The Imbalanced Debate of Education versus Incarceration: When Incarceration is Supported by Corporate America

The recent report and press conference of the NAACP in regard to the increase in spending on prisons and the continuous decline in school budgets; especially in the communities of color, has confirmed what many community leaders and activists throughout the nation have said for decades. Many state governments plan to provide billions in tax relief to the wealthy, and at the same time laying the foundation for the increase in percentage of poor.

Education is not only a human need, it is also a human right. Every child has a human right to receive a well- funded education. This makes our children assets to our community and to our nation. Many school officials will say (off the record) that school administrators are pushing our youth through high school, allowing graduating with low literacy skills rather than holding them an extra year or two because of the cost to the school system’s budget.

Strong literacy skills are closely linked to the probability of having a successful career, decent earnings, and access to training opportunities. Individuals with weak literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed, thus they rather pursue illegal actives to make a living and feed their families.

The percent of students earning a standard diploma in 4 years shifted from 69.2% in 2006 to 68.8% in 2007, according to an analysis of the most recent data in “Diplomas Count 2010.” This indicates that there were 11,000 fewer graduates in 2007 than in 2006, according to the report by Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center, a nonprofit in Bethesda, Maryland.

Nationally, the graduation rate for white students was 78%, compared with 72% for Asian students, 55% for African-American students, and 53% for Hispanic students.

The gender gap in graduation rates is particularly large for minority students. Nationally, about 5 percentage points fewer white male students and 3 percentage points fewer Asian male students graduate than their respective female students. While 59% of African-American females graduated, only 48% of African-American males earned a diploma (a difference of 11 percentage points).

As a National Law Enforcement organization, we do recognize that pockets of communities that have high dropout rates also have a low literate population that results in a decrease in wages, and increase in crime that is directly correlated to an increase in the rates of incarceration. This is especially evident in our communities of color.

Prisons are Big Business

For the last decade, the United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. As of year end 2008 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), the U.S. incarceration rate was 754 jail and prison inmates per 100,000 population, five to ten times higher than that of Canada and most of the industrialized democracies of Western Europe.

Many states are increasing budgets for incarceration that goes directly to private prison companies such as Correction Corp of America. Many states are now leasing beds from privatized correctional facilities. Officials that are in favor of this deal will claim that it is economical than state run institutions, but when you look closer you will see that it is business as

usual with high powered lobbyists and the hand of “Corporate America”.

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), based in Nashville, Tennessee, and the GEO Group, a global corporation based in Boca Raton, Florida are the nation’s two largest prison companies. They run highly integrated operations to design, build, finance, and operate prisons. GEO rakes in $1.17 billion in annual revenue, and CCA tops that at $1.69 billion. Together these companies are principal moving forces in the behind-the-scenes organization of the current wave of anti- immigrant legislative efforts, which, if successful, would dramatically increase the number of immigrant prisoners in over 20 states.

GEO CEO, George Zoley, was a Bush “Pioneer” who bundled more than $100,000 in contributions for the Bush-Cheney campaigns in 2000 and 2004. GEO hired the services of lobbyists who had held influential positions in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Prisons, Office of the Attorney General, and the office of then- Senate Majority Leader, George Mitchell, to lobby their former employers and Congress. Throughout 2005 and leading up to the largest immigration raid in U.S. history in December 2006, GEO and CCA spent a combined total of over $6 million on lobbying efforts.

The lobbying efforts paid off for both companies, in huge revenue increases from government contracts to incarcerate immigrants. From 2005 through 2009, for every dollar that GEO spent lobbying the government, the company received a $662 return in taxpayer-funded contracts, for a total of $996.7 million. CCA received a $34 return in taxpayer-funded contracts for every dollar spent on lobbying the federal government, for a total of $330.4 million. In addition, both companies increased revenues over the same period from detention facility contracts with a number of states.

