The Diallo Verdict: Another "Tragic Accident" in New York's War on Street Crime?

THE ACQUITTAL BY AN ALBANY JURY OF THE FOUR POLICE OFFICERS IN THE AMADOU Diallo case sent shock waves through minority communities in New York. At the same time, the view of the New York press was that, although the result might be unfortunate, the city would somehow "heal" and move on. The press published Mayor Giuliani's statistics proving that New York had "fewer police shootings" per capita than other cities, and fewer than New York itself had had in past years. This "consensus" view of the problem of police violence, however, has not been accepted after a month of sustained debate on the police problem in New York. The killing of Diallo was the result of aggressive and racist police practices, deeply rooted in current New York police policy. Such practices have resulted in the killing of four unarmed black men in 13 months. The Albany trial was a travesty of justice, featuring at its core the Bronx district attorney's office inexplicable, even unbelievable, failure to challenge the police version of the facts. The trial served as a context to legally justify New York's "aggressive policing" policy, concluding that the killing of Diallo was an "accident," an unavoidable consequence of good police work. 1. The Diallo Killing: What Really Happened? At the trial, the four police officers who killed Diallo for the first time offered their version of the shooting. Their testimony was compelling: it was a carefully rehearsed performance, accompanied by tears and regret, but with the four officers perfectly corroborating each other's testimony. They were on patrol, driving slowly down the street in the high-crime Soundview section of the Bronx, when one officer noted Diallo, who looked out, then ducked into his own doorway, "acting suspiciously." The officer then testified that he believed that Diallo generally matched the description of "young black man" wanted for a rape committed a year before. They stopped their unmarked car and headed for the doorway, with two officers in front, the other two trailing by perhaps 20 feet. As they approached Diallo, they "identified themselves as police officers" and ordered him to stand still. He acted "strangely," withdrawing, and when he put his hand in his pocket and took hold of his wallet, the lead officer yelled " gun," and fell back. The two front officers emptied their 14-shot automatic pistols into Diallo's body; the two rear officers fired about half of their clips, totaling 41 shots, hitting Diallo 19 times. From this scenario, four defense attorneys presented a case of self-defense following a routine "Terry stop." The essential law on self-defense is that the police officers were in reasonable fear of their lives and reacted reasonably under the circumstances as they perceived them. It was, for them, a terrible accident, a consequence of ordinary police activity in New York. Reserving the legal aspects of this issue for later, the police version of these facts was left untouched by the cross-examination of the Bronx district attorney. It is possible, however, to work our way through the scenario, given what we know about policing in New York, and present a completely different version of what most likely happened. "Tactical" squads, like the one that killed Diallo, operate very aggressively, basically "rousting" a series of likely offenders in the hope of turning up a gun or contraband drugs that would justify a "bust." This process generates the daily statistics that make both the squad and the precinct look good under the "comstat" computer-based police accountability programs that structure police management in New York and many other cities. [1] The "rousts" are largely guesswork, based on police experience; at their core, they are also racial profiles. One after another, young men are confronted, ordered to stop, searched, verbally engaged for information about themselves or others, and then either let go or arrested on petty charges. …