Bloomberg: Police stop minorities ‘too little’

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/28/bloomberg-police-minorities-stops/2474261/

• The comment sparked criticism from activists and politicians
• Police Commissioner Kelly said separately that 90% of New Yorkers killed or shot are minorities
• A federal lawsuit is ongoing over ‘stop and frisk’ procedures

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that police “disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little” as compared to murder suspects’ descriptions, sparking criticism from activists and some politicians in a city that has been immersed in a debate about law enforcement and discrimination.

Speaking on his weekly WOR-AM radio appearance, Bloomberg echoed an argument he has made before: that the stops’ demographics should be assessed against suspect descriptions, not the population as a whole. But coming a day after city lawmakers voted to create a police inspector general and new legal avenues for racial profiling claims, the mayor’s remarks drew immediate pushback.

The measures’ advocates accused the mayor of using “irresponsible rhetoric,” some mayoral hopefuls chastised him and some City Council members said his remarks only emphasized the need for change.

“Our mayor’s comments prove he just doesn’t get it,” said Councilman Robert Jackson, who co-chairs the council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.

Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the critics were “fabricating outrage over an absolutely accurate comment.”

“What they should be outraged by is the number of minorities who are being killed and that successful police efforts to save minority lives are being hampered,” he added.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly noted separately Friday that more than 90% of people killed or shot in the city are black or Hispanic.

The police tactic known as stop and frisk has become a high-profile political issue in the city, where stops have soared during Bloomberg’s three terms. He and Kelly say the stops are an invaluable policing aid and have helped cut crime rates dramatically, while critics say the street stops humiliate many innocent people and are unfairly focused on minorities.

Those complaints have prompted a federal lawsuit over the stop and frisk practice and were part of the impetus for the City Council’s vote Thursday. Bloomberg reiterated Friday that he’ll veto the legislation, which he says will impede policing. They passed with enough votes to override a veto, but the mayor has noted that he plans to keep pressing his case with lawmakers.

About 5 million stops have been made during the past decade. Eighty-seven% of those stopped in the last two years were black or Hispanic. Those groups comprise 54% of the city population.

Bloomberg says that comparison isn’t appropriate.

The racial breakdown of those stopped is “not a disproportionate percentage of those who witnesses and victims describe as committing the murder. In that case, incidentally, I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little,” he said Friday on “The John Gambling Show.”

More than 90% of suspects in killings in the last two years were described as black or Hispanic, according to city officials.

“The cops’ job is to stop (people in) the groups fitting the description. It’s society’s job to make sure that no one group is disproportionately represented as potential perpetrators,” Bloomberg said earlier in the show.

The group Communities United for Police Reform called Bloomberg’s view misinformation, noting that most stops aren’t spurred by suspect descriptions. Police department records of the stops also list such reasons as “furtive movements” or suspicious bulges in clothing.

“Mayor Bloomberg should cease with the irresponsible rhetoric and seek to work with the council on a constructive path forward,” said Communities United for Police Reform spokeswoman Joo-Hyun Kang.

Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio sent supporters an email rapping Bloomberg’s remarks, while fellow contender and City Comptroller John Liu issued a statement calling them “insensitive, outrageous, and just plain weird.” Rival and former City Comptroller Bill Thompson, who is black, termed Bloomberg’s comments insulting and called on him to apologize.

“What he seems to indicate to the hundreds of thousands of people who have been unnecessarily stopped and frisked is, ‘We’re sorry we didn’t stop more people,'” Thompson said.

Fast-food workers stage walkouts over wages

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/11/fast-food-workers-stage-walkouts/2152603/

The protest in Detroit follows similar walkouts in St. Louis, New York and Chicago.

Fast-food workers and labor activists staged sporadic walkouts and protests at various chain eateries in Friday as part of an organized nationwide protest to gain better wages and working conditions.

Organizers in Detroit said several hundred food workers participated in the walkouts, which succeeded in disrupting operations at six chain restaurants in the city, including two McDonald’s, a Subway, a Burger King, a Long John Silver’s and a Popeyes.

