
months of 199] shows that blacks in
Schenectady are more than three
times as likely as blacks in Albany to
be charged with some sort of traffic
offense.

For every 1,000 blacks living in
Schenectady, more than 15 were hit
with traffic charges during that
period. compared with fewer than 5
for every 1,000 blacks in Albany.

If the most serious traffic charge
~ driving while intoxicated -- is
taken out of the comparison, the
difference becomes even more dra-
matic. Schenectady police charge
blacks with lesser traffic offenses at
a rate nearly five times higher than

*%

do cops in Albany

White drivers also are char
with traffic offenses at a somewhat
higher rate in Schenectady — but the
difference is far less than that for
blacks. Schenectady police officers
are less than twice as likely as their
Albany coun rts to bust a white
driver on such ‘ges.

Schenectady’s police, under shed
sure from politicans and civic lead-
ers to crack down on have
adopted the tactic of trying to
prevent black teenagers and young
adults from loitering on street cor-
ners or in parked cars.

“You've gotten to the point now
where you've got uniformed patrol-
men (in) marked police cars making
cocaine grabs in the multi-ounce
range,” noted Jeffrey Sauter, presi-
dent of the Schenectady Police
Benevolent Association. “What does
that tell you? ... How wide open is
this city?”

The problem with using that as a
reason to randomly pull over young
black men in new cars is that
frequently the police sweep up more
innocent people in their dragnets
than drug dealers. For example, only
one of those 11 individuals inter-
viewed about being stopped while
driving on the Hill has ever been
charged with a drug offense.

“That is a profile, I'm sure: This is
too expensive of a car for that
generic population,” said Alan Li-
zotte, associate dean of the State
University at Albany's School of
Criminal Justice. “A traffic stop is a
key pretext for a search. Once (an
officer) stops a car, he can look for
anything in the car”

“The police perception is that
there aren't black people who can
afford a new Nissan” unless they're
dealing drugs, added Schenectady
County Public Defender Martin Cir-
incione

The problem is, “that famous
profile fits a lot of le, not all of
whom are drug dealers,” said Phillip
Grigsby, director of the Inner City
Ministry.

“The natural result” of pulling
over every young black man in a

new car in an ettort to crack down
on the drug trade, Cirincione said, is
that police end up violating many
black people's constitutional rights,
Lizotte noted that Schenectady
police “are under a tremendous
amount of pressure to contain any

lerns that exist (in Hamilton

ill) to that neighborhood.” Traffic

stops, he added, are among the most
effective tools the cops have.

If Schenectady had a larger vice

squad, Sauter and others argued,

uniformed wouldn't have to
put so m emphasis on stopping
cars and people on the street.

“You have five guys on the vice
squad and one sergeant, and you
don't even have anybody a

t midnight,” he argued. Noting
that the Ai Police Department
has a narcotics unit about four times
that size, Sauter added he'd like to
see the vice squad
doubled in size.

Schenectady Police Commissioner
Charles Mills, however, dismissed
the ar t for shifting more cops
into the vice squad as “a lot of union

“Let's understand the vice opera-
tion in the city of Schenectady. It's
not five people and a sergeant,”
Mills said. He pointed out that State
Police regularly loan undercover

officers to his department, and that
the Schenectady police also
pate in the 1 Drug
ment Task Force

Mills acknowledged, however, that
if he had a larger force, he would

more to the vice

squad: “Give me 300 men and I'll
have a 22-member vice squad.”

Barring that unlikely develop-

per ea commissioner acknow!l-

, uniformed lice

will continue sie coat people by the

street — only, he insisted, when they
have valid cause to do so.

“There are people on the Hill that
everybody knows, who do drugs and
deal drugs and have been ling
drugs since they were 12 years of

age,’ Mills said. “These are
very well-known to the sb

and if there’s a man who's a known

drug dealer seen on the Hill (he may)

be stopped for an investigatory s

— I don’t see a problem wi
yg

Many in the black community,
however, insist that the police aren't
targeting just known dealers —
or those they have reason to
suspect. The Rev. Carl Taylor, pas-
tor of Friendship Baptist Church and
chairman of the city's Social Justice
Committee, said he's aware of nu-
merous cases in which black drivers
felt they were pulled over for no
good reason.

“T’ve had a couple of young men in
my church -~ good young men from
good families — that that's ha
to, One of them, his family gave him
a car last year when he graduated
from Union College. He had the car a
week when the cops stopped him for
no reason. They wanted to know
where he got the car, where he got
the money to pay for it. When he said
his family gave it to him, they didn’t
believe him. I had to intervene to
keep him out of trouble.”

Cirincione acknowledged that he’s
had clients come to his office with
similar complaints. The best advice
he can give them is not to drive on
the Hill.

That's what William 's at-
torney told him after he was pulled
over in February driving his Cadil-
lac Seville with a gold grille and gold
wheel rims.

“My lawyer said, ‘I tell my clients
to stay off Hamilton Hill,” Harper
complained. “I can't stay off Hamil-
ton Hill. I live there. I can’t build a
tunnel to drive to work every day.”

