@John Farrell
Agreed. 100%. Follow the rules.
However.
It appears, that is, you leave the impression it’s all right that the rules are not the same for all.
REMEMBER:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Maybe one day we will all realize that when the least among us is being "abuse," we are all being abused.
26
This article and the resulting comments provide perfect material for the kind comprehensive investigative journalism that could push along the conversation about race. Are you listening, NYT?
11
So now that we know that Blacks and Latinos are being targeted for petty crimes, like fare evasion, more that whites or Asians, how about some statistics on more serious crimes like murder, rape, assault and hate crimes. Are Blacks and Latinos being arrested more than Whites and Asians for these crimes also?
13
No surprise, racist cops are as common as school shootings, each in the uptick under 45’s make America hate again. We know which politicians the subway king supports. The US needs to make the KKK and other White Supremacist groups terrorist groups, arrest all cops with any history of membership and ban them from any police dept.
18
“Of the six officers, all but one is retired. They are all black or Hispanic.”
Did Inspector Tsachas think that these black or Hispanic officers were on a racial crusade where they ignored crimes by their own group and then pursued whites and Asians to make their quotas?
Did the Times reporters who gave us this narrative explore this possibility?
18
The problem isn't the NYPD. The real problem is how police have been trained historically in this nation. Basically, police have been trained to keep people in their place. For instance, if a "person of color" is in a "wealthy" or predominantly "white" area" said POC is there to steal. Conversely, if a white person is in a poor, black/brown area, said white person is there to score drugs. POC standing on a corner or a group of young ppl hanging around are suspicious or worse, a gang. Police were used to reinforce the status quo...racial segregation.
I think this, very VERY slowly starting to change; however, this is the mindset of many, many police officers. This is how they think when they hit the streets, so to speak. And of course, there is the mindset that black ppl "look" suspicious. Black/brown ppl are always viewed as "other"; we can't possibly be law abiding citizens. We are always about to do something horrible.
12
Like other commenters here, I recommend the documentary "Crime + Punishment." I'll add that it's available to stream on Hulu.
3
This is nothing new racism is alive and well in New York as well as the rest of this country it's just now social media has allowed others to become more aware... Not that anyone's going to do anything about it..
8
Yet another article on racism within NYPD shallow blue wall. More arrest for black/hispanic will indeed keep them from competing in the labor force. Giving a pass to the OTHERS, well I'll just say it certainly bolsters the mass shooters. Just leave them alone say NYPD.
4
Why haven’t this officer been fired?
8
This is what we mean by white privilege. Part of having white privilege means you won't be targeted by explicitly racist police policies. Must be nice.
23
This is not surprising at all.
5
Can we please stop tiptoeing around the real issue? A young male black or Hispanic turnstile-jumper is statistically more likely to have a warrant, a weapon, or drugs. These statistics are widely accepted and based on victim reporting (not just arrests).
Police have limited resources and time, they can't arrest everyone. So they have to use statistics and demographics to be productive. You want the same number of police patrolling Lincoln Center as the south Bronx? It might make you feel good but it's stupid.
Every fare beater should be ticketed or arrested, but arresting the two Chinese ladies who stuff themselves into one turnstile doesn't make the subway any safer. Here's an idea. Pay your fare and follow the rules of the subway and that way you don't have to worry about who got caught and who got away with it.
42
@Max yes, everyone should obey the law. It’s unlawful to discriminate based solely on race. But that doesn’t matter to you?
16
You should not have published his name. Trump might nominate him to a cabinet position.
18
These accusations of racial profiling by the NYPD are consistent with the history of that police department. Of course, the police always deny the accusations but everyone knows that they are true. And then we wonder why so many unarmed black men are killed by police. The police have already dehumanized them.
17
As a former prosecutor and criminal defense Attorney, I ask a very simple question. Does this article and its facts actually surprise anyone? If it does, then I believe with my 33 years experience in criminal law that you have been living under a rock.
19
Hard to believe in this day and age. Where is the proof?
5
For 12 years, I took the number 2/3 train to and from the Wall Street Station every week day. Over that period, I saw many white males jump/slip through the turnstiles there.
Not once ever did I see one being pulled aside by law enforcement.
Most bemusing were the days when, either before or after having been exposed to a Wall Street jumper, there’d be one or multiple black men, not infrequently, HANDCUFFED, at my Utica Avenue “A” Train home station, for the same infraction.
Always a head-shaker.
30
This must stop. We must all fight to stop this.
6
I wonder how much of this is reflected in AG Barr's recent comments on how those who do not respect the police may lose their "services".
