By Ivan Pereira
U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans) and four fellow congressmen urged the Justice Department Monday to try the Sean Bell detectives on civil rights violations and find a way to fix the nation's policing system at a congressional hearing in Manhattan held by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) flew to New York for the second time in two weeks to lead the forum on preventing police violence amid calls from fellow congressmen, activists and the Bell family for greater law enforcement accountability.
The April 25 acquittal of three detectives in the shooting death of Bell has put pressure on the New York Police Department to revamp its practices and take more responsibility for its actions.
“This is especially important when … police departments are unable or unwilling to properly train or retrain officers who… damage the community's trust in the overwhelming number of police officers who…protect and serve us all,” Meeks said.
Conyers, who was joined by Meeks, U.S. Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), Charles Rangel (D-Astoria) and Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), heard from a group of legal experts and activists such as the Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton arrived with Bell's family.
Mary Frances Berry, former chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, suggested that the NYPD should give bonuses to officers who don't use questionable tactics because most officers in the city force are frustrated over their low salary.
“If you can get rewarded for that, it helps out a lot,” she said.
Hazel Dukes, president of the New York NAACP, cited a recent NYPD statistic that indicated that stop-and-frisk searches rose in the first quarter of 2008. She said the recent stopping of Chief Douglas Zeigler, the highest ranked black NYPD officer, by two white officers in Corona was a disturbing example of racial profiling.
Although a press release issued by Conyers' office said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was invited, a NYPD spokesman said in a statement the commissioner never received an invitation.
The congressmen said the federal government is thoroughly reviewing the incident to see if Detectives Michael Oliver, who is white, and Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper, who are both black, could be tried on civil rights violations in a federal court. The shooting victims were black.
“I will vigorously monitor the department's investigation and have asked that they provide my office and other New York officials and community leaders with timely updates,” Meeks said.
State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) told the forum he was working with Gov. David Paterson to explore creating a special New York prosecutor to investigate officers.
Paterson met with the Bell family in Manhattan last Thursday and said he would push for bills that mandate all state police officers be tested for alcohol after they discharge their weapon, but he would not talk about the possibility of creating the special prosecutor.
Conyers, who on April 28 visited the site where Bell was killed, said he was impressed with the discussion.
“This is an important forum that precedes what we will do in Washington,” he said.
