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**Police  Practices and Civil Rights in New York City**

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**Chapter  1**

**Introduction**

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> 
*[W]hatevergains we have achieved in fighting crime are minimized if the price is the trustand respect of the community we serve. If crime levels decline, but members ofthe community are reluctant to approach police for fear of a negative encounter,then we have not truly met our obligations to the public.*[1]

New York City is the largest metropolis in the UnitedStates. It is the center of world finance, business, and communications and theheadquarters of the United Nations. There are more than 200 museums and 400 artgalleries that provide a mecca for history and art lovers. New York City is theliterary and publishing center for the nation and the quintessential venue forthe performing arts. In essence, the city offers all of the trappings of aworld-class city. However, this world-class city has recently been subject tomass demonstrations and racial strife because of a widespread belief that NewYork City police officers too often abuse their authority.

New,more aggressive police strategies have resulted in what appears to be anever-widening divide between the city�s residents of color and the New YorkCity Police Department (NYPD). According to New York police officials, the useof deadly force by the city�s police officers occurs less in New York than inother major cities, when measured in terms of fatal shootings per 1,000officers. However, in the past 13 months, four unarmed men, three of them black,have been killed by New York City police officers.[2]There have also been complaints that residents of color are stopped more oftenthan white residents on suspicion of committing a crime. While the NYPD hasmanaged to reduce crime dramatically over the past 6 years, critics believe thatit has been at the expense of residents� civil rights. 

Partof the allure of New York City is the tremendous diversity of its residents.Unlike many Asian and European cities, where the population tends to have acommon ethnicity, religion, and culture, New York is a city of migrants andimmigrants. The police force must respect the attributes of the city�sresidents, so that residents, in turn, will respect the police and the laws thatthey seek to uphold. The police manual on the 1996 police strategy, Courtesy,Professionalism and Respect (CPR), offers the following objective: �To live upto our reputation as �New York�s Finest,� it is imperative that we do notlose sight of the fact that law enforcement is a service profession. We must beconstantly cognizant that we owe it to the communities we serve to treat everycitizen with the same courtesy, professionalism, and respect we would expect toreceive.�[3] 

OnMay 26, 1999, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights conducted a factfindinghearing in New York City to examine police practices and civil rights. TheCommission determined that a hearing should be held in New York City in the wakeof the highly publicized tragedies involving Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo. Mr.Louima, a Haitian immigrant, was sodomized with a toilet plunger by an NYPDofficer in August 1997. Mr. Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, died when hit by19 of 41 bullets fired by four plainclothes officers in February 1999. While theCommission recognized the potential impact these cases would have on thishearing, the purpose of the hearing was to examine current police practices inNew York City and their impact on civil rights. Specifically, the Commissionexamined the procedures for establishing and maintaining standards of policeconduct and the manner in which they are monitored. The Commission alsoinvestigated the city�s policies and programs for recruiting and trainingcadets and officers and the NYPD�s treatment of officers and residents ofcolor.

Inits 1981 report *Who Is Guarding theGuardians*? the Commission emphasized that the responsibility of lawenforcement officials to preserve the peace and enforce the law �carries withit the power to arrest and to use force�even deadly force. It is essential,therefore, that these sweeping powers be subject to constant scrutiny to ensurethat they are not abused.�[4]

TheCommission has previously addressed the issue of police practices in a number ofareas, including Chicago, Sonoma County, and the Mt. Pleasant area ofWashington, D.C., in recent years. Just in the last year, the Commissionpublished a report of its investigation into the resurgence of racial and ethnictensions within and between law enforcement and the communities it serves in LosAngeles.[5]That report supports the crucial work of police in reducing crime and at thesame time makes clear the important need for the community to know that thepolice will not violate civil rights. In sum, the Commission�s currentinterest in police practices and civil rights in New York City is a continuationof its long history of concern with these issues and its desire to promote aworld-class police force for this diverse metropolis. 

**Size and Geography**

Witha small portion of its land mass in the mainland, New York is a city of islands,covering a total area of 305.5 square miles. New York City comprises fiveboroughs, each of which constitutes a county of New York State: the Bronx (BronxCounty), Brooklyn (Kings County), Manhattan (New York County), Queens (QueensCounty), and Staten Island (Richmond County). The city consists of Manhattan andStaten Island, a part of Long Island, and the southernmost tip of the mainlandof New York State. It is situated at the junction of the Hudson and East Riverswith New York Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.