4
Not surprised at all. I realize this won't change anything, or change any minds. White people are at best oblivious, but in my experience, tacitly supportive of police racism.
7
It wasn't until I had people of color in my family that I recognized the constant fear felt by so many of these upstanding citizens. Thank you to those who had the courage to bring this complaint and the NYT for publishing this article.
20
So here's an unofficial and completely undocumented assessment of fare evasion: I have been taking the subway regularly, commuting uptown and back for 25 years. I have seen many people, mostly men, jumping the turnstiles. Never has one of those evaders been white or asian. Not one. I am not a believer that all races are equally guilty and only some are targeted by police. My one man survey stands.
36
Thank you for your completely unscientific anecdote. It should be noted that there are plenty of other minor offenses besides jumping turnstiles. Also, I took the NYC subway every day for almost 11 years and never noticed ANYONE jumping the turnstile. Does this mean it never happened?
19
We should all remember where this came from. Michael Bloomberg, who only very recently, because he wants to be president, is pretending he's seen the light. I can't imagine how he could survive the debates, where he can't just ignore the most pertinent questions about his life and what he did with it.
6
I was just reminded while watching MSNBC that Bloomberg also blocked the exoneration and payment of The Central Park 5. They didn't get their justice, not that it made up for what they lost, until Bill de Blasio came to office.
15
I see two worrying facts here: The first (and most troubling) is race-based law enforcement, AKA racial profiling, an outgrowth of racism - and that doesn't and shouldn't fly, ever, period. Whatever happened to striving for "equal justice under law"? I hope the State AG, Ms. James and her office investigates this thoroughly. Selective policing is fundamentally wrong and corrosive to our justice system.
Lastly, as a fare-paying subway rider, I don't care what color or gender someone has, but if they don't pay the fare, it hurts the rest of us who do.
7
As the police officers allegedly yelled at Abner Louima as they tortured him in 2005, "it's Giuliani time!" Or "it's Trump time!"
New York City, like California, thinks it can be immune from the cancerous bigotry and racism that have swept over the U.S. in the past few years. It has not.
The world knows you for what you are now.
4
Just saying, the majority of those who jump the turnstiles are black and Hispanic men. Women are a bit rarer, and typically only teenagers. If the officers want their quotas, they have to look the population that is most likely to give it to them. Easy fix? Install full body length turnstiles- like revolving doors. You cannot get through without breaking the mechanism, which is hard without special tools. Do that, and watch fare evasion drop faster than your favorite MC’s microphone.
40
@Waleed Khalid An even easier fix - train police to focus on actual crime rather than meeting "quotas". And transform public transportation into a truly public service, not one based on an individual's ability to pay. Kansas City is transforming its public transit system to be free for residents. Hopefully other cities won't be far behind.
35
The MTA is already deep in the red, how would making it free to use help the gaping deficit?
14
@Waleed Khalid
Per the article when Officer Diaz was arresting Asian-American citizens for cheating turnstiles he was told to stop doing that and focus on Black and Hispanic men.
That is textbook uneven enforcement of the law based on race bias. Assume that only Black and Hispanic people do something and only look at Black and Hispanic people. Voila! You will only find Black and Hispanic lawbreakers, thus confirming your bias.
Additionally Black people were arrested where whites or Asians were given tickets or warnings.
33
The problem is I don't trust the Black officers anymore than I do their superior officers. Biden has recently been forced to apologies for saying Booker was "well spoken." Am I racist for saying Trump is inarticulate? Is saying one White person speaks poorly implying that all Whites speak well? The truth about crime is that Black youth commit petty and violent crime at higher rates than Whites or Asians. This is especially true in NYC where the vast majority of low income Whites have left. The crime is not about race but culture and poverty. Some times people just don't want to admit the truth. That said, I don't trust the police leadership and wouldn't be surprised what the Black officers said was absolutely true.
9
People very often speak of black on black crime; I hear less of black on black enforcement.
We've been treated to many instances in media videos of enforcers of color subduing suspects of color; unattractive optics.
Man or woman, going against your own people rankles.
The temptation could be to put a finger in the eye of the bosses by hassling some not of one's own immediate brotherhood.
Now that statute of limitation laws have been found malleable, lawyers and plaintiffs appear poised for a new golden age.
Yet, obviously there are those who, in a very tough occupation, have not decided to make this their issue; they carry their burden, who knows why.
Whatever their reason, many are lifted by that.
1
There was a time in my life when I was addicted and homeless. I saw first hand how when police did sweeps they'd ignore me because I'm white. It wasn't until I left NYC and was living in Palm Springs that I was stopped, searched and arrested. There were no black or brown people in the area where I was picked up.
