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<font size=3>Busted in Brooklyn<br>
Three activists went out to police the policeand ended up in jail<br>
<a href="http://villagevoice.com/news/0508,lee,61338,5.html" eudora="autourl">http://villagevoice.com/news/0508,lee,61338,5.html<br>
</a><b>by Chanel Lee<br>
</b>February 22nd, 2005 2:37 PM <br><br>
Shortly after midnight on February 9, Lumumba Bandele, Dasaw Floyd, and
Djibril Toure were driving down Greene Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant when
they heard police sirens wailing about four or five blocks ahead.
<br><br>
For the three young men, this was nothing new. They'd spent many hours
monitoring police activity for the Brooklyn-based Malcolm X Grassroots
Movement's Cop Watch program, armed with little more than a video camera
and a citizen's right to observe officers in the course of their duties.
<br><br>
However, the sight of several police vehicles running red lights on a
chase, and of one car speeding down the sidewalk, did raise an eyebrow.
As the young men approached the scene at Throop Avenue, a witness ran
past from the opposite direction, saying that police officers had just
arrested someoneand that the officers had used excessive force.
<br><br>
"It was obviously a stop," says Floyd. "It was obvious
that something was happening, or had already gone down." <br><br>
By the time they got there, the Cop Watchers say, 39-year-old Christopher
Dukes was handcuffed and inside a police car, after allegedly threatening
a man with a knife. Toure says 15 to 20 cruisers were on hand, with at
least 30 standing by. Turning on a video camera, Bandele, Floyd, and
Toure made their way toward the center of the actiononly to be ordered
by an officer to leave. <br><br>
Invoking their legal right to observe, the three stepped back, and Floyd
continued to tape. Bandele says the officer again asked them to leave,
and again, the three asserted their right to observe, insisting they had
no intention of interfering. According to Toure, the officer then shoved
Bandele. When Bandele asked for the officer's name and badge number, the
officer began arresting the three. At some point, Floyd was thrown to the
ground. <br><br>
Police confiscated his camera and took the tape as evidence. They accused
the three of interfering with the arrest of Dukes, preventing the
recovery of the knife he allegedly carried. In addition, they say Toure
assaulted the arresting officer by jumping on his back and punching him.
<br><br>
The Cop Watch volunteers describe themselves as having been cooperative,
if insistent on asserting their rights. "At no point in time was
anyone resisting arrest," says Floyd. <br><br>
After being handcuffed and taken away in separate cars, the trio spent
the night in separate holding cells at the 79th Precinct on Tompkins
Avenue. That's the same precinct where Cop Watch members and other locals
gathered a year ago to decry the police shooting of teenager Timothy
Stansbury Jr. on a project rooftop. <br><br>
Word of the Cop Watch arrests last week spread quickly, and an angry
crowd gathered at the 79th to demand their release. Community leaders
were there, too, including Councilmember Charles Barron and aides to
Councilmember Al Vann. By the time the three men were arraigned at
central booking the next evening, 200 protesters were on hand. Malcolm X
Grassroots Movement lawyer Kamau Karl Franklin describes hearing screams
of support in an otherwise "pretty dead place." When the night
court judge released them, at about 9 p.m., the group responded with wild
applause. <br><br>
Now Bandele and Floyd face accusations of harassment, disorderly conduct,
resisting arrest, and obstruction of governmental administration. In
addition to facing those same charges, Toure remains accused of
assaulting an officer. Their initial pre-trial hearing is scheduled for
March 30. <br><br>
Brooklyn community leaders are reacting with outrage to this rendering of
the police department's creed, "Courtesy, Professionalism, and
Respect." <br><br>
"If you're practicing CPR, why would you get nervous about being
filmed?" fumes Councilmember Barron, a Democrat from East New York
and a onetime candidate for mayor. "You should be happy to be
filmed. If you're not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't have a problem
with being filmed." <br><br>
Others express anger at what they believe is an attempt to railroad
community organizers known for monitoring police. <br><br>
Jeffrey Fogel, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights,
says police too often slap charges on anyone who tries to challenge them
in the streets. "Resisting arrest is an easy one to stick on
people," he says. "Even if the arrest is no good, people can be
charged with resisting." It's also not unheard of, he says, for
police to drop a felony assault charge if defendants promise not to sue.
<br><br>
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department stresses that the
agency works with community groups but won't tolerate meddling.
"When officers are interfered with, it's a serious offense that
results in criminal charges," says Deputy Chief Michael Collins.
<br>
<br>
The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement was founded in 1995 and immediately
became known for its focus on human rights violations in the African
American community. In addition to running Cop Watch and pushing for law
enforcement reform, the group provides clothing and meals for the
homeless, sponsors a series of educational forums on everything from
tenant organization to the prison system and racism in the music
industry, and works to shed light on the plight of political prisoners.
Cop Watch began in 2000 as a response to the police killing of Amadou
Diallo in the Bronx as well as the surge in complaints of police
brutality in central Brooklyn. <br><br>
As a whole, Brooklyn recorded 1,756 complaints to the Civilian Complaint
Review Board in 2003, and over 1,000 in the first six months of 2004.
Brooklyn North, which includes the 79th Precinct, recorded 1,003
complaints in 2003, the second highest tally in the city. As for the 79th
itself, in the year and a half between January 2003 and June 2004, there
were 222 complaints. <br><br>
"This kind of thing happens all the time, but not everyone has video
cameras," says Floyd. "People are conditioned to expect this
kind of treatment by police." <br><br>
Cop Watch carefully teaches its members to conduct lawful patrols, says
attorney Franklin. "I know that our folks are trained to do these.
They know their rights, what to do and what not to do," he says.
"I know they were only documenting and videotaping." <br><br>
In the last year, Cop Watch has trained about 250 people, teaching them
how to safely intervene in incidents of police misconduct. They learn how
to invoke their right to observe from a reasonable distance, inform
suspects of their rights, question officers about their use of force, and
interview witnesses. <br><br>
As many as 50 volunteers now regularly conduct patrols. Despite the
recent setback, Bandele, Toure, and Floyd have insisted that Cop Watch
will continueand expand. "It has to continue," says Floyd.
"We have video cameras, [but] there's no telling what could happen
to people who don't have documentation or know the law the way they
should." <br><br>
"This doesn't come in a vacuum," says Toure. "When people
question things that are abnormal and are arrested, we have to make
connections. This is not about us, this is about everyone who's been
stopped and searched. We're trying to make everyone aware of their
rights." <br><br>
"We want everyone to be very clear that Cop Watch will continue. We
have actually been approached by other organizations to implement Cop
Watch in their own communities," says Bandele. "Tactically,
this is one of the worst things the police department could have
done." <br><br>
<br>
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