Asked about such complaints,
Mills said, “If that’s happened, give
me a name, give me a date, give me
a person to whom that's happened,
and if it did I'll take care of it
because that’s wrong.”
Hot summer night
was right climate
for bias charges

By Harvy Lipman

Statt writer

The night of Aug. 16 was the kind
of summer evening when the heat
thickens the air inside the rundown
two-family houses that line parts of
Albany Street in Schenectady, push
ing people out of their un-air
conditioned apartments

Small groups had gathered on
stoops and in driveways along the
stretch that runs between Brandy
wine and Kelton avenues

On this night, many of those
people would become witnesses to
what many in the minority commu-
nity see a8 a prime example of how
young blacks are abused by the city’s
pelice. Police officials counter, how.
ever, that what occurred that night
was a Simple matter of mistaken
identity compounded by three teen
igers’ violent reaction to a detec-
tive 's reasonable inquiries

At about 10 p.m. that evening, four
black teenagers brothers Jason
ind Shawn Hall and their friends
Joseph Thompson and Michael Saw-
yet strolled down this stretch of
Aibany Street. One witness said the
youths were “minding their own
business.’ chatting with each other
ss they approached Sawyer’s apart-
ment half a block away

An unmarked police car pulled up
beside them, and two detectives got
ut. They were investigating the
recent gang rape of a 14-year-old
gir! by four teenagers. Earlier in the
day. Thompson had admitted taking
part in that crime, and had worked
ut a deal whereby he would identify
the three other rapists to the police

When the detectives saw Thomp-
wn walking down the street with the
Halls and Sawyer, they thought
mistakenly, if turned out — that they
were the other rapists

One detective began asking the
Halls and Sawyer their names. The
boys Say they answered his question
ind began walking away Police
Commissioner Charles Mills said
that Thompson began saying, “These
ire my posse. These are my friends
ind instead of them saying they had
no knowledge (of the crime), they
joined in the brouhaha

Then one detective grabbed Shawn
Hall by the arm

“The cop started telling (Shawn
Hall} to come on, he wanted to ask
him a couple of questions,” said
Jennie Salisbury, who was sitting
outside her building “(Hall) kept
saving, ‘Let me go I! didn't do
sothin

Ai that point the detective and
Shawn Hall got into a tug-of-war
with the other boys yelling that they
hadn't done anything

The other detective told Sawyer
and Halls brother to leave, and
witnesses say Jason Hall walked
across the street while Sawyer sat
down on 4 nearby porch

Phe detectives radioed for hackup
ind several patrol cars responded

wd eve witness ver
tappened next vary
Phy er os fiery

| BAGASY

ta. a

Court when the youths were cnarged
with disorderly conduct and resist-
ing arrest tell this story

Jason Hall hollered obscenities at
Officer Christopher Maher, who told
him to keep his voice down. Hall
responded with more obscenities and
picked up a lead rod. Maher told him
he was under arrest and to drop the
lead rod Hall refused and began
swinging at the offiers

But Kenneth Gibson, who was
watching the melee from his grand-
mother's porch just a few feet away,
told a very different story. “The cop
was saying, ‘Jason, come here.’
Jason was walking backwards, say-
ing ‘I didn’t do nothin

Gibson insisted Hall “didn't have
anything in his hands” and didn't
swing at the police officers. Told
that the police version states that
Hall was swinging a weapon, Gibson
said he was “absolutely sure” the
teenager had nothing in his hands

Salisbury and her boyfriend,
Alfred Dutcher, both of whom are
white, also said none of the boys ever
displayed any type of weapon

The Halls’ father, who works for
the state Department of Environ-
mental Conservation, provided The
Times Union with sworn statements
from five other witnesses. While
some said Jason Hall struggled with
the police, none mention seeing him
holding any sort of weapon

“Jason was thrown to the ground
and handcuffed,” said Earl Royer

All T saw was kicking and stomping
one officer kicking.”

in an interview at her home.
Salisbury also recalled seeing Jason
Hall being kicked in the side and the
head by a police officer while the
leenager was handcuffed and being
held down by another cop

Two witnesses — as well as Jason
Hall himself said that Maher put
his gun to Hall's head

The court information on Michael
Sawyer states that he was among a
group of people who had gathered at
the scene and was told to leave the
area. Sawyer “yelled obscenities at
the officers and refused to leave
While officers were attempting to
handeuff (Sawyer), he fought with
the officers in an attempt to free
himself”

Once again, the police version
differs substantially from the eyew
itness accounts. Salisbury and
Dutcher said Sawyer had moved
away from the melee and was sitting
on a nearby porch watching, when
several other police cars arrived

The detective pointed him out,
Dutcher said. “A couple of cops ran
up the street, and one cop grabbed
(Sawyer) and swung him into the
ground

Asked if Sawyer had made any
attempt to run or fight the officers.
Salisbury replied that he had stoad
up and held his arrns out to his sides
but offered ne resintiance

sawyer said he was kicked in the

ribs several tirrves an assertion

backed up by some of the witnesses

Me Sul his only meovernent was to
fy

ua due sy ‘4 ene sa hy Lenet

[or ree eteacee er ccanenien nt ner sneaaes

j
|

SUNDAY TIMES UNION *

HAMILTON HILL BLUES: Police and Blacks in Sc

Albany, N.Y.. May 10, 1992

henectady

‘T kept saying,
resisting. ]’m not resisting.

‘Tm not

*

- Michael Sawyer

“Tt kept saying, ‘I'm not resisting
I'm not resisting ‘”

The Halls and Sawyer insisted the
police did not tell them why they
were being arrested, or read them
their constitutional rights.

