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.
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