$200M racial lawsuit is filed against Suffolk cops

[undergroundrailroad]

$200M racial lawsuit is filed against Suffolk cops

8 black and Hispanic plaintiffs are accusing county, police dept. and commissioner of racial profiling


BY KEIKO MORRIS
STAFF WRITER

December 15, 2004

Veteran New York police officer Angel Feliciano spoke to many people before making the difficult decision to join a class-action lawsuit against the Suffolk County Police Department. But in the end, he said, he concluded it was the only way to make a change in racial profiling.

Feliciano, 40, of Brentwood, who is assigned to Manhattan's 19th Precinct, is one of eight Hispanic and black plaintiffs participating in a $200-million federal lawsuit against the department, Police Commissioner Richard Dormer and the county because of what they claim is persistent racial profiling.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 8 in Eastern District Court in Brooklyn, alleges that the plaintiffs were the victims of unlawful stops and detentions as they were driving because they were black or Hispanic.

"That one police officer in another jurisdiction should say to another police department that you are doing something illegal speaks to the problem," said Emmanuel Roy of Manhattan, the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. Good. Racial profiling is a terrible reality.

My cousin is very dark skinned. As a male he is doubly burdened. He can't do ANYTHING wrong when driving through the more affluent areas around Chicago. He was stopped because they thought he wasn't wearing a seatbelt and stopped because they thought his license plate sticker had expired. I think they pull him over for these things they think they see to inspect his license and see if they can get him for something real.

[Swamp Rat]

2. Good for them!

I'm very worried, though, about Arab Americans. :scared:

[msgadget]

3. I wish them luck

but I doubt the police dept. thinks there's much of a problem. There are a lot of 'justifiable' vehicle checks, for instance, especially of older vehicles driven by minorities in white communities.

And, when one minority reports a crime perpetrated by another, there's the, 'oh, s/he said s/he knew you, it's a family/friend thing' and not vigorously investigated.

Low level, pervasive racism is harder to prove and fight than blatant verbal and physical abuse.

[Romulus]

4. good job

about time somebody speak up about "Giuliani time" run amok up there in the downstate area.