The charges against them Were
dismissed Jan, 31, when prosecutors
failed to comply with a court order
fo turn over copies of the wiliess
Statements to their lawyer The
attorney did receive copies later

A police department investigation
of the incident concluded that no
unnecessary force was used

Mills said the department has
statements from additional W!fess
es to back up its version of the event
ilthough he refused to disclose Cer,
Ciling the hikelihood of an Hpee Ming
Le wsuit Rew the youths

va

have SH ELLE e NER

ssanliathtie tng
PAA ARR ORNATE AMINE BEALE RR AG GRR DN TIN PENRO

statements from some of the people
who were participants to it, that
deadly physical force would have
been justified because tere were
weapons swung at the officers if
they had shot their guns they would
have been justified, and they didn't
They used restraint,” Mills said

Dutcher laughed when he heard
that conclusion, “They used an
overzealous amount of force to pul
them under arrest.”

Joseph Allen, president of the
Schenectady chapter of the NAACP,
dismissed any suggestion that the
officers’ actions were understanda-
ble given that they believed the
youths had committed a Vvicrous
rape

if you have people under your
control, what do you have to feat
them un for? What difference does it
rhake what they re charged wilh?

The findings of this five-month
Time Union investigation are
based on two sets of statistics
The newspaper entered
thousands of arrest records from
the Schenectady and Aibany
police departments for the first
six months of 1991 into a com-
puter for companson and
analysis. It also obtained annual
arrest data from the state
Division of Criminal Justice
Services in arder to compara

Sonenectady 6 arrest rate with

if New York

that of the

Times Union photo by John Cart 0 Annibate

mao meeanrenat encom sn eran aman ene mers apenas

‘If you have people under your
control, what do you have to beat
them up for?’

~ Joseph Allen

President, Schenectady chapter of the NAACP

About this series

Harvy Lipman, 41, has
been a projects reporter at The
Tenes Union since 1985
Before that, he was a
producer/news writer in (ne
Washington bureau of Cable
News Network

John Cari D’Annibale.
37, has been a staff photogra
pher at The Times Union
since 1988

Richard K. Stoddard,

iG. has Been an eddtonal artist

£y TY)

feyy 1 fine Livoo smce 1986

Demonstrators “”’*
take their protest

to Whalen’s house
Residents allege police abuse

By JOHN MORAN
Gazette Reporter

ALBANY — For the second time in
a year and a half, residents angry
over alleged anyon abuse in the city
spontaneously and vocally demon-
Tee ee vont of Mayer Teomae M.
Whalen III's house.

Following an organizing meeting
attended by more than 100 people
concerned about police behavior,
about 70 people piled into 25 cars at
the Boys’ and Girls’ Club on
Delaware Avenue and drove uptown
to the mayor's South Pine Street
home.

The demonstrators arrived at
Whalen’s home honking their car
horns and got out of their vehicles to
chant, “It has happened here.” After
four white grow officers were found
innocent of beating black motorist
Rodney King in Los Angeles, Whalen
said that kind of violence vB ogg
officers doesn't happen in Al ;

At one point a woman broke from
the group and walked up Whalen's
sidewalk and rang his doorbell.
immediately, the chanting crowd
began to follow and Whalen opened
his front door with his golden
retriever on a leash. The crowd con-
tinued to chant loudly and Whalen

and Assistant Police Chief William
Merray, who had arrived on the scene
before the demonstrators, stepped in
front of Whalen’s door in ofthe
protesters.

a | after a uniformed officer
joined Murray between the crowd
and the house, the demonstrators
started sages “Who's going to

; us ”

One of the demonstrators was
Doreen Sheldon, mother of Corey
Sheldon, a 21-year-old black man
who police and a state watchdog
agency ruled hanged himself in the
city lockup Jan. 3, 1991. The Sheldon
family doesn't believe their son
hanged himself and says the city and
the state have never answered a
number of questions about .

the cir
“T’'m glad to be here, ‘een Shel-

don said as she clapped along with the.
crowd. “God is in our midst.”

Then members of the crowd.
started shouting that the police were
writing down license plate numbers:
of the demonstrators’ cars. “Why are.’
you taking our numbers?” one map
yelled as the group continued to
chant on Whalen’s lawn.

Several people shouted that they:
should get the names and license -
numbers of the officers. :

When Murray was asked why the
officers were getting license num-
bers he said, “The cars are ed on
a public street, and I told we.”

In past incidents with demonstra-.’
tions, the Albany Police have been
accused of intimidating protesters by.
photographing them and writing.’
their plate numbers down.

The protest ended peacefully after’
about 20 minutes with Alice Green,
director of the Center for Law and.
Justice, telling the group, “This is.
just the beginning. We'll be back, and.
we'll be back again.” ‘

At the Boys’ Club meeting that.
spawned the demonstration about”.
100 people discussed ways for the-*
community to take action =!
police abuse in Albany, Schenectady, :,
and Troy. Kighteen committees were.’
set up and facilitators signed.
interested people up for different:
panels, Committee topics included:
— abuse lawsuit fund, youth vio- ,
ence prevention program, police (
abuse victims’ support project,.:
affirmative action in criminal justice ’
agencies, and citizen oversight of .