Workers at more than 30 fast-food restaurants in St. Louis walked off the job Thursday in a similar one-day strike. That followed strikes at fast-food chains in New York and Chicago.

The Detroit strike was organized by a coalition of labor, faith and activist groups calling itself the Michigan Workers Organizing Committee. Strike relief payments of $50 per striker were offered to those who walked off their jobs, organizers said.

Detroit pastor Charles Williams II of the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church said workers want better working conditions, the right to unionize and an increase in the state minimum wage to $15 an hour from the current $7.40.

“There’s really nothing you can accomplish in terms of taking care of a family with that wage,” Williams said.

The one-day protest started early this morning at a McDonald’s on Gratiot, one of about 50 eateries organizers said they planned to target.

The day’s activities concluded with a large rally and march outside a McDonald’s in New Center. An estimated 200 marchers shut down rush hour traffic for several minutes before the group moved to the sidewalks after police arrived.

Demetrice Kidd, 35, of Detroit said he skipped his Taco Bell job to take part in the strike day and march. A single father of a 7-year-old son, Kidd said he barely gets by on his hourly wage of $7.75.

“Unfortunately, here in Detroit, the cost of living is pretty high, but not a lot of people are being paid well,” he said.

Brandishing a bullhorn, Pastor W.J. Rideout III of All God’s People Church in Detroit helped lead marchers up and down a stretch of West Grand Boulevard.

“(Fast-food chains) make $200 billion a year, and they’re crying about giving minimum-wage workers $15 an hour?” Rideout said later. “It’s time to stop giving them slave wages and give them something that they deserve.”

A McDonald’s corporate representative was not immediately available for comment this afternoon.

Mike Telly, manager of the McDonald’s in Detroit, said several protesters stood outside his restaurant from early Friday morning to about 11:30 a.m. He said the activists arrived on a bus that later returned to pick them up.

According to the manager, some of the activists entered the restaurant and offered workers $50 to walk out and join them.

Although Telly said that none of his workers walked out, a spokeswoman for the strike coalition, Darci McConnell, said at least 13 workers at the McDonald’s either walked out or never showed up.

Aris Lynch, 21, who worked the front counter register at the McDonald’s, said activists came inside and urged her to join, but she turned down their offer.

“My job is more important than losing it,” Lynch said.

McDonald’s employee Keith Bullard, 29, of Inkster said he walked out of work to join the strike wave. A married father with two young children, Bullard said he makes $7.50 an hour and has trouble getting more than 16 hours a week. But he said he works hard during those hours.

“We deserve $15 an hour because we work hard for it,” he said.

Bill Prohibits Arrests Based On ‘Descriptors’

Now I ask  you, how on earth are LEO’s (Law Enforcement Officer) supposed to FIND much less catch someone if they don’t know WHO they are looking for?  Some of the words you CANNOT use to describe a suspect or “perp:”

color, sex, race, ethnicity, age, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, disability, sexual orientation, occupation,

It’s called the Community Safety Act.  How safe are you if you can’t describe the person or persons attacking and/or assaulting you for fear of retribution?

http://www.nyclu.org/event/new-york-city-council-hearing-community-safety-act

Here is the ACLU link which is supposed to stop over-zealousness in the police.  Which from my experience those are the MINORITY in a police department and are weeded out when their actions come to light and they slither back under the rock they came out of.  But to remove ALL descriptors from their lexicon…I ask you HOW are they to do their job?

New York City Council Hearing on Community Safety Act

On Wednesday, Oct. 10, the New York City Council’s Public Safety Committee will hold the first of three public hearings on the Community Safety Act – landmark civil rights legislation that will ensure that the NYPD treats all New Yorkers with courtesy, professionalism and respect.

The hearing will occur at 10 a.m. at 250 Broadway in Manhattan. This is a crucial opportunity to show Council Members that the Community Safety Act commands widespread and passionate support. If you’re angered by the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk abuses and other discriminatory tactics, then come to the hearing and voice your support for these historic reforms.