**GovernmentStructure**

Thecity of New York is an incorporated municipality with specific governmentalpowers granted to it by the State of New York under the home-rule provisions ofthe state constitution and the New York State Municipal Home Rule Law.[6]New York City�s governmental organization is set forth in the City Charter[7]and in the city�s administrative code. Additionally, the city governmentexists on two levels, municipal and borough.

NewYork City has a strong mayoral form of government, with the mayor serving as thechief executive officer in the city. The current mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, firsttook office in 1994 (and was re-elected) and is empowered to appoint heads ofcity departments, members of commissions, judges of the criminal court, andother officers not elected by the people. The mayor has the power to veto locallaws passed by the City Council. The 51-member City Council is �vested withthe legislative power of the city.�[8]****As such, the Council enacts the city budget and all local laws.[9]The Council consists of a president, who is elected on a citywide basis and known as the New York City ombudsman and public advocate. Additionally,one council member is elected to represent each district lying wholly within the city. Like the mayor, council members are electedfor 4-year terms.[10] 

Eachof the boroughs that make up the city elects a president as its executiveofficer to a 4-year term.[11]The main function of the borough president is to represent his or her borough infiscal matters, and to advise on boroughwide planning.[12]Since the county and borough boundaries are coterminous, the same governmentserves both. Under the City Charter, borough presidents are authorized to (1)work with the mayor in preparing the annual executive budget submitted to theCity Council, and to propose borough budget priorities directly to the Council;(2) review and comment on major land use decisions and propose sites for cityfacilities within their respective boroughs; (3) monitor and modify the deliveryof city services within their boroughs; and (4) engage in strategic planning fortheir boroughs.[13] 

**Demographics**

Asof 1990, New York City was home to approximately 7.3 million persons, anincrease of 3.5 percent since 1980.[14]This growth occurred because the positive natural increase of the population(number of births minus the number of deaths) outweighed the negative netmigration (the number of persons who migrated to the city minus the number ofpersons who migrated out of the city).[15]

Duringthe 1980s, the contemporaneous decline in the city�s white population andincrease in its people of color population resulted in the latter becoming themajority of the population. Fifty-seven percent of New York City residents arepeople of color, with non-Hispanic whites comprising the remaining 43 percent ofthe population.[16]African Americans and Hispanics each constitutes roughly one-quarter of thepopulation, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders comprise approximately 7percent of the total population. The Hispanic and Asian American and PacificIslander populations each experienced high rates of growth during the 1980s,with the Hispanic population growing by one-quarter, and the Asian American andPacific Islander population more than doubling.[17] 

Asalient feature of New York City�s demography is its large number ofimmigrants.[18]Of all New York City residents, 28 percent were born outside the United States.[19]Many are recent immigrants: between 1982 and 1991, almost 900,000 legalimmigrants, or roughly 12 percent of the city�s entire population, came to NewYork City.[20]In addition, a vast majority of the approximate 500,000 undocumented immigrants,estimated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to be residing in NewYork State, live in New York City.[21]Currently, a few cities in the country have a comparable percentage ofimmigrants, and only one, Miami, markedly surpasses New York in its share offoreign born.[22] 

NewYork�s immigrant population is not only notable for its size, but also itsextreme heterogeneity.[23]New York is more ethnically diverse than any other immigrant city in the UnitedStates. Moreover, most of the various immigrant groups are represented in largenumbers. New York draws immigrants from all regions of the world, although asignificant share of the city�s foreign born come from the Caribbean. Sixcountries account for one-half of all recent legal immigrants to New York City:the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, China, Guyana, Haiti, and the Soviet Union. Infact, more than one-quarter of all recent immigrants come from the DominicanRepublic and Jamaica alone.[24] 

NewYork City�s population is distributed across the five boroughs as follows: theBronx, 16.4 percent; Brooklyn, 31.4 percent; Manhattan, 20.3 percent; Queens,26.7 percent; and Staten Island, 5.2 percent.[25]The city�s African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans and PacificIslanders are not evenly distributed across the boroughs. African Americans areconcentrated in Brooklyn, which is home to more than 40 percent of AfricanAmericans in the city, but only 31 percent of all city residents. Hispanics areconcentrated in the Bronx, where they constitute 44 percent of all residents,almost double their percentage in the city as a whole. Almost one-half of allAsian Americans and Pacific Islanders live in Queens, in comparison to aboutone-quarter of all city residents. Whites are overrepresented in Staten Island,where they make up four-fifths of the population, and are underrepresented inthe Bronx.[26]