Green and other civil rights activ-
ist have called for the creation of a’
civilian police review board with:.
investigatory powers ever since the”

age death of Jesse Davis’,
1985. Police claimed Davis, who)
had a history of mental problems,.’

y

was still ag

8-10

Albany, N.Y.. Saturday, May 16, 1992

County Legislature
packs new districts

eek re

_», By Vincent Jackson
‘  Statt writer
ALBANY - Albany County legis-
lators voted overwhelming Friday
night to back a compromise redis-
tricting plan worked out after
months of tense talks among Demo-
_crats, Republicans and the NAACP.

« ae a Wmakers yoted 28-6 to set a
“~"Sublic hearing and vote on the
“ Pedistricting plan on May 28.

-* «Friday's vote rejected efforts by

the minority affairs committee of

_.. the Albany County Democratic Par-

ty to have legislative districts re-

_ drawn so the only two current black

“fégislators would not be pitted
against each other.

The deal involving Democrats,
Republicans and the NAACP was
required by a court order, and the
county had to come up with 4 plan
that could gain enough su ‘
Without a law with enough backing,
the would have likely ended
up controlled by a federal court.

The three minority-controlled dis-
triets in the city would be as follows:

@ District 2 — a combination of a
 pertion of Sheridan Hollow and the
osonth End

aes ll District 3 488 Arbor Hill, which

» -would run north to Interstate 90,
giving North Albany its own district

as with the area surrounding Shaker
Park Drive and some sections of the
12th District.

@ District 5 — north of Arbor Hill,
** "khown as West Hill.

‘Third District Legislator Ruby
Hughes, one of the two minority
1 tors, wanted a different redis-

plan that was supported by
Legislator Jack MeEineny.

or hes claimed her proposal
with the con-

ene
® 4

committee ot the Albany County
Democratic Party.

“It's a racist act. It is viewed by
me as such,” said Democratic Ward
Leader Rodney Littles, referring to
Hughes and ~
“ ‘im

come to an accord, a simple issue

solved.”

After the meeting, McKnight said
it is unfortunate that she will
compete against Hughes, but she
supported the com law be-
cause she believed her constituents
in the South End wanted her to.

During the meeting, McEneny got
ms to second Hughes’ motion on her

an and said that during the last 24

ours, he found a legal impediment
to the compromise plan.

“You can’t gerrymander twe
blacks out. ... The courts have found
it to be racist,” said MeEneny, who

Legislator Paul Collins, who
helped negotiate the compromise
plan, said with the Voting Rights Act
of 1968, the issue of incumbency is

not a when 1 reap-
decisions, and real
is minority voting strength,
= the plan provides
or.
“This was an apolitical decision
We were for the best dis-
tricts for our community,” said

Lowell Siegel, counsel to the
NAACP. “We can develop the kind of
leaders that will make future gener-

ations a greater part of the decision
process,

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No Rodney King here?

To the Editor

Some of the recent statements made by
Albany's mayor and chief of police in the

Rodney King incident xere provocative
and irresponsible Short!y after the ver-
dicts were announced. hey Matly stated
that it could never happen sere

Mayor Whalen vent .o far as to say that
During my administration, ae citizen of
this city will be cahject co the type of
human and cryi! : ations which
has troubled us 4]! ie Pimes Union,
May 2)

According °° 1a official complaint,
approximately one ononth ago James
White. an African-American male who is

disabled, was attacked by the police as he
walked out of his apartment door. Police
officers threw him up against the wall,
down on the floor and then stepped on and
broke his back brace. Next he was taken
into another apartment where a drug raid
was going on, thrown over a sink and
finally tightly handcuffed

Mr. White was involved in no crime: he
was not charged wth a crime and he is not
4 criminal. As a result of this brutal act,
Mr. White has been in excruciating pain
for which he has been receiving treat-
ment. He has also had to deal with the
recurring nightmare of the attack,

Cannot happen here? Has not happened
here? It is easy for the mayor to make
pronouncements about an incident 3,000
miles away. His past history on these
issues has proven that these utterances
mean nothing.

Let the mayor show that he wants to
address the issue of police abuse in Albany
by doing something meaningful. A police
civilian review board with investigative
powers would mean more than his
hypocritical words of indignation.

VERA MICHELSON
Capital District Coalition
Against Apartheid and Racism

Thanks for being there

To the Editor:

I'd just like to thank you in behalf of our
church ministry, and I'm sure for literally
thousands of Christians in our Capital

District. Why? Because you were the only
sradin comene of oe March for Jesus in

+ tet meonnc tte

A mil a ¢
Letters to the Editor
The Times Union
Box 15000
Albany, N.Y. 12212

hee, * TOV EN bir Namie ego NE tage cue

Letters are subject to editing for
length, taste and accuracy. In-
Clude daytime phone number.
Only letters written exclusively to
The Times Union will be used —
and only if the writer's name can
also be published.

How about 50 cents?

To the Editor:

Marv Cermak’s article (Sunday, May 17)
exemplified society's school taxes person-
ality disorder syndrome. This affliction
has several distinct symptoms: total loss
of perspective, shortsightedness, severely
reduced mental functioning and a distort-
ed value system.