GEO and CCA are not the only companies that have made millions of dollars. Companies like Aramark. In some states, Aramark has earned an estimated $58-million in 1 year, providing meals at a cost of $2.32 per inmate each day. None of these companies have given back to any of the communities that are infected with high crime, low unemployment, and low graduation rates. Why? Because this is the cattle they need to slaughter for profit.

As a Correction Officer who has worked for 21 years in the state of New York, I have watched almost two generations of Black men grow up within the prison system. The institution of “Corrections” has failed to “correct” young men and women throughout the United States.

Confronting Confinement, a June 2006 U.S. prison study by the bipartisan Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, reports than on any given day more than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States, and that over the course of a year, 13.5 million spend time in prison or jail.

African Americans are imprisoned at a rate roughly seven times higher than whites, and Hispanics at a rate three times higher than whites. Within 3 years of their release, 67% of former prisoners are rearrested and 52% are re-incarcerated, a recidivism rate that calls into question the effectiveness of America's corrections system, which costs taxpayers $60 billion a year

Michelle Alexander, law professor at Ohio State and author of her year – old bestseller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is quoted saying, “that there are more African American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began.”

In closing, as a national law enforcement organization, we have met with community leaders, politicians, clergy, and even representatives of the United States government. To truly address changes in policy in education, high incarceration, racial profiling, police misconduct and economic development in the communities of color; politicians, especially Black politicians have been AWOL on the causes and now we are left to fight the effect.

Damon K. Jones
Blacks In Law Enforcement of America

Family Day Barbeque: Honoring Mothers and Families that lost Children to Gun Violence in Westchester County

Blacks in Law Enforcement of America, a national organization of Black Law Enforcement Professionals and ET6 Nation, a clothing company based out of Mt. Vernon New York will host a family Day BBQ Honoring Mothers and Families that lost Children to Gun Violence in Westchester County.

The event will be held on August 5, 2012, starting at Noon, at Secor Woods Park, Secor Rd, Hartsdale, New York

According to the recent report by the Children Defense Fund, guns are causing the deaths of thousands and thousands of children each year. In 2008 and 2009, gun homicide was the leading cause of death among black teens.

According to the report, in 2008, 2,947 children and teens died from guns in the United States and 2,793 died in 2009 for a total of 5,740—one child or teen every three hours, eight every day, 55 every week for two years. Six times as many children and teens—34,387—suffered nonfatal gun injuries as gun deaths in 2008 and 2009. This is equal to one child or teen every 31 minutes, 47 every day, and 331 children and teens every week.

Obviously , those who live in these disadvantage communities do not have planes and boats to move the guns into our communities. The amount of guns that flow in many communities in Westchester has killed mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and even law enforcement. Our elected officials should be embarrassed to know that it is easier for a youth in urban cities in the United States to get an illegal gun faster than they can get a job.

 This is America's pipeline to prison — a trajectory that leads to marginalized lives, imprisonment and often premature death. Although the majority of fourth graders cannot read at grade level, states spend about three times as much money per prisoner as per public school pupil.

 “We are honoring the mothers and families of victims of gun violence to bring attention to the gun problem in our communities. There must be a comprehensive change in the mindset of the people to achieve any sustainable reduction in crime. Our Motto is “With love and Kindness we will show our Youth to a better way of life. This is especially critical to those families with children, to prevent the youth from growing up being/feeling neglected and joining on to so-called gangs and engage in criminal actives. The offender of tomorrow is often the at-risk child of today whose needs are not being addressed.”