Similarly,immigrants are not distributed across New York�s boroughs in proportion to thecity�s general population. Immigrants are one-third more likely than theaverage city resident to live in Queens, where immigrants make up 36 percent ofthe population. Immigrants are also overrepresented in Manhattan, the Bronx, andStaten Island, while they areunderrepresented in Brooklyn.**Overviewof the NYPD**
**TheDepartment�sHistory**

Formore than 150 years, the NYPD has been steeped in a history of rich tradition.The development of a modern police force in New York City closely paralleled thegeneral American historical experience. According to a historical overviewpresented on the NYPD�s official Web site, New York changed from the oldconstable system, which had policed New York since the days of the Dutch, to itsmodern police force by 1845.[27]The change occurred when the population of about 33,000 in 1790 grew to ametropolis of nearly  400,000 by1845, presenting a new set of policing problems: growing slums, rising crime,and frequent rioting. These growing problems gave rise to a municipal policeforce in 1845. This new police force was based on the London model of aparamilitary organization with uniforms and a chain of command.[28]Police officers served 1- and 2-year appointments and often at the pleasure ofpoliticians. 

Theearly years of the department, marked by dissension, division, corruption, andreform, represented a period of challenge to bring public order. In his 2 yearsas president, Theodore Roosevelt reformed the New York Police Commission and setthe standard for the current administration of the NYPD. Beginning in 1895, hestripped away political considerations for the selection of recruits, opened upadmission to the department to people of color, and hired the first woman.Today, the NYPD is  the largest police departmentin the United States.
**Structure**

Thereare more than 38,000 uniformed officers of all ranks and approximately 9,000civilians on the force.[29]The police commissioner, who heads the agency, is appointed to a 5-year term andreports directly to the mayor. The other top two officials are the first deputycommissioner, who is a civilian, and the chief of the department, the highestranking uniformed member of the service. Included in the organizationalstructure of the NYPD are eight major bureaus: Patrol Services Bureau, DetectiveBureau, Organized Crime Control Bureau, Transportation Bureau, Criminal JusticeBureau, Internal Affairs Bureau, Personnel Bureau, and Support Services Bureau.Under the Patrol Services Bureau, New York City�s five boroughs are dividedinto eight patrol borough commands, which are further subdivided into 76precincts. Subways and large housing complexes are patrolled by 12 transitdistricts and nine housing police service areas.

**New Police Strategies**

Inrecent years, the NYPD has followed a strategy of aggressive policing with afocus on �quality of life� crimes.[30]These quality of life crimes, such as graffiti, squeegee windshield washing, andsubway turnstile jumping, are pursued as a way to demonstrate control of thestreets and to apprehend individuals who may have outstanding arrest warrantsagainst them.[31]The department now boasts that �[this] targeted approach to crime preventionhas made the City the safest it has been for nearly the past three decades, andthe safest large city in the United States according to FBI statistics.�[32]Serious crime in New York City has declined dramatically following theintroduction of new police strategies implemented in 1994. Preliminary figuresfor 1999 show a 54.7 percent reduction in major felony crime in New York Citysince 1993.[33]For the same period, the number of homicides in the city has dropped 65.4percent, from 1,927 to 667, while shooting incidents have dropped by 66.7percent, from 5,282 down to 1,760.[34]

Despitethe decline in crime rates, a number of critics maintain that the NYPD hasfailed to balance aggressive policing with a respect for civil rights.[35]Statistics show that the number of civilian complaints against the police roseby 56 percent in 1994 and 1995, the 2 years following employment of the newpolicing strategies.[36]According to a review by Mark Green, public advocate for the City of New York,[37]of 283 cases of police misconduct substantiated by the Civilian Complaint ReviewBoard, the NYPD has dismissed a majority of these complaints without furtherinvestigation.[38]In the cases where officers were disciplined, the punishment included loss ofvacation days, temporary suspension, and, in one case, dismissal from thedepartment.[39] 

Althoughcivilian complaints did appear to increase with the introduction of new policetactics, they declined somewhat from their plateau in 1997.[40]In fact, a study conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice found that whilethere were citywide increases in civilian complaints following the change inpolice tactics, two precincts experienced major declines in crime reports.[41]In fact, these two South Bronx precincts used the same crime-fighting techniquesas the rest of the police force while practicing respectful policing.[42]For example, the precincts� commanding officers reinforce departmentwidetraining within their precincts and impose sanctions on those officers receivingcivilian complaints.[43] 

Thereis often a racial or ethnic component to police misconduct complaints in NewYork City, with many incidents also fueled by language barriers andmiscommunication. In the Civilian Complaint Review Board�s January�June 1997report, African Americans and Latinos filed more than 78 percent of complaintsagainst the police, and 67 percent of the subject officers were white.[44]In light of the many forces that may have conspired to drive up civiliancomplaints between 1993 and 1996, it is difficult to determine the primary causeof the increase in complaints.