Sometimes one hears the term white privilege and you think but I'm not from a rich family, I'm struggling to get by, what privilege? And then you realize it's basic things like not having cops look at you and say let's shake this tree and see what falls out, and then when nothing turns up they arrest you for resisting arrest because one cop knocks you off balance into the other cop who says you attacked him. White privilege is not getting arrested for doing wrong. It doesn't feel like much unless you're not afforded it.
371
@Christopher: Sorry for what you went through. And thank you for offering a brutally honest, straightforward and humanistic take on what happens.
52
Is this why the republicans are not attacking police unions the same way they attack other public employee unions? The police unions are supporting bigots and racism.
15
Sad, but not surprising at all. This is just another example of the heinous treatment of those in the Black and Brown community by some racist cops. This real issue is the systemic nature of this atrocity and the reality that nothing has changed much over the years. As a public school History teacher, I'm using this article in my US History classes to demonstrate - once again - how the USA experiment continues to fail for non-White Americans.
6
This is a perfect system for producing self-fulfilling race-based data. "Look at all these black and brown people being arrested. Black and brown people must have innate criminal tendencies." And, really, isn't a Deputy Inspector considered Management? Why would he be in a union?
8
They have their own union. Sergeants/inspectors are in a different union than patrol officers.
Again! Hispanic is not a race. It is a linguistic group. Many Hispanics are black.
13
In my brief (one year) experience working as a civilian ID technician with an urban police dept, I experienced the exact opposite of what this article tries to tell.
They have their truth. I have my truth.
10
As a New Yorker born and bred, this observation:
For every white man I've seen littering or urinating in public, I've seen 10 "black or brown" men doing same. I have seen only black men jumping subway turnstiles.
Perhaps it's my neighborhood.
At the same time, now that I'm older and grayer, a lot of black and brown youngsters give me their seat in the train, more so than whites.
On the whole, I'll take New York. I don't know how much of this article is actually true. Some, I'm sure.
19
Most people are not surprised. I have stated numerous times that arrest and incarceration statistics do not reflect who does the crimes. Those statistics reflect how law enforcement and prosecutors uphold racism with selective enforcement.
Sadly politicians and the media are complicit. This has long been known, protested and ignored. It took a lawsuit to garner some publicity. Still you don't see the same level of outrage as I have seen over the arrest of illegal immigrants.
I don't have an issue with enforcement. People shouldn't be jumping turnstiles or peddling food without a license. I have a problem with racist selective enforcement.
190
Excellent analysis.
8
@Hellen
Crime statistics are also based on victims' reporting, not just arrests. Those reports confirm the street criminals are disproportionately black and brown. Victims (usually black or brown themselves) want the perpetrators caught, so they have no reason to lie.
13
It’s been an open secret the NYPD is racist and has no interest in change. De Blasio turned out to become a wet noodle when he campaigned on large reform of the police. Whoever the next mayoral candidates are, they won’t have my vote unless systemic change with sincere ideas are a part of their platform. No more deaths like Eric Garner’s, no more profiling, no more quality of life harassment.
15
Living in this city, I have witnessed crimes commited by different groups but yet officers do not arrest and show extreme leniancy. It's a pattern that is definitely a fact. For example If you have 10 bank robbers but choose only to arrest 4 because of race that's a problem.
10
It's appauling how evil the NYPD can be. Aren't they supposed to look after us and ensure our safety as civilians in this city?Especially with the fact that it is one of the most diverse cities in the entire world. Tsachas must be fired immediately. Shame on you Tsachas... Shame on you.
18
As a Black female, I can relate to this. Previously, I wore my hair in long braids. No problem. However, the instant I changed my hair to an afro, the cops stopped me for NOT walking on the sidewalk. To stay alive and not end up shot and dead, I kept cool. I telephoned the precinct to report that I had been racially profiled. Until these harassing departments and officers are personally held liable, nothing no will change.
37
So even high ranking police Captains at NYPD get to stay in their attack-dog police union? Amazing. Is Police Chief Bratton a uniion man too?
11
4 percent of USA population is aged 14-40 but responsible for 57 percent of violent crime in USA, National Bureau of Crime Statistics
6
@ABC I question your sources given the Census shows 27% of US population is 20-40 years old.
5
Inspector Tsachas should be fired! His behavior is disgusting. Whatever his ethnicity, he clearly harbors a racial bias and has spread it throughout the system. Cleverly, he knew how to play the game and fooled those who needed to be fooled. Shame on the NYPD for not picking up on this sooner. And bravo to those officers who came forward.
16
@Rachel, Fast. He is using a lawful position to make unlawful arrests.