Damon K. Jones, Blacks In Law Enforcement of America

“ET6 Nation firmly stands against gun violence. We believe with more help from our local government and the participation of the community we can combat this problem. That is the reason why we're teaming up with Black Law Enforcement and supporting it's Family Day Barbeque. We need our youth to believe again, as well as to know that we are here for them as a Community. Gun violence has plagued our communities and our youth for far to long now. Our kids are dying on these streets and it's time to question ourselves, not just the ones pulling the trigger.”
Kenny Mclain, ET6 Nation

PRESS VIDEO: Danroy Henry death: Judge expresses skepticism of lawyer's argument to dismiss claims against Aaron Hess

WHITE PLAINS — A federal judge overseeing civil cases filed after a Pleasantville police officer shot and killed Danroy Henry Jr. expressed skepticism earlier today of a lawyer’s arguments to dismiss some claims against Officer Aaron Hess.

The hearing turned testy at points, as U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas took Brian Sokoloff, a lawyer for Hess, to task. Sokoloff argued that some claims against Hess made by a plaintiffs’ attorney, Bonita Zelman, were overly broad and lacked evidence.
“You can’t just make stuff up,” Sokoloff said.

But Karas warned the lawyer that he may be wasting his time, since Hess is named in several other parts of the suit.

“I would give that some thought before you ruin your summer,” the judge said.
Meanwhile, Zelman said a Department of Justice review of the case would wait until later.
“They are awaiting our taking Aaron Hess’s deposition,” Zelman said.
With a hearing about to get underway in the courthouse, a couple dozen protesters gathered outside this morning claiming that officer Aaron Hess should assume responsibility for the clashes that occurred after the shooting Oct. 17, 2010.

“Because of his actions that night, he is responsible for the actions of the other cops,” said Damon Jones, representing the group Blacks in Law Enforcement. “The students are suing Hess because his actions caused the chain of events that caused the abuse of the rest of the students.”
He was joined by several students and their lawyer, Bonita Zelman, who accuse officers of violently thwarting their efforts to aid Henry as he lay dying on the pavement.

Hess was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting,

Nine lawsuits have been filed in connection with the shooting. Hess fired into Henry’s Nissan as the 20-year-old sophomore football player drove away from a fire zone outside Finnegan’s Grill in Thornwood.

Black Officer Assaulted by White Assistant Chief Continues his fight for Justice

Officer Micheal Hannon

On Sept 22, 2011, White Plains Police Assistant Chief Anne Fitzsimmons received a complaint in reference to Officer Michael Hannon’s actions on handling an intake call about an unattended parked car in their parking lot. Chief Fitzimmons emailed the Tour Commander, Lieutenant James Parlow in reference to the complaint. Lieutenant Parlow responded to Chief Fitzsimmons email and said that he had reviewed Officer Micheal Hannon intake call and he believed Officer Hannon handled it properly. The events that take place after this email exchange is very shocking and no one would ever think that a police department would get so out of control.

The conclusion wasn’t enough for the Chief Fitzsimmons, she came down to the communications room, without saying any words, she grabbed a large rolling chair approximately 8 feet behind where Officer Hannon was sitting and with bruit force rammed the chair in the back of Officer Hannon’s chair knocking him into computer console.

The attack on Officer Hannon was witness by two officers, one civilian worker and one supervisor, all was in a state of shock of the unmerciful actions of Assistant Chief Fitzsimmons.  All have made notarized statements of Chief Fitzsimmons attack on Officer Hannon. “She pushed the chair with both arms and with force”, reported a witness of the incident.

After brutally striking Officer Hannon, Chief Fitzsimmons took the chair that she used to assault Officer Hannon and began a casual conversation with Lieutenant Parlow.  

“I thought to myself, this woman just hit me very hard with a chair,” said Hannon. “Felt like I was being sacked by Ray Lewis.”

Assistant Chief Anne Fitzsimmons

“I was startled because my back was turned answering a call”, Hannon continued, “I turned around expecting an apology or at least an excuse me, she had no reply for her actions”.
After talking to the Lieutenant Parlow the Chief said out loud that she couldn’t write Officer Hannon up because the call went the right way but she will write the incident up in her personal folder.

After chief left Officer Hannon spoke to the Lieutenant Parlow that was in the room and asked him what was he going to do and Lieutenant Parlow replied, “What can I do, I’m only a Lieutenant?”