**Oversightof the NYPD**

**Civilian Complaint Review Board**

Inresponse to the increasing complaints of civil rights violations from residents,the NYPD has implemented various training programs to ensure that policerecruits and veterans are educated in proper police conduct. In addition, thereare several monitoring boards that are specifically charged to investigatepolice misconduct cases. The NYPD has its own monitoring programs, such as theCivilian Complaint Reduction program, which tracks officers who have accumulatedmultiple civilian complaints within a specified timeframe. In addition, there isthe Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), which is independent of the NYPD.The CCRB is staffed entirely by civilian investigators and is empowered toinvestigate and make recommendations on citizen complaints against lawenforcement officers.

Inthe past, various commissions and task forces have been created to addressspecific police concerns. In response to the public outrage surrounding theLouima case, Mayor Giuliani created a task force to examine police-communityrelations in the city and to make recommendations for improvements. Among therecommendations in the majority report were the elimination of the 48-hour delayallowed for officers under investigation to refrain from responding to questionsrelated to their misconduct, enhanced screening of police recruits, and bi- ormultilingual receptionists in precincts that have a large number ofnon-English-speaking residents.[45] 

**Mollen Commission**

TheMollen Commission was instrumental to uncovering serious police misconductwithin the NYPD during the early 1990s. NYPD officers in several New Yorkprecincts were discovered selling drugs andbeating suspects. This prompted then-mayor David Dinkins to appoint theMollen Commission, headed by his former deputy mayor for criminal justice,Milton Mollen. During the commission hearings held in 1993�1994, policeofficers testified that they had formed a vigilante squad for financial motives.The Mollen Commission Report, published in July 1994, described a flawedinternal accountability system. It also detailed the nexus between policecorruption and brutality and recommended a plan to combat both.[46] 
**FederalInvestigations and Trials **

Therehave been a number of high-profile cases involving New York police officers andresidents of color that have stirred emotions and caused serious mistrust of theNYPD. The case involving Abner Louima shocked the nation, as this Haitianimmigrant was allegedly beaten in a police car by four officers after beingarrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub on August 9, 1997. When he got to thestationhouse, it was charged, two officers sexually assaulted him. Four of theofficers, Justin Volpe, Thomas Bruder, Thomas Wiese, and Charles Schwarz, werecharged with aggravated sexual abuse and first-degree assault for theirparticipation in the attack on Louima. The fifth officer, Sergeant MichaelBellomo, who was the patrol supervisor the night of the attack on Louima, wascharged with attempting to cover up the alleged assault. 

Originally,a state indictment was filed, but the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District ofNew York ultimately prosecuted the case, adding federal civil rights andconspiracy charges. Two weeks before the jury reached its decision, formerofficer Justin Volpe pleaded guilty to sodomizing Mr. Louima with a toiletplunger. He was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison. Later, the jurypanel of seven men and five women convicted Officer Charles Schwarz on twocounts of violating Mr. Louima�s civil rights in the bathroom attack. Theother named defendants, Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder, and Mr. Schwarz wereacquitted of civil rights charges connected with the beating of Mr. Louima.[47]The jury also acquitted Sergeant Michael Bellomo of covering up the attack onMr. Louima and the false arrest of a second man, Patrick Antoine. 