9
[[The officers claim they faced retaliation from the New York Police Department because they objected to what they said was a longstanding quota system for arrests and tickets, which they argued mainly affected black and Hispanic New Yorkers.]]
Pay your fare and you have nothing to worry about.
14
@Third.Coast,
You gave a reason why Whites and Asians should be arrested. When they don't pay, no arrests are made.
18
I am white. I live in a very diverse neighborhood and work in a very white borough about 15 minutes away. Whenever I pass an officer who has pulled someone over in the overwhelmingly white neighborhood, they are inevitably brown skinned. It's become an embarrassment. As I pull past the stopped cars, I find myself repeating "please dont be black please dont be black". But they always are.
28
@steelpenn
I am white, and also live in a very diverse neighborhood. The person who battered me at a train station, the one who committed a home invasion at my father's residence, the one who cut my in-laws' bike chain, have all been black males.
23
@Eye by the Sea
I live in a diverse neighborhood and the biggest wave of criminals, committing various crimes, are young white junkies. We all know and have sometimes witnessed their crimes. Everyone is disgusted with these junkies from wealthy families who get sympathy from the police and prosecutors. Disgusting.
32
Besides the obvious racism ordered by the police command everyone seemed to mis the part about their being a quota to be met, something police departments always deny, because it is illegal.
I got justly stopped by a cop for driving like a jerk and deserved a ticket but didn’t get one. Want to know why? I’m white and 64.
32
There are many other arrest-able and ticket-able offenses that are typically ignored in favor of targeting young black and brown men, whom we, as a county, are continually conditioned to be afraid and suspicious of. How about we crack down on all those nice people with their Starbucks cups:
(f) No person shall bring or carry onto a conveyance any liquid in an open container.
Or maybe people and their dogs:
(h) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, no person may bring any animal on or into any conveyance or facility unless enclosed in a container and carried in a manner which would not annoy other passengers.
These are cut and pasted directly from the MTA Rules of Conduct page. http://web.mta.info/nyct/rules/rules.htm
I know, I get it, fare evasion drives fares up because not everyone is paying equally for their rides, but maybe instead of adding 500 police officers to the payroll, we should be helping people out of poverty or educating them as to how their actions have larger repercussions instead of demonizing and criminalizing them.
13
It's easier and safer on average for cops to arrest individuals of some races than of others, so it's not unreasonable for their supervisors to warn them to spend more time in the more dangerous parts of town.
According to a 2011 Obama Administration report from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Homicide Trends In The United States, 1980-2008:"
"Blacks were disproportionately represented as both homicide victims and offenders. ... The offending rate for blacks (34.4 per 100,000) was almost 8 times higher than the rate for whites (4.5 per 100,000)."
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf
10
@Steve Sailer If the data is manipulated, then the results are worthless.
15
@Bellstar Mason
@Bellstar Mason, if your mind is closed, then the facts don’t matter.
3
Simple - place the turnstiles - all of them - under surveillance, record the race of the jumpers and average.
15
I doubt this is unique to the NYC force. Civilian police forces have gradually been militarized, and along with racist views, do no justice for many in minority communities.
83
@Me
Whether unique or not, it shouldn't happen.
3
Humans, a natural being, have a tendency to follow the path of least resistance. It is just that the soft targets, Russians and Chinese mentioned here, are offering less resistance, for many different reasons, to officers' ticketing. Left alone, one could fear, the police officers could go after the perceived soft targets more to fill the daily ticket quotas than the perceived hard targets. This might have been the reasoning of or what Inspector Tsachas actually saw happening as a supervisor.
Regardless, let not be so quick in calling one a racist.
5
Your comment couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is classifying “soft targets” and “hard targets” is discrimination in and of itself. The officers don’t know anything about the riders other than their skin color. Tsachas is literally quoted saying to stop black and brown men even if they didn’t do anything wrong and run their id for warrants or misdemeanors. He didn’t say to stop Whites or Asians but rather go after Blacks and Hispanics. Of course there is gonna be resistance when there is a system of over policing towards minorities. Tsachas is a racist and the entire police system needs an overhaul
22
This comment makes no sense and is steeped in racism. and prejudice, just like the Inspector's actions. Labeling "white" and "Asians" as soft targets and "black" and "latiinos" as "hard" targets is based on a racist belief that only the black and brown people will commit another crime. And I notice that white people are more concerned about being called racist than about the effects of their racist acts. Don't do racist things and then you will not be called racist, duh.
7
I think that there are a number of factors at work here.
First, it is significant, and a tribute to New York City, that these officers have come forward and expect a fair hearing.
