The NYPD‘s image of late and the department’s record regarding race relations in New York has come under fire. The latest in the NYPD’s struggles came forth with Black officers stating they’ve been stopped by their fellow officers while off-duty.
Reuters published a story Tuesday (Dec. 23) evening, revealing brewing tensions between Black and white police officers. The publication said it interviewed a number of officers who rattled off a series of run-ins with white cops who treated some of the Black off-duty officers in an abrasive manner. One retired sergeant sat with Reuters and detailed his encounter with the police.
More from Reuters:
Reuters interviewed 25 African American male officers on the NYPD, 15 of whom are retired and 10 of whom are still serving. All but one said that, when off duty and out of uniform, they had been victims of racial profiling, which refers to using race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed a crime.
The officers said this included being pulled over for no reason, having their heads slammed against their cars, getting guns brandished in their faces, being thrown into prison vans and experiencing stop and frisks while shopping. The majority of the officers said they had been pulled over multiple times while driving. Five had had guns pulled on them.
Desmond Blaize, who retired two years ago as a sergeant in the 41st Precinct in the Bronx, said he once got stopped while taking a jog through Brooklyn’s upmarket Prospect Park. “I had my ID on me so it didn’t escalate,” said Blaize, who has sued the department alleging he was racially harassed on the job. “But what’s suspicious about a jogger? In jogging clothes?”
Naturally, the NYPD and its officers’ union declined to comment on the racial profiling findings.
Read more of the report over at Reuters.
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Photo: Reuters TV