Followingthe August 1997 attack of Mr. Louima, then-U.S. attorney Zachary Carter launcheda civil investigation of the NYPD. The purpose of the investigation is todetermine whether incidents of excessive force were the product of systemicdeficiencies in police operations, including possible failures of complaintintake and investigation, discipline, and supervision. *The**New York Times*reported in July 1999 that �secret talks� regarding a possible settlementwere taking place between the U.S. attorney�s office and Mayor Giuliani�soffice.[48]Further, Mark Green, public advocate for the City of New York, wrote to AttorneyGeneral Janet Reno on August 18, 1997, asking to �direct the Civil RightsDivision to commence an investigation, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. � 14141, of theNew York City Police Department (�NYPD�) to determine if it has engaged in apattern of conduct that violates the legal and constitutional rights of NewYorkers.�[49]

Toexacerbate the looming suspicion of the NYPD�s practices, another incidentarose that resulted in the death of a West African immigrant, Amadou Diallo.[50]On February 4, 1999, the 22-year-old Mr. Diallo was approached by officersKenneth Boss, Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon, and Richard Murphy of the StreetCrime Unit in front of his Bronx apartment building.[51]The four police officers were scouring the neighborhood for a rape suspect andbelieved that Mr. Diallo fit the general description of the suspect. They alsobelieved that he was acting suspiciously. The officers mistakenly believed thatMr. Diallo was reaching for a gun when they began shooting. The object Mr.Diallo was reaching for later turned out to be his wallet. Mr. Diallo had noprior criminal record and was not armed. 

OnMarch 31, 1999, the four officers were charged with second-degree murder of Mr.Diallo.[52]The jury, consisting of four black women, one white woman, and seven white men,ultimately acquitted the four offices of all charges, including thelesser-included offenses of first-degree manslaughter or criminally negligenthomicide, and reckless endangerment of bystanders. The acquittals have upsetmany people and divided the city further on issues of race, politics, and publicsafety. 

Followingthe acquittal of the four police officers charged with the shooting, the JusticeDepartment announced that there will be a collaborative effort between its CivilRights Division and the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, Mary Jo White, to determinewhether there were any violations of the federal criminal civil rights laws.Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., of the Department of Justice hascautioned that federal prosecutions after state trials happen only about once ortwice a year.[53]Mr. Holder, however, indicated that the federal investigation of the facts wouldbe conducted as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible.[54]

Inlight of the Amadou Diallo case, Attorney General Janet Reno has expanded thegeneral investigation into police misconduct by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn toinclude examination of the Street Crime Unit. The Street Crime Unit is an eliteunit of plainclothes officers tasked to �hot spots� of concentrated criminalactivity. The unit�s �mission� is to �effect the arrests of violent street criminals, with a particular emphasis on recovering illegal firearms.�[55]The new phase of the inquiry is to be conducted by the U.S. attorney inManhattan. It will focus on whether members of the Street Crime Unit havesystematically deprived minority citizens of their constitutional rights throughstop and frisk tactics and other practices. Furthermore, in March 1999, New YorkState Attorney General Elliot Spitzer began a civil rights inquiry into the stopand frisk practices of the NYPD. The investigation preliminarily concluded (1)there is a strong statistical correlation between race and likelihood of being�stopped�; and (2) in one out of seven �stops� conducted by the NYPD,the facts articulated for making the �stop� failed to meet the legalthreshold of �reasonable� suspicion.[56] 

Theaforementioned trials and investigations illustrate that the allegations ofpolice misconduct in the NYPD are an important issue that warrants furtherexamination. The Commission is committed to investigating police conduct toprovide meaningful discourse on the duty of law enforcement to enforce the lawswhile respecting the civil rights of individuals, and to proposingrecommendations to meet these challenges. The remaining chapters of this reportwill discuss the following: (1) recruitment, selection, and training; (2)police-community relations; (3) monitoring of civilian complaints; and (4) stopand frisk, as they relate to the NYPD.

[1]    New York City Police Department (NYPD),*Courtesy Professionalism and Respect Handbook*(hereafter cited as *CPR    Handbook*)*,*1996, p. 1.
[2]    David Barstow, �Antidrug Tactics Exact Price on Neighborhood*,*Many Say,� *The**New    York Times*, Apr. 1, 2000, p. A1.

[3]*CPR Handbook*, p. 1.

[4]    U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, *Who    Is Guarding the Guardians?* October 1981, Preface, p. v.

[5]    U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, *Racial    and Ethnic Tensions in American Communities: Poverty, Inequality, and    Discrimination*, *Volume V: The Los Angeles Report*, May 1999.

[6]    N.Y. Mun. Home Rule Law � 1 *et seq.*    (McKinney 1994). 