Second, it would be remarkable if all precinct commanders were unbiased This story is about roughly 1% of the city's precinct commanders (77 area precincts + transit precincts and housing precincts). Unfortunately, they are not.
On the other hand, a Borough commander whom I know (an Assistant Chief - 2 stars) refers to the people who live in the area that he commands as his constituents - and he is white and most of his constituents are African American.
Finally, at a meeting with police commissioner O'Neil, where most of the constituents were African American. the call was for more enforcement, especially of the minor crimes and offenses that typically result in a summons.
9
These officers coming forward are heros and should be lauded. This is how things change. Thank you Lt Raymond and others.
24
Of course this is disturbing, and if true, the allegations against the Inspector are intolerable.
But let's not forget that the NYPD has done a herculean job of reducing crime, city-wide, since 1990 when homicides in the City numbered nearly 2300. Last year, 2018, there were less than 300 homicides. In all, there have been thousands fewer homicide victims over the last 30 years. many of whom, would HAVE BEEN black and brown.
In the year 2000, nearly 185,000 New Yorkers were vicitms of the seven major felony crimes. Last year that number was around 95,000. Once again, there have been tens of thousands of fewer violent crime victims in the the last 20 years. many of whom, would HAVE BEEN black and brown.
Holding the NYPD accountable for intolerable practices is a must.
But when will we stand up and take notice of their incredible efforts and accomplishments?
I refuse to allow the actions of a few tarnish the efforts of the men and women of the NYPD.
10
@Robert Cacciatore
If tactics coincide with or even probably reduce crime, it does not follow that they are constitutional, fair or wise.
As an extreme example, Thanos had a plan that would have almost certainly reduced crime, along with pollution, global warming, resource scarcity, etc.
4
@Robert Cacciatore
On second reading, I agree with more than I saw at first. I must take exception to the “few bad apples” angle, however.
It seems like every cop knows the score on the required, unconstitutional behavior. It seems like swimming against the tide is generally regarded as career suicide. It seems like the most vocal of the rank and file hate the idea of constitutional policing.
From what you say, I think you agree with me that if they scrupulously respected everyone’s rights, while being tough as nails when necessary, they would be even more successful.
The officers who are suing will only find true justice through a cash payment.
8
This goes on all the time in Texas. If you see a DPS officer searching a car he pulled over, 9 times out of 10 it is a black or Hispanic driver.
14
Look at it this way. If African American and white use of illegal drugs is at similar levels, as many studies show (Latino lower), then presumably there are thousands of white illegal drug users who are not being arrested in a city where blacks make up only 25% of the population. Just uphold the law, as many commenters have noted.
18
@Sean
Drug users are not prosecuted; drug sellers are. The sellers, who account for much of the violence in their minority neighborhoods, then take a plea and are sentenced as users.
Then authors and NY Times articles tell gullible readers that the prisons are filled with non-violent black and brown drug users.
1
Nauseating. I saw a special on PBS about some very courageous black and brown officers who were suing the PD about this very issue. They are courageous for stepping forward and hopefully their suit will lead to changes and the bigoted inspector should find another career. Shouldn’t be on the NYC payroll.
25
This is an example of how racism is a self-fulfilling belief. Proportionally, black/brown people are over-policed for wrongdoing (NOTE - not over-protected by police), so proportionally more are arrested, leading to statistics showing higher crime rates in black/brown communities, leading to racist conclusions based on statistics. One wonders what the statistics would be like if every white person abusing opioids and smoking dope in this country were arrested and jailed; would we then conclude that whites have a higher propensity for drug addiction? N.b., I am white.
223
@MSC
Agreed.
Here’s how it typically works:
0. Know that blacks and Hispanics are more criminal than whites and Asians.
1. Support police avoiding arresting/ticketing white people and Asians even when officers witness violations.
2. Support police leadership enforcing artificial quotas on black and Hispanic arrests/ticketing violations.
3. Use the resulting arrest/ticketing data to prove to doubters that the unquestionable premise (point 0) was correct. Stubbornly refuse to subject this circularity to any normal logical analysis.
4. If anyone dares bring up logic, fairness, constitutionality, honestly or decency, call them elitist and naive. Explain that people should be evaluated as group members, and punishment meted out accordingly.
5. If anyone mentions racism, deny that there is such a thing (outside of klan or nazi membership, physical participation in a lynching, or use of the n word).
6. Know with unshakable certainty that the criminal justice system is fair 99.99999999% of the time, and that quotas on citing/arresting blacks and Hispanics actually help them. (For extra credit, site examples of black and Hispanic individuals who agree.)