His statement that a $1 per week school
tax increase during each of the past four
years, “... snatches a pretty good chunk
out of a weeks’ take-home pay for the
average worker ...” is ludicrous, unless of
course you earn $10 or less each week. One
dollar buys half-a-pack of cigarettes, or
one cup of coffee, including tip, in a diner.
Shame, Mr. Cermak. What an outrageous
Statement. His arithmetical deficiency is
compounded by a severe case of tunnel
vision. Let's try to gain some perspective:

Since you're so concerned about your $1
per week, Mr. Cormah, lot ime offer fee's

*

mundiogt nme: Maw <4

8 « METROLAND ¢ June 11-17, 1992

‘NEWSFR

MAKING JESSE’S
CASE

DID ALBANY POLICE OFFICERS

shoot Jesse Davis in the back nearly eight
years ago? And if so, does that have any
bearing on the two lawsuits filed by the
Davis family against the City of Albany and
five police officers who were there when
the black Arbor Hill resident was killed?

The answers to those and other questions
are at the heart of the suits, which have
been filed in state and federal courts. But
the only person other than the officers who
was in Davis’ Clinton Avenue apartment on
July 8, 1984, cannot testify.

“Since Mr. Davis is dead,”’ said Albany
attorney Lewis B. Oliver Jr., who represents
the Davis family, “in order to reconstruct
what occurred in the apartment, we need to
have a pathologist, a ballistics expert and a
police conduct expert.” Oliver said he
believes the police used ‘‘excessive force”
when they killed Davis.

Oliver is handling the case on a
contingency fee basis. That means there
are no current expenses for the Davis
family. But neither the family nor the law
firm can afford the estimated $10,000 it
would cost to hire expert witnesses.

In late May, Oliver warned his clients
that there was an emergency in the case.
Lawyers for the defendants had filed a
motion asking that the state lawsuit be
dismissed. In Oliver's opinion, that might
happen “solely because the Davis family is
unable to pay’’ for expert witnesses. And if
the state court case-~which charges the
officers and the city with wrongful death—
ig dismissed, Oliver expects to see a similar
motion filed in the federal case, which
charges the police with violating Davis’
civil rights.

Last week, Louise Thornton, Davis’ sister,
along with representatives of the Community
Action Against Racism and Violence Project
and other local anti-racist groups, announced
an effort to raise the money. "We need to ask
the community for funds,’’ Thornton said.
“We need the Jesse Davis trial to continue,”

Davis has been described as mentally
unstable. But Thornton claimed that was

political events

FRIDAY, JUNE 12

Sipantal Fund: Panasdis Ger

Autopsy photos: Was Davis shot in the back?

an unfair picture.

‘To me, he wasn't the way they said he
was,” she said. According to Thornton,
Davis was taking medication to control
bouts of nervousness following an incident
in which he was stabbed, According to the
sister, the police say Davis told the officers
at his door that he could not open the door
because he was not wearing any clothes.
When the officers forced the door, Davis is
reported to have lunged at them witha
knife and a fork.

In 1984, the Davis killing became a
catalyst for demands to reform the Albany
Police Department. There were marches
and meetings and delegations sent to
Mayor Thomas M. Whalen II1. The protests
led to the creation of Albany's Community-
Police Relations Board, and an affirmative-
action hiring plan in the police department,

But a grand jury and an internal police
investigation cleared the five officers of
any wrongdoing.

"A Jawsuit is the only way the public gets
the opportunity to find out what happened,”
said Alice Green of the Center for Law and
Justice. Her group is collecting money for
the Jesse Davis Memorial Fund.

The fund drive, which began with appeals
to African-American church congregations,
got off to a slow start over the weekend.
There was little time to organize the drive,
but leaders said the effort would continue.

Jeff Jones

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Civil rights lawsuit
attracts support

Cl Jesse Davis backers get more time, raise
enough money to keep their case going.

By Jay Jochnowitz
Statt writer

ALBANY — Backers of a civil
rights suit by the estate of a black
man shot by city police eight years
ayo have won a one-month court
reprieve and are confident that they
will raise $10,000 to keep the case
going.

Despite fears that the case of Jesse
Davis would die this month if the
money wasn't raised, enough funds
came in to hire at least one of three
expert witnesses needed in the trial,
said Deborah Williams-Muham-
mad, a coordinator of Community
Action Against Racism and Vio-
lence, She said money continues to
come in.

“We have succeeded in keeping
this alive,” Williams-Muhammad
said Sunday.

While she did not have a figure on
how much has been raised, and Alice
Green, head of the Center for Law
and Justice, which is handling the
finances, could not be reached Sun-
day, Williams-Muhammad said
funds came in from a carwash last
weekend, donations from businesses
and private contributors. Volunteers
have been going door to door to
solicit funds.

Some churches have also sent on
money from special collections, said
Williams-Muhammad.

Davis, a mentally ill Arbor Hill
resident, was killed duly 8, 1984,

when police responded to a report of
u man gone berserk and he attacked
them with a knife and a large fork.
Officers were cleared of wrongdoing
by an Albany County grand jury and
a labor dispute arbitrator.

The Davis family sued in federal
court in 1987, seeking $40 million
and claiming that police had violat-
vd Davis’ civil rights.

In May, Green's group announced
that unless enough money was
raised to hire experts in ballistics,
pathology and police conduct, the
case could be dismissed. So far,
attorney Lewis B, Oliver, who is
handling the case, was able to hire a
pathologist and may have enough to
hire the other experts as well, said
Williams-Muhammad.