[7]    The current charter was most recently revised in 1989 and represents the    most sweeping change in New York City government since the five boroughs    were consolidated in 1898. The revisions came on the heels of a unanimous    United States Supreme Court decision holding that the old Board of    Estimate�composed of the mayor, the president of the City Council, and the    comptroller (each having four votes), and the five borough presidents (each    with two votes, despite disparities in the size of each borough)�and    charged with playing a role with the Council in adopting the expense and    capital budgets, controlling city property, and planning and zoning,    violated the constitutional principle of �one person, one vote.� Board    of Estimate of New York v. Morris, 489 U.S. 688, 689-703 (1989). The Board    of Estimate was abolished in 1989 and its fiscal and planning authority    transferred to the mayor, City Council, and other city officials. *See*New York City Charter, chap. 3 (Lenz & Riecker 1997).

[8]    New York City Charter, chap. 3, * *�    21.

[9]    Ibid.,**�� 28�31.

[10]    Ibid., � 25a.

[11]    Ibid., � 81b.

[12]    Ibid., � 82.

[13]    Ibid.

[14]    Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population, *Social    and Economic Characteristics: New York*, 1990 CP-2-34, sec. 1, table 7;    Bureau of the Census, 1980 Census of Population, *General    Social and Economic Characteristics: New York*, PC80-1-C34 N.Y., sec. 1,    table 59. This section rests heavily on data from the 1990 census of    population. It should be noted that, like all cities with large people of    color communities and undocumented populations, New York probably suffered a    serious population undercount in the 1990 census. The city�s people of    color and undocumented residents were the most likely to be undercounted.    Therefore, what follows should be read with the awareness that the data most    likely do not reflect the entirety of these populations.

[15]    New York City, Department of City Planning, Population Division, *Components    of Population Change by Race and Hispanic Origin or Descent, 1980�1990:    Population Change, Natural Increase, Net Migration, New York City by Borough*,    DCP 1990 #13 (May 10, 1991), table 1.

[16]    1990 Census, *Social and Economic Characteristics: New York*, table 7; 1980 Census,    *General Social and Economic    Characteristics: New York*, table 59.

[17]    Ibid. 

[18]    A distinction should be drawn between New York�s �new� immigrants and    its �old� immigrants. New immigrants are usually considered to be those    who have arrived since 1965, in contrast to old immigrants, who came in    record numbers at the turn of the century. Moreover, old immigrants were    overwhelmingly European, whereas today�s new arrivals come mainly from the    third world, especially the West Indies, Latin America, and Asia. Nancy    Foner, ed., �New Immigrants and Changing Patterns,� in *New    Immigrants in New York* (New York: Columbia University Press, 1987), p. 2    (hereafter cited as Foner, *New    Immigrants*). 

[19]    Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population and Housing, *Summary    Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics: New York,* p. 51, table 2.

[20]    New York City, Department of City Planning, Population Division, *Estimates    of Undocumented Aliens as of October 1992,* Sept. 2, 1993, table 2    (hereafter cited as NYC Dept. of Planning, *Undocumented    Aliens*). 

[21]    Ibid.

[22]    Ibid.

[23]    Foner, *New Immigrants*, p. 6.

[24]    NYC Dept. of Planning, *Undocumented    Aliens*.

[25]    Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population and Housing*,    Summary Population and Housing Characteristics: New York*, p. 107, table    4.

[26]    Ibid.

[27]*See*    <http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/>.

[28]    The modern municipal police organization began its development in England    and the United States during the first three decades of the 19th century. In    both countries the appearance of police departments as arms of civil    authority paralleled the emergence of the city as a population center on a    scale previously unknown. In England large urban disorders associated with    protests over London�s food shortages and the economic turmoil of the    1820s led to passage of an act in 1829 to establish a police force. The act    replaced the ad hoc use of the military with a regular, continuous police    presence in all parts of London to ward off group violence by �dangerous    classes.� The military had employed violent tactics to suppress riots, and    it was a conscious purpose of the 1829 act to reduce**the level of force required to deal with civil disorder. 

The    American experience differs significantly. In this rough country of    frontiersmen and immigrants, the police often had to maintain order and    enforce the law by applying summary justice on the spot. This practice led    to early justification of the use of force by police. 

[29]    New York City Police Department Web site <http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/html/whoweare.html>.

[30]*See* Allyson Collins and Human    Rights Watch, *Shielded from Justice:    Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States*(New York:    Human Rights Watch, 1998)*(*hereafter    cited as*Human Rights Watch Report).*

[31]    Ibid.

[32]    New York City Police Department Web site <http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/>.

