Minorities subject to Hackensack Police bias

Several African-American and Latino residents complain they are being randomly stopped, questioned and searched by city police, prompting a local community group to contact the U.S. Department of Justice. Larry Riley of the Concerned Citizens Organization of Hackensack has gathered statements from residents who say they have been unfairly targeted by police because of the color of their skin. The written police harassment complaints are mostly from residents living in central Hackensack, where African-Americans and Latinos reside. "There's no reason to stop a person when they are walking the street,'' said Riley, who mailed the complaints to Washington on Thursday. "They are not doing that in the Fairmount section." Eric Holland, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said each complaint received would be reviewed carefully. Last week, Riley and several members of the minority community attended a City Council meeting at which they aired their grievances against police. They told the council that some members of the Police Department are rude, disrespectful and always seem to be picking on them. "It's not every cop, it's just some police officers,'' said Toni Haverty, another member of the group. Several teenagers said police have stopped them and pointed flashlights at their faces, simply because they were walking down the street at night. [more]

Comments

[concerned hackensack resident]

I think there is a clear racial divide here. There is a negative expectation by a white officer when speaking to a minority. The white officer feels that his authority must be over emphasized. This is obvious by the person he is speaking to . That person could be walking down the street ... playing basketball .... and doing something that is perfectly harmless... Yet ... because there is a negative expectation by the officer, based on previous experience or by the previous experience of another officer ... he has not personal connection with this person of another racial ethnicty and he has no sympathy on how bad he is making them feel. He has not idea on how he may be making a negative impact on this person's life. No one wants a flashlight directed in their face..... If I am paying taxes toward the operation of a town/city... I certainly do not want the officers that the taxpayer is paying to protect the people........ to be harassing my son ... my nephew . They say ... well he looked like he was up to no good maybe. How is that perception affected by previous negative experiences ... ? Which develops a negative expectation for that person. The charges against these officers must be looked into .. come on ... every time we say that we have been racially discriminated against ... those in power ... are totally unwilling to accept that ... Why????? Each case should be scrutinized... each officer should be afraid that he may be unknowingly negatively affecting another person... He has to know that there must be some level of respect given to these black or latino young people if they expect to be respected back... These people are the adults of tomorrow.