Dumb Cop Tales – NY’s Finest

I swear, NYC must have a monopoly on stupid police officers.
Apparently, walking down a street with a long coat on can get you mistaken for a prostitute and arrested!

That’s basically what happened to Monica Gonzalez, a 40-year old grandmother. Gonzalez was arrested for prostitution after police spotted her walking in an area known for prostitution. That area, one block on Third Avenue, was also on the way from Gonzalez’ crib to a local hospital. She was on her way there because of complications with her asthma medicine. Officer Sean Spencer thought otherwise.

Gonzalez, wearing a long winter coat, was suddenly confronted by Spencer and another cop who jumped out of a marked SUV.

“He [Spencer] said, ‘I saw you going up to the car,'” Gonzalez recalled. “His partner said, ‘Let her go, I’ve never seen her here before,’ but he [Spencer] wouldn’t listen,” she said.

“I told him, ‘I’m somebody’s mother. I’m somebody’s daughter.’ I was hysterical crying.”

Spencer also busted a second woman on Third Ave. for prostitution and drove both suspects to the 72nd Precinct station house, where another cop called an ambulance for the asthmatic Gonzalez.

Spencer – who claimed Gonzalez was carrying a condom and had been arrested before as a hooker – swore out a complaint charging her with loitering for prostitution, according to court papers.

The officer claims the two women were approaching vehicles together, according to a police source.

“I have never, ever been arrested in my life,” Gonzalez told The News. “I did not have a condom.”

She hired a criminal defense attorney, Leon Schrager, and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office dismissed the case on May 29.

When harassing Black folk goes wrong

Once again, the New York Police Department has gotten itself involved in some racial bullshit of the typical kind: messing over innocent Black folk. What the NYPD didn’t account for, however, was that on May 2, the negro they were messing with was the highest ranking (uniformed) Black officer in the city. AKA… the HNIC.

The details of the story have not yet been flushed out but the gist of things is that Cheif Douglas Ziegler was sitting in his department issued SUV when two white officers approached the car and confronted him. The remainder of the story comes from Newsday.com.

New York doesn’t care about Black People

No, I do not mean New York of Flavor of Love fame. I mean New York City, and more specifically, the New York Police Department. 

While it’s not very shocking or surprising (we tend to have severely low expectations of the NYPD), it is disgusting and saddening to hear stories like that of Ramona Moore. What’s also unsurprising is the lack of media coverage surrounding this issue. Had it not been for my regular blog-trolling, I certainly wouldn’t have gotten this information from my local (big city) news or even CNN. Check out the story below of this young Black woman who went missing and the NYPD ignored her mother’s plea for help. Ramona Moore was tortured and killed in a Brooklyn basement, spurring her mother into action. Elle Carmichael, her mother, is bringing a federal civil rights claim against the NYPD, alleging that the Department has a “practice of not making a prompt investigation of missing-persons claims of African-Americans, while making a prompt investigation for white individuals.” The story comes by way of the Village Voice:

On: The Sean Bell Verdict

I’m not going to say much on this subject because it is playing out in the media and in blogs all over the place. I am sure you have already made up your mind about it, one way or another.

From the gut, the verdict is appalling and shockingly unfair. Just based on common sense alone, it is baffling to me how one could justify shooting an unarmed man 50 times. Even if one was in fear of their own life, it is beyond excessive to shoot that much and reload you weapon to continue shooting. Logically, it just does not add up.

However, after feeling what I feel at the core, I also must think. Recently, my thinking has changed and is colored by the legal training I have received thus far. When I first heard the verdict I had two thoughts: (1) Damn, that’s fucked up yo. (2) Damn, those defense attorneys had a banging ass case. I wonder what their theory was.

There are a couple things that probably contributed to the acquittals.