7. Be surprised that everyone cannot see the wisdom and justice of this position.
43
@MSC
And it is amazing how the exact same self-fulfilling belief occurs in Canada, in the UK, in France.....
11
@SteveRR
Scientists in varying countries routinely replicate each other’s results. Is that surprising?
If you have identical or similar input, you are likely to have identical or similar output.
Racism against blacks is global, virulent and old.
It’s better than it has been, and there are certainly people who try to use it as an excuse for their personal failures, but it is still a strong factor in many people’s lived experiences.
Those who deny it are almost without exception willfully blind. Or worse.
34
Appalling. Glad these individuals are filing a suit.
10
This is capitalism. The foundation of modern policing was to protect private property and/or the institution of slavery.
Today, it runs under the guise of "protect and serve," but in reality, as NYC and other cities continues to gentrify, developers (whether implicitly or explicitly) weaponize police departments to harass black & brown people in working class communities to signal to potential buyers/renters that these neighborhoods are safe. Property values in turn rise as waves of wealthy, white yuppies flock into these areas.
For anyone concerned by problematic police behavior and unpacking our increasingly-militarized police state, look into CPAC -- Civilian Accountability Accountability Council -- to put control back into the people's hands!
99
Time to have the NYPD governed by a citizens board. An organization can never police its own. People doing their jobs have nothing to fear.
123
All the more reason that police departments need to answer to the non-police entities who fund their activities.
123
Some commentors completely missed the point of the article. Crimes are committed by all races but Enforcement is different based on race. Of course the stats will support the racial discrepancy if you charge the black people but let white/Asian people go. You create the unfair narrative that you use to justify injustice.
327
@Peter Jenkins
So, during the height of the drug wars in the 80s and early 90s, you're saying that the murder rate in the Upper East and Upper West Sides was just as high as in the South Bronx, and all the statistics that show the opposite were just the product of discriminatory policing?
37
@Mike
Don't you ever get tired of building straw men?
@Peter Jenkins said nothing of the sort.
Let's make this very simple.
A white man, an Asian man , and a Black man all jump the turnstile at different times. None of them have criminal records.
The police catch them all. Because they KNOW what order their boss, Inspector Tsachas has given them, they let the white man and Asian man off with a warning. But they arrest the Black man.
That is racism. Period.
149
@Lilo
Agreed.
The Fourteenth Amendment doesn’t get enough respect.
Law enforcement must be based on behavior.
Race based law enforcement is unconstitutional.
Full stop.
33
Stories like these make me think about my privilege as a black woman. While being black rarely comes with social capital (one just has to read the article on Long Island's widespread real estate racism to understand), I know that I've received more of a pass in society than my three brothers. I never had encounters with law enforcement or other authority figures, but my brothers seemed to naturally attract their attention, despite the fact that we grew up in an economically secure, two-parent middle-class home. Our father "didn't take no mess", so the issue of absentee male leadership was nonexistent for us. My brothers were tall, handsome, good students and captains of the basketball and football teams. We all graduated from college.
The police still harassed them. They've been stopped without justification. Interrogated on the spot. Bent over squad cars. Forced to keep their cool in the face of white cops with less education and more mental baggage. Today my brothers are security and corrections professionals, and exposed daily to the racial abuses their predominantly white colleagues level against black inmates. The fascination with black males' genitals is a common theme that sickens them, an idea straight from the heart of Jim Crow. They tolerate the dehumanization for the financial stability of their families.
Racist authority mixed with a gun is a toxic brew black males must drink to survive. Being a woman is not easy, but being them feels impossible.
276
The blatant racism in the comments on this story are mind-blowing. How did NYC get it's reputation as a progressive city?
56
@Sparky. This is the undercurrent, the stuff beneath the surface that has always existed - may always exist - that has given us the man who’d shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue, in broad daylight, and get away with it.
6
This is disgusting. I’m sorry, I’m just too upset at the level of injustice here, especially because it’s seemingly happening in my own backyard.
I live in South Brooklyn, by the N line, most likely in the neighborhood written about here. We are ethnically diverse and generally not super high income: immigrants, the elderly, young people who aren’t coasting on trust funds... The subways, frankly, should be free to everyone who lives this far from Manhattan because they are constantly under construction/not running/delayed/rerouted/whatever. The MTA does not seem to care about us out here because we’re not the rich mostly-white hipsters of Williamsburg or Greenpoint. Case in point: the N line was shut down for a majority of South Brooklyn stops for roughly 4 or 5 years total (first southbound, then northbound). We got nothing in the way of shuttle buses or anything to make our lives easier— we either had to walk to a further-away station (and my neighborhood has a lot of elderly people and families with small children, for whom this would be difficult) or go past our stop and then take a train going the opposite direction, adding a long time onto our commutes. Meanwhile, people who take the L train get a shutdown avoided, they get buses...they get CONSIDERED.
