Whistleblowing officer makes tape of top cop ordering stop-and-frisks of black males

[kpete]

Officer Pedro Serrano began taping his superior officer Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack after he was given a poor performance review. Serrano alleges it was the result of him not meeting his summonses quotas and he wanted evidence to show he was being unfairly treated.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, March 21, 2013, 9:27 PM

Stop “the right people, the right time, the right location,” Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack is heard saying on the recording.
[...]
“So what am I supposed to do: Stop every black and Hispanic?” Serrano was heard saying on the tape, which was recorded last month at the 40th Precinct in the Bronx.
[...]
“I have no problem telling you this,” the inspector said on the tape. “Male blacks. And I told you at roll call, and I have no problem [to] tell you this, male blacks 14 to 21.”


http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ordered-secret-recording-stop-and-frisk-young-blacks-males-article-1.1295665

For his part, Officer Serrano says he's been ostracized and called a "rat" by fellow officers. There are good cops and there are bad cops and there are cops that have been corrupted by an unjust and unsupportive system. You may feel it is unfair to demonize all law enforcement but you can at least champion those who step out of the blue shadow to point out injustice.http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/29/1354616/-Whistleblowing-officer-makes-tape-of-top-cop-ordering-stop-and-frisks-of-black-males#

[spanone]

1. k&r...

[sabrina 1]

2. This is what happens to good cops. It's not the first time a good cop has been ostracized and worse,

for speaking out against corruption and racism, and in a very public case a few years ago, fixing of tickets and manipulating the Crime Rate statistics.

Maybe it's time for the public to organize and get behind those who are willing to speak out, as this cop was. Because I doubt he is the only one who is disgusted by some of what they see. However they have also seen good cops driven from their jobs, and when you have a family to support, it's hard to risk that even though it may be the right thing to do.

[rewinn]

3. We must support the good cops if we want to get rid of the bad cops ...

...if this story is true, the guy is a hero. Let's make him well known.

[whathehell]

5. Yes, absolutely. n/t

[Sunlei]

4. This is the way to expose them. The stop/frisk locations should also be secretly recorded.

[progressoid]

6. Gosh and golly.

I'm shocked!

[Enthusiast]

14. Yeah. Me too.

[Raine1967]

7. Serpico was also considered a rat. To this day, IMO he is an American treasure.

There would be no need for a Blue Wall if LEO didn't do this crap.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

10. Yep, nothing's changed since the days of Frank Serpico.

I saw the movie and read the book.

Nothing has changed.

[riverbendviewgal]

31. my brother lives in NJ and hates Serpico and Blacks, Hispsnics

Immigrants and Obama. He is proud of those cops who turned their back on the mayor. It is hard to believe he is my flesh and blood.

Canada is less racist . We still have it but not as bad as it is getting down in the USA. ,

[99th_Monkey]

8. Three cheers for Officer Serrano

May he fair way better than Officer Serpico did.

I swear there needs to be some way to
break-up the rat's nest that has become the NYPD.

[Anansi1171]

9. See DU? And whats the macro of this precinct by precinct,

Department by department.

Dear Police Officers,

Stop! Just stop! This isnt crime-fighting, this is a race war in slow motion. Just stop!

Dear USA,

Youve banked HISTORIC and UNPRECEDENTED drops in the rates of violent crime and all crime regardless of the hype. Why not suspend all Stop and Frisk and Racial Profiling as a pilot program for even 6 months and see what happens?

If black males ravage society and crimes skyrocket - fine, you win.

[brooklynite]

11. You're aware that this was over a year ago, and before De Blasio won the election...

...on a program of eliminating stop and frisk?

[kpete]

13. yes, i am aware

and made sure to post the date
i think it is still quite relevant.



peace,
kp

[LanternWaste]

17. You're aware that what this specifically illustrates of this is still just as relevant?

You're aware that what this specifically illustrates of this is still just as relevant?

[Caretha]

36. Crickets from the poster

[blackspade]

12. Most police departments are rotten to the core.

Unfortunately the good cops are what is cut out instead of the rotten ones.

[stevenleser]

15. I moved to Harlem in late summer of 2012. I saw my first stop and frisk within 60 days.

And I have lived in NYC since 2004.

I was walking to pick up some takeout Chinese food and came upon this police officer who was frisking a late teens or young 20 something black male. The black male asked the police officer words to the effect "why are you doing this to me" and the police officer responded "look how you are dressed".

When the police officer said that, I took a look at how the kid was dressed. He was in sweat pants and a sweatshirt/hoodie. The clothes were not in the best shape but not in tatters either.

I was appalled by what I was seeing.

[SCVDem]

16. So he looked like a black Bill Bellichek.

Go figure.

[lobodons]

19. Akin to: "she deserved to get raped"

Akin to she deserved to get raped. Did you see how she was dressed?

[ellenrr]

40. they came up with stop-and-frisk to replace

telling Black people they had to step aside when a white person was walking on the sidewalk.
All of the "anti-crime" measures are meant to do what reconstruction meant to do-
humiliate Black people and make them feel less than anyone else.

[lobodons]

18. And De Blasio's son is....???????

a black male 14-21..?? ANd their problem with the mayor having "the Talk" with is son is...????????