“I felt completely helpless”, said Hannon. Because I know in the policy somebody is suppose to do something to help me.”

Officer Hannon is completely right. In White Plains Police Policy Article IV: When a member reports an injury that occurred white on duty, the supervisor to whom it was reported shall conduct an investigation of the injury and report the facts in writing to the Chief of Police. In White Plains Workplace Violence Policy is says; a city staff member may not engage in any behavior or conduct that could reasonably be interpreted as violent. Chief Fitzsimmons is the person responsible for these policies and is the instructor of the ethics class of the in-service training of White Plains PD. Chief Fitzsimmons is also a violator of these policies by assaulting Officer Hannon and she continues to go unpunished or reprimanded by Commissioner Chong for the same policies that she teaches and helped write.

While Officer Hannon was writing his account of the incident many supervisors advised him to think about the repercussions of his report and that it would jeopardize his career in the White Plains PD.

“After I finished my report, I left it in Commissioner Chong’s office”, said Hannon. “I was in so much pain I had to go to the hospital.”

The Assistant Chief attacking an Officer and the Officer writing a report on the incident was now a hot potato in the department. No supervisor working inside the department wanted anything to do with the incident. Officer Hannon had to wait approximately 20 minutes for a supervisor to be called off the road and instructed to take Officer Hannon to the hospital. While he was at White Plains hospital he was treated for back spasms and pain and given prescriptions.

The next day Officer Hannon called out injured. After twelve days Officer Hannon received no correspondence on the incident from Commissioner Chong or Chief Bradley, Officer Hannon wrote second report. After not receiving a response from the second letter the White Plains Police Union attorney sent another letter on Officer Hannon’s behalf.

"We feel that Assistant Chief Anne Fitzsimmons should be held accountable for her actions which caused Officer Hannon to miss over three months of work and still may require surgery to repair. If this incident happens anywhere else (in the City Of White Plains) the person responsible would have been arrested for assault and the chair taken as evidence", said White Plains PBA President Rob Riley.

After many letters and no correspondence from Commissioner Chong or Chief Bradley on the issue. Officer Hannon had no choice but to file a complaint with the White Plains Mayor office of Illegal discrimination and harassment on Oct. 10, 2011.

After no response from the Commissioner or the Mayor’s office, Officer Hannon and the WP Police Union thought that they could find justice at the District Attorney’s Office.

 "We decided to go to the DA's office after I called Police Chief James M. Bradley and asked the status of the internal investigation? The Chief stated that he (Officer Hannon) was insane and could not have been hurt like that.  Also that all paperwork had gone to city hall.” said Riley.

Officer Hannon and the PBA met with Assistant District Attorney Berit Huseby.  DA Huseby was very adamant to have Lieutenant Mike Fitzmaurice of WPPD Internal Affairs to handle the investigation. This was opposed by Officer Hannon and the PBA because of the long term relationship between Fitzmaurice and they felt the investigation could not be done in a non bias manner. For the interest of injustice Assistant DA Huseby kept Fitzmaurice as the investigator.

On February 28, 2012 Officer Hannon and his Attorney Mitchell Baker filed a Federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of White Plains and Assistant Chief Anne Fitzsimmons of the White Plains Police Department. The lawsuit alleges a violation of Officer Hannon’s civil rights under 42 USC Section 1983.

“Our organization wrote letters to the Mayor, Chong and Defiore”, said Sterling Dixson, President of Westchester Blacks In Law Enforcement of America “She has a federal lawsuit for violating someone’s Civil Rights, assaulting them, not to just any citizen; she did this to an officer under her command. The right thing to do is to remove her until the case is over.”

Mitchell J. Baker, of the White Plains law firm of Baker Leshko Saline & Blosser, LLP states: “It simply shocks the conscience that an Assistant Chief of a major metropolitan police force would take such actions and forcefully attack one of her own officers.”