Oliver referred questions to Green,
but he did say U.S, District Judge
Neal P. McCurm moved the deadline
for discovery in the case to Aug. Li.

With the case still alive, the coali-
tion plans a memorial vigil on
Wednesday, the anniversary of Da-
vis’ death, starting with a 7 p.m.
mevting at the Albany Public Li-
brary. Three or four people, inelud-
ing Davis’ sister Louise Thornton,
will speak, Williams-Muhammad
said, followed by a walk and vigil at
an as-yet-undisclosed location. Wil-
liams-Muhammad said organizers
are not releasing the destination so
that people attend the meeting.

Modern Courts

36 West 44th Street Suite 310 New York, New York 10036-8181 (212) 575-1578

Chairman:
Robert M,. Kaufman

Chairmen Emeriti:
Robert MacCrate
Hon. Cyrus R, Vance

ee ae ae *e6 5.8 6 A7 2 VS GOAL 5

Vice Chairpersons: In 1992, the Committee for Modern Courts, a statewide,
Marion P. Ames

Whitney North Seymour, Jr. : ’ ‘ :
phi achaie nusanan nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens' organization concerned with
Secretary: ‘

doaeph H. Soys, Jr. the quality of justice in New York State, urges action by the
ati New York State Legislature on the following six issues:

Arthur 8. Newman

Board of Directors:
Laura Altschuler
Frank P. Auguatine

Bradley Backus MERIT SELECTION OF JUDGES: To assure a high quality
Lenore H. Banks

Hon. H. Douglas Barclay judiciary which is reflective of the population it serves, the
Hon. Richard J. Bartlett

Peter Bienstock Legislature should give First Passage to a constitutional

John P. Bracken
Roscoe C. Brown, Jr.
Michael! A. Cardozo
Gwenn L. Carr

amendment to replace the partisan elective system for selecting

Julius L. Chambers most judges in New York with a process known 4s "Merit Selection
Angelo T, Cometa

Robert Conrad of Judges,” a three-step system of choosing judges: first,
Hon. A. Pinny Cooke

Sot Neil Corbin nomination by a broadly~based, nonpartisan nominating commission

Katharine PF. Darrow
Natacha P. Dykman
Haliburton Faies, 2nd
Ruben Franco

composed of lawyers and laypersons, who seek out the best

Frances M. Friedman candidates and propose a limited number of names for each
Margaret Fung

Judah Gribetz vacancy; second, appointment by an elected chief executive from
Conrad K, Harper

Hon. Janet A. Johnson tnd ‘ : ,e¢ ,

Hon Hugh R. ones that limited list; and third, ratification or disapproval of the
Victor A. Kowner : ‘

Achar @ tune judge by the voters after he or she has been in office long
Timoimy Ro Lovalle

£ Nobles Lowe enough to be evaluated. Merit selection means removing the
Frane J Macchiaroia

pen Page A ms selection of judges from political party bosses and giving that
ea 2: int ‘

Hon Bernard § Meyer ‘ ‘

Serene K: Makan authority to concerned, thoughtful citizens and an accountable
Hon. May W. Newburger ; : ‘4 hime ,

Robert L. Osiertag ° chief executive, with the ultimate authority remaining with the
Joan T. Protadis

Priip C Pinsky voters.

Bettina B. Plevan

Thomas A. Reppetio

Prot. Maurice Rosenberg

Shirley Adeison Siege!

Hen: ‘ Haxonioget cian COURT MERGER: New York State's court system is fragmented
rene A, Sullivan
Ropert 8. Tierney
Juste L. Vigeor

and inefficient. Although the state constitution calls for 4

pi tagcat "unified" system, it actually establishes a structure consisting
av Yaus

Peter Zimroin of 13 separate courts, 11 of which are trial courts. The
Executive Director:

ML. Henry, Jr. Legislature should give First Passage to a constitutional
Associate Director:

Elizabeth 8 Hubbard amendment merging the Supreme Court, Court of Claims, County
Assistant Directors:

Alan B. Beck '
snietfirtt ag OE Court, Surrogate's Court, Family Court, Civil Court of the City
Aviva ©, Werineiner of New York, Criminal Court of the City of New York and the
Chapter Coordinators:

Capial Disieict: District Courts on Long Island. A single major trial court

Heiga A Schroeter
Nassau County

Ruth F. S$. Shur ~over~

Citizens concerned with the quality and adminisirapon of justice m New York Sune

Modern Courts 1992 Priorities ~2~

would be more economical and provide a more efficient court system. One judge
could deal with the whole process, many procedural roadblocks would be elimi-

nated, and citizens would have their day in court more speedily.

ADEQUATE FUNDING FOR THE COURTS: Securing adequate funding for the

effective operations of the justice system, with particular attention to
funds allocated to the judiciary budget, is another Modern Courts‘ priority.
Modern Courts strongly supports the Judiciary's 1992-93 budget request of $893
million, supplemented by at least $15 million of legislatively authorized
savings. For years, New York's Judiciary has been woefully underfunded. The
resolution of the court suit brought by the Chief Judge assures a bare minimum
allocation to keep the courts open. Funding is also needed to increase judi~
cial salaries which have not been raised since 1986. If the justice system is
to be able to provide a deterrent to crime, to peacefully resolve disputes and
to help children and families in crisis, the Legislature must adequately fund

the courts.