[jwirr]

20. It is hard to be a good cop.

[Dont call me Shirley]

21. Cheers to Officer Serrano, thank you for your honesty and real virtue!

Time to rehab the mafia cops.

[WillyT]

22. K & R !!!

[Ash_F]

23. Fire everyone that called him a rat too

Clean the fucking house out.

Cockroaches.

[branford]

24. Does anyone know the current status of Officer Serano?

My very quick Google search didn't pick up anything past 2013.

I'm very curious if he's still on active duty and if the union has made any comments, particularly since Mayor deBlasio and Commissioner Bratton came into office.

I would also note that a year into Mayor deBlasio's term, and stop and frisk has still not officially ended.

[Ramses]

25. Police corruption is deep and systemic

Put the NYPD under a federal consent decree and investigate all top brass, including union bosses and internal affairs.

They are operation above the law, and there seems to be a majority of very bad apples.

Id really like to see someone honestly defend this here.

[PeteSelman]

26. It's dangerous to be an honest cop.

You don't get backup when you need it.

[Feral Child]

27. K&R n/t

[JonLP24]

28. ostracized and called a "rat" by fellow officers.

but "few bad apples" and cops are pretty much saints and anyone feels differently are criminals that regularly provoke police officers prefer to bury their heads in the sand.

The above is the problem. Blue wall and since the 1994 Mollen Commission it seems the blue wall hasn't gone away in the NYPD or hell, since Serpico.

[Kalidurga]

29. I like good cop stories so much better than bad cop stories

Unfortunately it took a bad apple to have the good cop have to be a good cop. I would have much rathered that his commanding officer wasn't a corrupt POS that he had to blow the whistle on. I also wish that a major national news station would pick this story up and interview officer Serrano, I have a suspicion that this wasn't the first thing that tickled his spidey sense that his commanding officer is a POS racist.

[nichomachus]

30. Read Matt Taibbi's new book "The Divide"

He talks about exactly this and gives a whole bunch of examples. Cops have quotas. They drive around and just scoop up black guys. They put them in a police wagon and drive them around. They search them, hoping to find a joint or something, then they check to see if there are warrants. All the while, they're just driving around. If they don't find anything, and the guy is lucky, they just toss him out of the wagon. Otherwise, to pump up their quota, they'll charge him with some bogus charge.

One guy, a married guy with kids, was on his way home from work late at night. They did this to him and finally charged him with "obstructing a sidewalk," even though he was in front of his own building, chatting with a friend at 1 a.m. with no one else on the sidewalk.

When that happens, your choices are to plead guilty, pay the fine and get it on your record -- or you take a day off from work (miss a day's pay) and go to court. You sit around for hours. Then, the cop decides not to show up and gets a continuance of the case. Now, if you still want to fight, you have to take another day off of work.

Some guys have had this happen to them over and over and over. God forbid they find some weed.

[branford]

34. Quotas come from the top, the political appointees and above.

Most of the ire should be directed in that direction, not the patrol officers who would be more than happy to save their jobs and not enforce ridiculous rules.

[nichomachus]

43. Cops have a union

There are ways to fight this. However, they seem to take great pleasure in harassing young black men.

[chervilant]

45. SOME OF WHOM

"would be more than happy to save their jobs and not enforce ridiculous rules."

There ARE bad cops in this nation, and their "bad cop mentality" is spreading far and wide.

[ellenrr]

41. In Plainfield NJ a group of Black men were arrested for standing on the corner...

I'm not kidding... that was the charge. I guess it was put in other words, but that was the charge.
We're talking a few, like 3-4, not 30.
Plainfield has a notoriously bad police force.
I should look it up and see what the outcome was.

thanks for your reference to Taibbi's book.
I hadn't realized he had a new book. A brilliant guy.

[greiner3]

32. Remember what happened to Serpico?

Just sayin.

But dude;

[mountain grammy]

33. So today, this happened.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-addresses-police-academy-graduates-at-tense-moment.html?_r=0

These are new graduates and they should be disciplined and not allowed to join the force.

This behavior must stop. The police and their gestapo tactics are out of line. Heads should roll.

[JonLP24]

37. “You did!”

Are they really that clueless?

[Savannahmann]

35. Awesome

Simply Awesome.

[Gothmog]

38. African Americans are targeted by law enforcement

This tape does not surprise anyone

[DeSwiss]

39. DeBlasio fire him. n/t

[drynberg]

42. In the words of Rodney King, "Can't we just get along?"...I'm sorry Rodney, but before this can

Happen, lotsa racism must stop, and be replaced with respect and the reaffirmation of "Serve and Protect". The Big Apple certainly has a lot of bad apples, but with the correct leadership, we must hope that the Big Apple can be shined and displayed proudly. Perhaps some other departments can rise and show a shining example of what is needed to "Serve and Protect".

[Scurrilous]

44. K & R

[ErikJ]

46. Frisking in the US is needed thanks to the NRA

The NRA has flooded our country and streets with hundreds of millions of legal AND ILLEGAL guns on our streets. Chicago frisks confiscate 17,000 guns a year which are as easy to buy as candy in Chicago thanks to the lax background check laws especially in nearby Indiana.
The lower the frisk rate the higher the murder rate will go. And I can see how with all these cop assasinations now taking place around the country the cops would want to confiscate as many guns as possible right now.