[33]    Ibid. 

[34]    Ibid.

[35]*See* Rusty    Ray, �ACLU Warns of a Dark Side of NY Police Plan,� *Philadelphia    Inquirer,*Dec. 16, 1997, p. B2. In the article, New York Civil Liberties    Union director Norman Siegel warned of a �dark side� to the positive    crime news in New York City: �The attitude seems to be that violating    civil liberties is an effective trade-off for effective law enforcement.� 

[36]*Human Rights Watch Report*,    Civilian Complaint Review Board section (citing CCRB Status Report,    July�December 1994, p. 42). By 1998, however, the CCRB reported that    civilian complaints against police officers had declined: allegations of    unnecessary force decreased 22.2 percent from 1994 levels, allegations of    discourtesy were down 13.3 percent from 1994, and allegations of offensive    language decreased 39.1 percent from 1994. In contrast, allegations of abuse    of authority increased 30.5 percent from 1994 to 1998. New York City    Civilian Complaint Review Board, *January�December    1998 Report*, p. 1 (hereafter cited as*CCRB Report, January�December 1998*).* *

[37]    Under Section 24 of the Charter of the City of New York, the public advocate    is the city�s ombudsman with the power to �review complaints of a    recurring . . . nature relating to services and programs . . . of city    agencies.� Elected by the voters of the city, the public advocate is first    in line in succession to the mayor. 

[38]    Mark Green, public advocate for the City of New York, *Investigation    of the New York City Police Department�s Response to Civilian Complaints    of Police Misconduct*, Interim Report, Sept. 15, 1999, p. iii.

[39]    Ibid., pp. iv�v. 

[40]    Robert C. Davis and Pedro Mateau-Gelabert, Vera Institute of Justice, *Respectful    and Effective Policing*: *Two    Examples in the South Bronx*, March 1999, p. 4.

[41]    Ibid. 

[42]    Ibid., Executive Summary. 

[43]    Ibid. 

[44]*See Human Rights Watch Report*.

[45]    Ibid. 

[46]    Ibid., Background.

[47]    On Mar. 6, 2000, following subsequent federal charges, former officers    Schwarz, Wiese, and Bruder were found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct    justice because they had claimed that Schwarz was not present during the    attack on Mr. Louima. Schwarz was sentenced to 15b    years in prison for his part in the conspiracy, while Wiese and Bruder each    received a 5-year sentence.

[48]    Benjamin Weiser, �Federal Inquiry Criticizes Police in New York City,� *The    New York Times*, July 10, 1999, sec. A, p. 1.

[49]    Mark Green, public advocate for the City of New York, to Attorney General    Janet Reno, Department of Justice, Aug. 18, 1997.

[50]    The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights sent a letter on Feb. 17, 1999, to    Attorney General Janet Reno asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to    investigate the shooting death of Amadou Diallo. On Apr. 1, 2000, DOJ    responded that the FBI had opened an investigation into this matter. In    addition, the letter stated that the FBI and the U.S. attorney�s office in    the Southern District in New York are assisting the Bronx County District    Attorney�s Office in its ongoing investigation. Bill Lann Lee, acting    assistant attorney general, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice, to    Mary Frances Berry, chairperson, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Apr. 1,    2000. 

[51]    The Street Crime Unit (SCU) is an elite unit of plainclothes officers tasked    to �hot spots� of concentrated criminal activity. The SCU�s    �mission� is to �effect the arrests of violent street criminals, with    a particular emphasis on recovering illegal firearms.� State of New York,    Office of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, *The**New York City Police    Department�s* �*Stop &    Frisk� Practices: A Report to the People of the State of New York from the    Office of the Attorney General*, 1999, p. 54, n. 32 (citing Statement of    Police Commissioner Howard Safir before the New York City Council Public    Safety Committee (Apr. 19, 1999)) (hereafter cited as OAG, *Stop & Frisk Report*).

[52]    The case was alternately tried in Albany, New York, due to pretrial    publicity, thus making it difficult to secure an impartial jury.

[53]    Lorraine Adams and Petula Dvorak, �N.Y. Police Acquittals Protested,� *The**Washington Post*, Mar. 3, 2000, p.    B2.

[54]    Ibid. 

[55]    OAG, *Stop & Frisk Report*, p.    54.

[56]    Ibid., p. 89. Not surprisingly, the NYPD objects to much of the analysis and    conclusions in the attorney general�s report.