GRAND JURY REFORM: The Committee for Modern Courts supports First Passage

of a constitutional amendment which would speed up felony prosecutions by
eliminating, in most cases, meaningless screening by a grand jury and institut~
ing a preliminary hearing before a judge where the charges can be properly

reviewed and assessed early in a prosecution.

JURY SERVICE: Modern Courts supports measures which would make jury
service more agreeable and productive and would ensure that this burden
of civic duty is more equitably shared. Mandatory sequestration of juries
should be eliminated. Occupational exemptions from jury service should be
ended; requests for excusal should be granted on an individual basis, using

leyislative guidelines.

TV IN THE COURTROOM: The Committee for Modern Courts supports legislation
to reinstitute photographic and electronic media coverage of trial court
proceedings. The experimental audio-visual coverage of trial proceedings was
eminently successful in the ongoing process of demystification of the courts a5
well as serving to draw public attention to important issues such as crime and

child abuse.

Ssgasi tion

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS Saturday, September 26, 1992 13

QUESTION: Do you agree with
Mayor David N. Dinkins on form-
ing an all-Civilian New York po-
lice Review Board? Do you be-
lieve the police are getting out of
hand?

WENDY _ SIMMONS

i BRUNNEN,
imanager of
sales ~— 1 am
totally sympa-
thetic. [believe
the mayor has
the city’s best
interests at
heart. His visit
to the mother
of the wei’ dealer was political in
nature in that it calmed asituation
that could have erupted into vio-
lence. The recent police demon-
stration was appalling. They need
tolook beyond their worldand grasp
the picture. The Civilian

bigger
Review Board will be an objective

embarrass-
ment. The
New York City Police Department
should be setting an example for our
youngadults, both Black and White,
as well as showing respect for David
Dinkins. It’s a major disappoint-
ment for those who should be up-
holding the law.
JACQUELINE WISNER
| measurement
jeonsultant —
lam indeed in
i total sympa-

ithy with the
determina-

i tion by Mayor
Dinkins toput
————t New York’s

Police Review Board entirely in
civilian hands. Thedemonstration
by about 10,000 off-duty officers
demonstrates the needs for hav-
ing such a review board. Their
criminal and racist behavior
proved that there is an element in

Opinion

Say yes to all-Civilian Complaint Review Board
Testimony by Mayor Dinkins before City Council Public Safety Committee

_ bers, City Hall:
I thank you for af-

" tunity to testify today
on this very important

legislation.

The bill before you would re-
peal Section 440 of the New York |
City Charter and would, for the |
first time in the history of our |
city, establish a Civilian Com- |

plaint Review Board that would
investigate allegations of miscon-
duct by police officers and would
consist entirely of civilian mem-
bers of the public.

I believe this law would be
good public policy. I believe it is
an idea whose time has come in
our city. I am here to testify in
favor of it and to urge your sup-
port for it. | amin favor of this bill

both because of what it is —~ and |
| investigate their complaints.

because of what it is not.

One thing this bill is is a mea- |
| ers in too many cities, including |
| New York, have been focused to

sure that will ultimately improve
the relationship between our po-

lice and our people, that will en- |
hance mutual respect, cohesion |

and confidence between them -— |
| of that small percentage of offic-

things that are absolutely criti-

cal as we continue to embark on |

our Safe Streets, Safe City pro-
gram that haa made community
policing the foundation and basic
philosophy of the department.
One thing it is not is a vote of no
confidence, by me or by you, in
the New York City Police De-
partment.

I believe, officer for officer, the
New York police force of today
rates favorably and proudly when
measured against any other era
in our history and against any

in its ability to protect and safe-
guard the citizens of our city was
what prompted the Safe Streets,

Safe City program.

During its first two years of

implementation, Safe Streets,
Safe City saw N.Y.P_D. uniformed
strength grow from 25,465 in
August 1990 to 29,144 by the end
of this past June.

And by the time Safe Streets,
Safe City has been fully imple-
mented in fiscal 1995, the uni-
formed headcountofthe N.Y.P.D.
will have risen to the unprec-
edented level of 31,361.

No other mayor has ever pro-
vided for an increase of this magni-
tude in the strength of the New York
Police Department, and this accom-
plishment is even more remarkable
considering that it was done in the
continuing financial straits that
hamper our city because of a three-

As we witness crime rates drop
in our city — as we experience the
first across-the-board decline in all
seven FB.1. Index crime categories
in some 36 years -— we can see our
investment in the department pay-

ing off. So I have boundless respect | and rewarding its friends.

ity Council cham- |
| guperbwork of the men and women
| we call New York’s Finest.

- fording me the oppor. |

occasions when citi-
| gens feel they have

‘cure political endorsements. None

for the courage, commitment and |

And, as I said when this bill was

|
| introduced, the vast majority ofin- |
| teractions between police officers |
| and the public are positive. Indeed, |
| | hear unsolicited compliments |
| about the actions of the men and |

women in blue every

_ Understanding the stresses | nig rawr '
_ ity of good, decen e in our
I have been to too many police | iit

| funerals, and sat at the bedside of | side of thé Sante beitic

| too many wounded officers, and
spoken with too many anguished

families of officers not to have had |

burned into my soul an under-

police officers and the vast major-

neighborhoods are on the same
— and
need to know it.