On March 7, 2012, the District Attorney’s office sent Officer Hannon a letter stating “there are irreconcilable differences between the accounts of the witnesses and they will not bring charges against Assistant Chief Fitzsimmons”

“Did they really think that Janet Defiore would bring assault charges on a Chief of Police in Westchester? That’s laughable,” said Dixson. “The Chiefs support the DA with campaign money.  She’s a member of their organization. Did they really believe that she would get charges?”
May 8. 2012, at a White Plains City Council meeting,  Officer Hannon described the ongoing pain of his injuries, the loss of three months of work and five months of physical therapy. “During my time out of work I was never contacted by any city of White Plains administration official or any city of white plains official in regard to the incident or the status of my recovery. I do not only blame Ann FitzSimmons, assistant chief of police, I also blame all those who sanctioned her behavior by refusing to investigate. I am now embarrassed to wear the shield of the White Plains police and it is due to the way upper management handles various issues,” Hannon told the mayor and council.

A coalition of Black Pastors gathered at the podium, from churches in the White Plains African American community, brought a show of solidarity for Officer  Hannon. They called both situations morally unacceptable.

“If they can do this to me (a Police Officer).” said Hannon. “Imagine what they have been doing to the average citizens in Westchester. I can’t blame any victim for wanting a special prosecutor of oversight.”

Radio Interview with Officer Hannon and Damon K. Jones

Where there is no Justice, there is no Freedom

Where there is no Justice, there is no freedom and when people lose trust in authority and those who are in charge of the authority, they lose faith in the process of the system of Justice that has been their right through the Constitution of the United States. To demand freedom is to demand justice. When there is no justice in the land, a man's freedom is threatened. Freedom and justice are interdependent. When a man has no protection under the law it is difficult for him to make others recognize him. Many people have questioned are poor white people and people of color truly recognized and respected in this so –called justice system in Westchester County.

We have watched our Westchester Justice System blatantly defy logic and true transparency and accountability of the law for too long. Westchester County Justice Officials, Law Enforcement Officials, and Elected Politicians have continued to apply band aid solutions to a wound in our law enforcement institution that clearly needs a surgeon. It is a true American tragedy when you cannot rely on your local justice system for protection of your civil and human rights. Transparency and accountability when they are linked to violations of peoples civil and human rights have been thrown out the door for friendships and political gain. What you do find is the violated are prosecuted and requesting intervention from higher governing bodies like the Department of Justice. When these rights are violated consistently, and create disadvantages for some, more than others, then you have a society where the people lose trust, they lose hope, and they lose faith in ALL institutions.

How many times shall we see our mothers’, fathers’, sisters’ and brothers’ civil and human rights violated and our Westchester Counties Justice System “Eyes Wide Shut” on the issue? It has been said that “The Lady Justice” is blind but in Westchester “Lady Justice” is peeking under her blindfold to see what color, race, immigration or economic status you are before a decision is made. As a result, the masses of the collateral damage are victims that can’t afford good lawyers or will never be recognized by our Westchester media; their cries of injustice will continue to go unheard. This Westchester County Justice System has a history of prosecuting victims of Police Brutality like Naimah Yancy, Dara Massey, Primivita Diaz, and Lance Cooper, who all were found innocent by trial. Unfortunately, when this cancer rises to the level that media pays attention again, they always report the effect but never question the cause and why. We have found that controversy sells media but logic and dialog don’t fit the status quo agenda.


We have watched as the victims of this Westchester County injustice syndrome fall victim to character assassination like Detective Christopher Ridley, who was shot and killed while making an off off-duty arrest without any independent investigation of his death. NYPD Sergeant Kenny Kessiedu who was assaulted on his way to work by Yonkers uniform police officers and a year later found not guilty of any charges brought by the District Attorney’s office. If our Westchester County Justice system can create an atmosphere with leaks that will create doubt on the victims that are in law enforcement, then any young man, especially, a young black man does not have a chance for any real transparency of the law in Westchester County.