The MTA (and the crooked cop in this article) only considers minority and low-income people when they’re easy targets for ticket revenue, apparently.
50
It’s pretty obvious that the commander has a problem. In the police it’s effectively undercuts the statistics coming in making them useless.
Fire the commander.
25
It sounds like the cops of color who are bringing this suit were not meeting their arrest quotas because they were spending their time in low-crime areas. The question for trial, not answered in this article, is whether their supervisor was discriminating against people of color, or whether the cops were discriminating in favor of people of color.
10
@Richard
Hold up a minute - if the cops are patrolling streets, period, and both sets of people are committing the same crimes -- but the commander explicitly tells them to avoid one type of person and directly pursue another, that is then the cops' fault?
Really???
18
Read again for comprehension.
9
@Richard
Actually, "the question for trial" in this article *is* answered (at least if you bother to read the article) --> from the article itself --> "Mr. Diaz, who retired from the Police Department last year, described in his affidavit how on one occasion then-Captain Tsachas seemed irritated at him for having stopped several Asian people for fare evasion and told him he should be issuing tickets to “more black and Hispanic people.”"-- This is *one* example, so re-read or stop discussing this issue as you're not arguing in good faith.
11
These Black and Hispanic officers who have come forward and exposed this behavior have my respect and sympathy. But they are disclosing what we all already know. The NYPD has a race problem and the law is not enforced fairly or equitably if you have dark skin. A Black or Brown man is not "hunted" by the police if he is on the force and in uniform. But what transpires when he removes the uniform and tries to live a civilian life off duty? He then in all likelihood becomes the hunted as well. This is a solvable problem. Do we as a country and a society have the decency and courage to solve it?
154
This is the most disgusting story about racism that is still very alive and well in this very racist country we live in !!! Our police departments are a great example of a how racism works in America. Our jails are full of black and brown men and women for very minor crimes, while white criminals walk the streets !!!
21
Sounds like the culture of stop and frisk remains in New York police.
Are you sure you want Bloomberg making future SCOTUS and lower court appointments? In addition to not liking the Second Amendment, the Fourth and Fifth were not his favorites either.
20
"Six officers said in their affidavits that Mr. Tsachas, now a deputy inspector, pressured them to enforce low-level violations against black and Hispanic people, while discouraging them from doing the same to white or Asian people."
No one is above OR BELOW the law. High level or low level. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. The Law has no color. Prosecution has no color. You have no color if justice is blind.
6
Every 10 years or so a few brave officers band together and try to fight institutional racism rampant in our police department. That racism is likely proportional to societal averages, but we hold our law enforcement officers to higher standards of conduct, as we should. Eventually, the department finds insidious ways to punish all those who raise their voices...the worst assignments, demoralizing write-ups, loss of pensions or denials of promotions, the most dangerous shifts, etc.
It is usually works.
The voices are silenced, the brass make a public statement about how the issues have been dealt with and the police return to 'normalized' racist behavior. I hope this time will be the exception that proves the rule, but I don't hold out too much hope.
23
I cannot tell you the number of times I've seen people get on a bus via the back door--and not a Select bus.
And the vast majority have not been white nor Asian.
61
@Talbot
Just for the record, since we're discussing anecdotes, I take the bus routinely and I *haven't* seen more than the occasional person trying to slip through the back door. Generally drivers just tell people who do try the dastardly act of sneaking on to just use their metro card--the drivers aren't oblivious, they just aren't. And this is all kinds of people--to a great extent just depends on where you are at the time.
17
Do you know what anecdotal means?
6
@Talbot
Since so many minority male riders don't have the ability to pay fares they should just stop having them. The cost financially and politically of collecting and enforcement is too much. Another option would be to issue no cost fare cards to blacks and hispanics as a kind of reparation for slavery.
1
Good for these officers for reporting these
reprehensible actions, I am sure it took a lot
of courage.
30
One of the (many) issues here is that people have rights. People have a right to equal protection under the law. Constitutional rights be a secondary consideration in police policy.
Whatever the data, the policy of targeting any racial group is untenable. It could be the case that ALL the crime in New York is committed by racial group X, but targeting racial group X for fare jumping over other groups would still violate equal protection.
The US guarantees rights. We do ourselves and our country a disservice in turning a blind eye when police or other government agencies violate them in the name of public safety.
13
The article says that putting more police in the subways criminalizes poverty. No, putting more police in the subway protects the public from those who do not want to obey the law. It is very simple - pay the fare, follow the rules, and you won't have a problem.