This becomes particularly true
as we enter the era of community

| policing under our Safe Streets,

standing of the stresses, the ten- | | Safe City program. Now more than

ever, our police officers

day.
However, there are

been ill-treated or that
officers have acted in-
appropriately. And in
order to maintain pub-
lic confidence in our
police, I believe we
need to assure New
Yorkers that there exists an inde-
pendent, authoritative, impartial
body on which they can rely to

For far too long, too many offic-
spend their entire careers alien-
ated from the communities they

patrol; living under the shadow

ers who disgrace the badge and

the uniform; and under the peer |

_preasure that even good cops |
| our city and the pressure it puts

- us all under. My operating as-

must grin and bear it when bad
cops get out of line. No good cop
should have to spend a career in
that fear, or under that shadow
or under that pressure,

‘at le important. ..that the
mechanism for adjudicating
who is right and who is
wrong be seen as credible
by both sides.’

sion and the dangers our police
officers face every day. And after
almost three years as mayor of the

City of New York, I believe I better |
understand why the potential for |

alienation between cops and com-
munities is sometimes there.
There are cultural divides, ra-
cial differences, language barri-
ers, perception gaps — and al-
ways, always the threat posed, to
civilian and officer alike, by the
prevalence of drugs and guns in

sumption in support of this legis-
lation, therefore, is simply that
the vast majority of good, decent

must be a functioning
part of the streets they
patrol, able to establish
lines of communication
with the people they pro-
tect. Able, in a word, to
win their trust.
Thanks to commu-
nity policing, the alien-
ation between cops and
the culturally-diverse
communities they patrol is being

| greatly reduced —one ofthe goals,
and the side benefits, of Safe

Streets, Safe City.

To create bonds of trust
But because I believe that the

| current system for handling com-
| plaints against officers does not do
| enough to support bonds of trust
| between police and our communi-
| ties, [thinkitis time for us tochange

it. Change it, as this bill would, into
a system that will be fair and that
will be seen as fair by both sides,
Change it into an investigative
body that has credibility and has
the confidence of the public that

(Continued on Page 47)

.. resecutors have pe-
. rennially charged |
~ Rev. AlSharpton with |
breaking criminal |
laws for engaging in
acts of civil disobedi-
ence. Now he is breaking political
rules. According to traditional
political standards, Sharpton’s
candidacy for the U.S. Senate and
his nearly 170,000 votes and third-
place finish was a political miracle.

A successful candidate must
usually honor certain political
rules. First, the candidate must
have the political capital and
credit to secure ballot status. Sec-
ondly, the candidate must secure
adequate campaign financing.
Thirdly, the candidate must se-

of the above applied to Sharpton’s
1992 candidacy for the U.S. Sen-
ate.

Traditionally, candidates for
the U.S. Senate on the ticket of a
major political party are chosen
on the basis of party loyalty and
committed service to the political
fat cats. Sharpton has spent vir-
tually his entire life fighting the
political establishment which be-
lieves in punishing its enemies

Thus, theodds were overwhelm-
ingly against Sharpton securing |

| ballot status. New York has the

most arcane election laws in the

country. And since Sharpton has |
| politicians are footnotes. Because

been unfaithful to the Democratic
Party, nobody had any reason to
believe that this cabal would give
him automatic ballot status with-
out requiring him to collect the
requisite number of signatures and
run through a formidable political
maze,

This was 1992, however. The
presidential sweepstakes would
eecur in November. The Demo-
crats are hungry for an election
victory. Black votes are critical if
the Democrats are going to win in
November.

The circumstances made it dif-
ficult for the Democrats to “just
say no to (Sharpton)” especially
since the party already knew ofhis
ability to energize Black voters.

Ninety-nine percentof the Black
political establishment refused to
endorse him. Usually, a candidate
must borrow political capital in
the form of political endorsements
to mount a successful campaign.
This is piggyback politics. In short,
politics is the art of forming and
fostering symbiotic relationships.

Sharpton won by utilizing the

Rev Al: a man for all seasons

; 'Y By ALTON H. MADDOX JR. |
other police department in this |

country. My commitment to the |»
departmentand my undyingfaith §

platforms are the Black Church

and the grass roots community.

_ They are the main texts for a Black
_ candidate in a major political cam-

paign. On the other hand, Black

of the Underground Railroad,

| major polling organizations were

unable to measure Rev. Sharpton’s
true political strength.

Money is the petroleum which
fuels the political machine. Rev.
Sharpton’s opponents were awash
in campaign funds, The needle of
his fuel gage, however, hovered on
empty throughout the campaign.
It was anticipated that his ma-
chine would never cross the finish
line.

Specifically, New York City
Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman
spent approximately $14.50 per
vote. New York State Attorney
General Robert Abrams spent
$10.25 per vote, Former vice-presi-
dential candidate Geraldine
Ferraro spent $10 per vote.
Sharpton spent$ .40 per vote, Au-
tomotive engineers should study
this campaign to husband hints
on fuel efficiency.

This was the most cost-effec-
tive campaign in political annals.
While Mayor David N. Dinkins

3 ,had a reported war chest of
| Underground Railroad. The key |

(Continued on Page 47)
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