12.11.18: Philadelphia – (Politics): As of Tuesday morning, many people in America have seen the video of NYPD officers ripping a one-year-old boy from his mother’s arms in an attempt to effect an arrest of the parent.
It all took place last Friday at a city Human Resource Administration office in Brooklyn, New York. The mother, 23-year-old Jazmine Headley, was accused of being disorderly towards others while blocking a pathway when she sat on the floor due to no available seating.
The security officers who called the police on Ms. Headley, who’s still incarcerated at Rikers Island, have been placed on leave, according to the Brooklyn Public Defender who’s representing the jailed parent.
Much outrage has been expressed as a result of the arrest, which went viral after being recorded by Ms. Nyashia Ferguson. Most notably, the New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson called the encounter “unacceptable.”
In a later statement, which was published online, the New York City lawmaker said he would be meeting with the police commissioner, among others, to discuss what mechanisms “are in place so that this type of situation never occurs again.”
“It is unacceptable that Human Resources Administration (HRA) has such little capacity to handle its core functions that folks seeking their assistance must sit on the floor with their children while waiting for an appointment. Furthermore, none of this would have happened had HRA security officers handled the situation appropriately from the outset. We also have to ask ourselves why the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office sought a full stay-away order of protection for the child, and a judge granted it. This incident reflects a wide range of problems with our justice system, which too often criminalizes poverty, disproportionately punishes petty behavior, and reactively separates parents from children without considering the lasting damage this causes to parent and child,” the Speaker’s statement read in part.
Mr. Johnson’s words and impending actions may seem strictly in line with the job of a lawmaker and require no celebration. But when viewed through the eyes of a political observer in Philadelphia, a city where the current and immediate past crop of lawmakers are woefully indifferent to matters of policing, the NYC’s City Council Speaker is worthy of note.
Indeed, as it relates to lawmaker’s involvement in matters germane to policing, New York City and Philadelphia is a tale of two cities.
For example, in December of 2014, nearly half of the New York City Council blocked traffic on Broadway to protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in the death of Eric Garner on Staten Island.
Also, in December of 2014, a 26-year-old Philadelphia man named Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown was killed by a police officer while unarmed and fleeing. Despite the flurry of protest, no lawmaker here publicly remarked on the case.
And even when it was discovered that the Philadelphia Police Department had offered a false narrative about the circumstances leading to Mr. Tate-Brown’s death, the-then District Attorney refused to reopen the case and the City Council was mum.
A situation similar to what occurred Friday in Brooklyn with Ms. Headley happened here over three years ago.
In June of 2015, SEPTA police officers violently attempted to effect an arrest of a 20-year-old man while he held his young daughter due to fare evasion. Like in the case of Ms. Headley, which the New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio called “disturbing,” bystanders here maligned the SEPTA police officers and a man named Mr. Ahmad Najam recorded the incident on a cell phone.
SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel called the viral incident “unacceptable.” At a press conference to address the matter further, Mr. Nestel appeared visibly distraught by what occurred. The city’s lawmakers, however, said nothing.
To say that Philly lawmakers have never responded to a viral arrest would be untrue. In April, a number of lawmakers here held a press conference outside the 18th & Spruce Street Starbucks where two black men, who weren’t paying customers, had been arrested for trespassing.
The councilmembers stood with 2nd District Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, whose Councilmanic District includes the Rittenhouse Square Starbucks. Unfortunately, Mr. Johnson’s condemnation was exclusive to Starbucks rather than a more nuanced presentation which shared responsibility with the police department.
“We’re going to significantly stay on this case,” Councilman Johnson said.
But that pledge hasn’t materialized.
The arrest of Messrs. Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were emblematic of the culture of policing in that neighborhood. In the 1st Police Service Area in the 9th District, which intersects with Mr. Johnson’s 2nd Councilmanic District, Blacks make up only five percent of the population but make up 60 percent of all the stops, according to pedestrian stop data compiled by the ACLU PA for the first two-quarters of 2018.
To “significantly stay on this case” would require one to move beyond the headline of Starbucks Throws Out Black Men and investigate the factors that allowed such an event to occur.
Concerns about policing from community members aren’t reflective in the legislative dialogue or agendas of any Philadelphia lawmaker currently employed by the taxpayers. For example, the 15th Police District has been loudly criticized by a number of activists over the years. But City Hall has yet to lend a listening ear in earnest.
Of the last four high-profile police shootings of unarmed black men in Philadelphia, three were done at the hands of officers in the 15th District: Mr. Tate-Brown in 2014, Mr. David Jones in 2017; and Mr. Jeffrey Dennis in 2018.
In the 1st Police Service Area in the 15th Police District, Blacks make up 42 percent of the population but account for 72 percent of the stops. In the 2nd PSA in the 15th Police District, Blacks make up 29 percent of the population but account for 57 percent of the stops. And in the 3rd PSA in the 15th Police District, Blacks make up 14 percent of the population but account for 36 percent of the stops.
The remaining high-profile shooting, that of Mr. Dennis Plowden in December of 2017, occurred in the 35th Police District, which is adjacent to the 15th and where Blacks make up the majority of both the population and the pedestrian stops.
New York City’s politics are far from perfect. But the lawmakers there at least haven’t been, and aren’t, afraid to speak out on issues, specifically those involving law enforcement. Early this year, for example, Speaker Johnson was among the City Councilmembers who attended an immigration protest. Two lawmakers that day were arrested.
Of the two lawmakers arrested in January, one was Councilman Jumaane Williams. Mr. Williams in February of 2012 led a rally on the steps of City Hall to speak out against stop-and-frisk.
According to CBS New York, Mr. Williams had then introduced a package of bills that would ban racial profiling, require police to seek consent before searching someone without a warrant and require police to give their name and rank to subjects that they stop.
Philadelphia’s politicians don’t have to be as brazen as their New York City counterparts on policing matters. But they should certainly look to New York City for inspiration and aim to be better than they are now.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® and I’m Drumming for Justice!™
Author’s bio: Christopher “Flood the Drummer®” Norris is an award-winning journalist, online content producer and professional drummer currently serving as the CEO of Techbook Online, a Philadelphia-based news and event company, and the host of the Drumming for Justice podcast. Subscribe here.
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