Even the NAACP expressed its disappointment in the actions by the District Attorney and the evasive right of obtaining Justice for African Americans in Westchester County. They also noted that the District Attorney has reneged on the Pamphlet and fairly investigating police encounters with civilians.

The reoccurrence of the same problems that have occurred in the Detective Christopher Ridley, NYPD Sergeant Kenny Kessiedu and Danroy Henry cases, reveal a disturbing pattern in different municipalities in Westchester County. These problems underscore the need for a systematic change and true accountability of transgressions of law enforcement agencies in Westchester County.When allegations’ of police brutality reaches this level, it’s no longer a single municipality problem; it becomes a Westchester problem, then every taxpayer in Westchester County’s problem.

Of course, there are many in this Justice System that truly believes in the core tenants of Justice. At the end of the day the rank and file of our Justice System are victims as well because of fear of losing a paycheck, a promotion or so-called respect of their comrades; they play along with this dismal downfall of trust in this system we call Justice. All along forgetting the oath we take to uphold the State Constitution and the Constitution of the United States and its citizens. These lawyers, officers and officials work within hierarchies that have put personal and political agendas before real freedom, truth, and justice for the citizens they have sworn to serve.

This continuous influx of abuse of law abiding citizens gives a black eye to the entire law enforcement institution, not just those rouge officers who disobey proper protocol and procedure. Without true transparency and accountability of law enforcement, the citizens lose trust in the uniform and badge. Then the law enforcement management is in amazement when the communities they serve, especially the communities of color, do not cooperate with them. Why should they? If you can’t have true accountability within your own, then how can you be fair and just with the communities you claim to serve?

The Police Department is the primary entry point to the justice system and the part in closest contact with the public. The investigation and prosecution should be an issue of Justice and “Fair Dealing”. This means no bias or the presumption of bias in our Justice System. Clearly the investigation of the shooting of DJ Henry, Detective Ridley and the prosecution of NYPD Sergeant Kenny Kessiedu will continue to fuel the growing doubt among black, white, brown and yellow if there is any true Justice in the Westchester County Justice System

Secure Communities” or a National Albatross?

Ron Hampton, Executive Director

Blacks In Law Enforcement of America, Washington D.C.

Shortly before the Department of Homeland Security is expected to announce another round of changes to its much-maligned “Secure Commu­nities” deportation program, it’s worth asking: “Can this program really be fixed?”

Since my original writing about Secure Communities two years ago, the program has only become more controversial. Three states and numer­ous cities have come forward to demand an “opt out” that would allow them to not participate in the initiative.

As law enforcement officials, I and others have expressed reservations about “Secure Communities” from the beginning. The program, which requires police to check the immigration status of anyone booked into custody, pulls state and local police into the task of immigration enforce­ment to an unprecedented degree. The effect is the “Arizonification” of the country.

As a former officer of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police force, I know that when immigrants perceive local police as immigration offi­cers, public safety suffers. Immigrant witnesses and crime victims become reluctant to report crime, so perpetrators remain free to prey on oth­ers. Community policing, a successful crime-fighting strategy based on constructing collaborative relationships of trust between police and the communities they serve, becomes near impossible. And resources that should go toward fighting crime are diverted to facilitating the deportation of mothers, fathers, children, and friends, whose only offense is to have violated one of the outdated and unjust provisions of our civil immigra­tion law.

This public safety effect was confirmed recently by a Department of Justice investigation of civil rights abuses in Maricopa County, Arizona (known throughout the country for the racial profiling and abusive, anti-immigrant tactics of its Sheriff Joe Arpaio). Following a three-year in­vestigation the Department found that: “[The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s] prioritization of immigration enforcement may have compro­mised its ability to secure the safety and security of Maricopa County residents. Since MCSO shifted its focus toward combating illegal immi­gration, violent crime rates in the county have increased significantly as compared to similarly situated jurisdictions.”

