Some residents say they have been harassed in front of this Malcolm X Place chicken joint. Racial Divide “You don’t hear about this in the white neighborhoods, only in the ‘urban’ neighborhoods,” said one East Elmhurst resident, who said he feels police harassment is only an issue in minority communities. “There should be a law to protect me from this,” said Patterson. It is illegal for officers to search pockets, coats or even vehicles based on a mere assumption. “When you stop someone you have to have reasonable suspicion,” Leader said. “You can’t just arbitrarily stop people.” “I believe that if I was white or dressed differently, then I would be treated a whole different way,” said Dyshawn Colvin, 21, of East Elmhurst, who said officers sexually harassed him in August. Colvin and a friend were walking on 100th Street and 25th Avenue when an undercover police van pulled up, two officers jumped out, pushed the two men against a nearby gate and searched them. One officer, Colvin said, reached into his pants and put his hand on his testicles through his undergarments. “I guess he was checking for drugs but I felt violated,” said Colvin. During another incident, Colvin was pulled over in his vehicle and asked to step out of the car. He said the officers pulled his boxers forward and put a flashlight down his pants. “I don’t think I should be exposed that way in the street nor should I have to step out my car for no reason,” said Colvin. “When I ask why am I being pulled over they usually say ‘shut up’ or ‘you fit the description.’ I feel like I am being harassed because some of the things they do is not part of the procedure.” What Can Be Done? Leader urges people, whenever possible, to document any illegal activity they witness officers committing. When stopped, “get the name of the officer, the plate and shield numbers but don’t ask the officer for it,” said Leader. “Record the time and place of occurrence.” Patterson and Colvin said that they are stopped and illegally searched two to three times a month by police. But for young African American males this is nothing new. “They find all types of reasons to stop us brothers,” said one young man. “I don’t feel singled out and harassed. I feel grouped and harassed because there’s a bunch of us they do this to.” The young man said that when more than a dozen gun-wielding police officers surrounded him at the age of 14 during the summer of 2000 two houses away from his home on 96th Street and 25th Avenue at 1 a.m., an officer told him: “You fit the description: a black kid with a white T-shirt and blue jeans.” The officers rushed towards the young men and quickly began to search for weapons, but found nothing. “They made me feel like a criminal,” the young man said. “All my neighbors came outside and saw me getting harassed. They just watched. It was a movie for them.” “It’s the same story every time – a store was robbed, guns, drugs,” Patterson said. “I’m black and I’m stereotyped by the way I dress, the way I look and the way I walk.” Bell Update The issue of profiling has come into the spotlight since the Bell shooting, as the New York City Council has dedicated several hearings to the subject in recent months. The Council has even gone into individual communities, such as East Elmhurst, for speak-outs with community leaders, residents and members of the police force. The speak-outs have sometimes been extremely heated, and even the members of the Council itself have used harsh language and intense criticism of police practices, as was the case with a deposition given by Police Chief Ray Kelly in January. The Bell case itself is progressing slowly but steadily, as the 50-day vigil ended last month. Grand jury hearings proceeded this week, according to published reports, including testimony from officers involved in the November shooting. Officers were called in ascending order, based on the number of shots that were fired, with Officer Michael Oliver, who fired 31 shots, expected to testify Friday. Friends and family, as well as the surviving victims, gave their testimony to the grand jury last week. The grand jury, which has been in session since January, could hand down indictments as early as this month. Before police harassment results in yet another death, the issue, Leader said, “should be addressed on many levels. It should be addressed by the police commissioner, but unfortunately he is in denial. He must admit that there is a problem but he is totally unwilling to handle it.” Leader said the community members and organizations should address this issue, along with black police officers and the police department as a whole. “They should investigate and penalize police,” said one woman who claimed she was a victim of racial profiling. “The consequences are not enough; they should do something more drastic.” Colvin and others are skeptical that anything will be done to correct the problem.

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