It’s no coincidence that all of the harsh, Arizona-style anti-immigrant laws require local police to engage in immigration enforcement. Making local police a gateway to deportation creates division, promotes fear, encourages racial profiling, and helps to separate hundreds of thousands of families. But it makes no sense for the federal government to “Arizonify” the rest of the country with “Secure Communities” when it’s clear that the entanglement of police and immigration functions harms us all.

Concerns for public safety and the allocation of scarce resources are what led the Governors of Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts to ask to terminate, suspend, or not activate “Secure Communities” in their states. They are what led the D.C. City Council to unanimously introduce a law against the program, the first of many similar local ordinances and resolutions around the country. And they are what lead me to believe that Secure Communities can’t be fixed—it has to be ended.

If prior DHS “reforms” are any indication, the forthcoming announcement of changes to Secure Communities will be more a public relations show than a move toward real change. Remember 287(g), another federal program designed to harness the power of local police for immigration enforcement, perhaps best known for the abuses of Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona? In the face of scathing criticism, DHS “reformed” the program, issuing new guidance, creating a “refresher” training course, and setting up new “advisory committees.” But these changes served more to take the pressure off DHS than to produce any real changes on the ground.

As long as Secure Communities continues to force police to act as a pipeline for deportation, we will continue to move toward a vision of the country in which we all look more and more like Arizona. If you find that prospect troubling, it’s time to join in the call to end, not mend Secure Communities.

Police Must Answer for Crimes Against Minorities

Damon Jones, New York Representative of Blacks Law Enforcement of America, holds a copy of a re­view of force training at the Westchester Police Academy which was conducted in the fatal shooting of Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley. Jones attended a press conference on Oct. 16, 2011 announcing a Federal lawsuit against the Town of Mount Pleasant, Pleasanville and several police offi­cers connected in the shooting death of Pace University student D.J. Henry at the White Plains Federal Courthouse. ( Ricky Flores / The Journal News ) / Ricky Flores/Staff TJN

Incidents of questionable police shootings and conduct are on the rise throughout the nation, particularly as it relates to people of color and poor communities.

The recent shooting of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. - a black man shot and killed by White Plains police responding to a medical alert at his apartment Nov. 19 - is just a piece in a larger puzzle of deep-rooted “isms” in the institution of law enforcement in the United States.

As Blacks in Law Enforcement, we all know too well the embedded stereotypes of people of color in the law enforcement institution. Many off-duty or plain­clothes black officers have been shot, shot at, or killed by their white counter­parts, by mistake; the same never happens in reverse.

Our organization has been monitoring the issue of police criminality in commu­nities of color across the United States. We have seen the civil rights of our mothers, sisters, fathers and brothers repeatedly violated and abused. How many more reports of police misconduct and criminality must we hear about? There is not a big city that is immune to this dreadful disease.

Neither the outrage from the community, eyewitnesses reports, videos of inci­dents, or pictures of brutalized victims have made this madness stop. On a larger scale, our elected officials have been completely silent over crimes by law en­forcement in communities of color. In some cases elected officials have refused to meet with the victims’ families. In our opinion, these elected officials have failed in their duty to fairly represent and address the concerns of all citizens in their community. When people lose trust in authority and those who are in charge of the authority, they lose faith in the process of the system of justice that has been their right through the Constitution of the United States.

We support those officers who each day put on their uniforms, put their lives on the line, and do the jobs that they have sworn to do. As law enforcement profes­sionals, we vehemently condemn and demand a critical and fair accounting of the few police officers who cross the line. Their actions give a false sense of security and breeds a new generation of law enforcement who believe it is OK to beat up, slam up, and set up and shoot the citizens they have sworn to serve and not face punishment.

Police brutality and misconduct is an ongoing occurrence in the poor black, La­tino and poor communities. BLEA considers this brutality and misconduct to be “police criminality;” any law enforcement officer who has the power to arrest, authority to use deadly force, and who has received comprehensive training, and who will then go into a community and abuse the powers they have from the state or federal government, is committing no less than a criminal act themselves. Police criminality is a crime and must be confronted, controlled and outlawed by all police departments throughout the United States.

How long must we wait for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Depart­ment of Justice to take a proactive stance against police criminality? How many more children must die like Trayvon Martin of Florida, who was unarmed, shot and killed while coming home from the store with a bag of Skittles? How many more children should be brutalized in the communities and urban cities of color before the U.S. government addresses the issue of proper oversight and account­ability of law enforcement?

Are the lives of black and Latino men, women and children not important enough to the United States government to fully investigate this epidemic? Is our presi­dent more afraid of the backlash of police unions instead of creating the atmos­phere of proper dialogue on local, state and government levels to create solutions of police criminality?

As an organization, we have sat with politicians, church leaders, so-called com­munity leaders and even representatives of the Department of Justice - to no avail and little change. We are committed to work with any person, or organiza­tion, who believes accountability, transparency and oversight of law enforcement will serve all of society

COME OUT AND SUPPORT VICTIMS OF POLICE BRUTALITY IN WESTCHESTER OUR VOICES MUST BE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR

BLACKS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT OF AMERICA,

GRAND COUNCIL OF GUARDIANS

AND THEIR COUNSEL  BONITA E. ZELMAN, ESQ.

THE POLICE COVERUP OF THE SHOOTING OF DJ HENRY JR. AND BRUTALITY AGAINST PACE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS CONTINUES

DEFENDANT- POLICE OFFICER AARON HESS, AGAIN SEEKS TO FILE A MOTION TO DISMISS THE LAWSUITS OF THE PACE  STUDENTS THAT WERE SHOT WITH TASER GUNS, BRUTALIZED AND VICTIMIZED BY THE POLICE.

THESE VICTIMS WILL BE PRESENT AT COURT TO FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS AND FOR JUSTICE FOR THEIR FRIEND DJ!

PRESS CONFERENCE

TIME AND PLACE: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 at 10:00AM

Front steps of

Federal U.S. District Court

300 Quarropas Street

White Plains, N.Y. 10601

And Court Room Proceedings open to the public will immediately follow in the Courtroom of

THE HONORABLE JUDGE KENNETH M. KARAS

United States District Judge, Room 521

October 17, 2010, Pace University football star and student DJ Henry (DJ) was shot and killed by Village of Pleasantville Police Officer Aaron Hess.  His friends and teammates were brutalized, tasered, beaten by police and wrongfully charged with false criminal charges for attempting to save his life when they tried to render CPR and first aid to DJ Henry as he lay in the gutter with 2 bullets in his chest dying.

There has been no justice for DJ or these students and football teammates who bravely tried to aid their friend DJ to save his life. DJ’s family, Brandon Cox who was the front seat passenger in DJ’s car and who was also shot, and the students who were brutalized and falsely arrested all filed Civil lawsuits to force justice for DJ.

Now, DJ Henry’s shooter, defendant-Police Officer Aaron Hess and his attorney Brian Sokoloff is seeking to avoid any and all liability in the civil lawsuits filed against him by the individual college students who were beaten and brutalized by police officers in the wake of the shooting of their friend DJ, as they attempted to help their dying friend.

Oral Arguments will be held in open Court on July 10, 2012.  The Plaintiffs-victims will appear, and will vigorously oppose this and all other attempts by the defendants in these lawsuits to escape liability.  These victims of police brutality, misconduct and cover-up deserve and need to be heard in court, and these serious allegations should not be dismissed without that opportunity.

JOIN US AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT IN THE FIGHT

FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE AND TRANSPARE