49
@John Farrell Did you read the rest of the article? The police are literally declining to take action against some people who are not obeying the law...based on what they look like.
68
@John Farrell
Reading is apparently not your strong suit.
If an Asian or White person breaks the law, the police command has made it very clear that they do NOT want them arrested.
If a Black or Hispanic person breaks the law the police command has made it very clear they they DO want them arrested.
The determining factor in arrest is not who breaks the law, but race.
25
@John Farrell in the US we cut funding for the IRS so it can’t go after fat cat tax cheats (mostly white), and we increase policing of blacks and latinos saving five bucks by jumping a turnstile. It seems only some people are asked to follow the rules ...
18
You want to know how many times I've jumped the turnstile? A lot. You want to know how many times I've been caught? Not once. You want to know how many problems an arrest would have caused me? Plenty. Guess what I look like and THEN do the math.
56
@Christian...
I can remember when I lived on the upper East side in New York City in the late 198O's. I used to go to a local park to buy a dime bag of marijuana most nights after getting off work.
One night as I approached the park I was told by a White cop not to enter it as there was going to be a bust.
I have always assumed that I would not have received this warning had I not been White.
39
@Christian Good for you. But for those of us who pay the subway fare (and have to pay more because people like you don't pay your share), I wouldn't mind seeing all fare evaders aggressively prosecuted.
30
@Christian
Jumping turnstile making you feel proud?
9
To be fair, what do crime statistics say about who commits the most crime, both violent and non-violent? The police give extra scrutiny to the neighborhoods and groups where crime is high. I don’t blame them. That’s how you keep a city safe. The Upper East Side doesn’t need an intensive police presence for a reason.
83
@CP Not true, there are no police presence where the crime is "high" unless they are there post activity. If they were in these neighborhoods doing their jobs of protecting those whose crimes are only to be poor and do not have any other options than to live in those neighborhoods, there would be less crime to report for statistical purposes. How is that fair? So you mean the police commissioner's job is to keep the city safe for white and asian people only?
67
@CP This is an example of idiot logic. If you patrol one place more than another doesn't that mean you are more likely to "find" crime? In this case the saying that there are lies, damn lies and statistics seems to hold true. If you are looking to confirm your bias then you are no doubt going to find it, esp. if you have the power to decide who is arrest/ticketed and harassed vs. those who are not.
57
@CP ,
Though I believe your sincerity, I think it sounds a bit racist.
Just sayin'...
And, kind of like the Ed Begley character in 12 Angry Men.
16
I lived in NYC and rode the subways for nine long years. Every time I, or someone on my train, was accosted it was a person of color.
Is it profiling or responding to reality?
56
@Ed Watters
Every person who ever discriminated against me because of my race was white. So I should assume all white people are racist, yes?
20
@Ed Watters
And yet:
1) there are others in the comments with the same anecdotes, except for them it wasn't people of color.
2) the article specifically states that the officers were explicit told to back off from Asians and Whites committing the same crimes.
Is it profiling or responding to reality?
9
@Lilo Poor analogy, but I understand your trouble with my comments. I'm troubled by that viewpoint but, as you can see from the other comments, I'm not the only one.
3
Seems as long as you meet your stats quota that blatant racism, both toward civilians and cops alike, is just fine with the NYPD bosses. If it weren’t this Deputy Inspector would be patrolling pizza joints on Staten Island, on foot.
The easiest way to know the allegations are true is to understand that they were brought by fellow cops - something that rarely happens due to the backlash such generates. This isn’t likely isolated just to this guy but dealing with him first would serve as a heads-up to others afflicted by the same ugly perspective.
That said, it’s still best if the US Attorney for the Eastern District gets involved and does its own investigation - as it’s abundantly clear that the NYPD could care less.
Bill DeBlasio - THIS is ok with you - is this what you mean by community policing?
25
The motivation may have been to give preferential treatment to certain groups in the area he was in charge of. This has the consequence of punishing every other group to keep overall statistics within expectations to avoid scrutiny or the appearance of ineffective leadership.
There is his defense - he's no bigot, he's just corrupt. I guess it is up to the reader to decide which is worse.
6
So, remnants of Bloomberg's unconstitutional and racist stop and frisk policy still survive. Bloomberg apologized for show because he's running for president, but apology not accepted - he's still a racist with no respect for human rights as described in the US Constitution. Now he thinks he can buy the presidency.
29
@Mike F.
He is the last guy I want making judicial appointments. He has no respect for the Bill of Rights or the 14th Amendment.
3
@Sven
I'm sorry - where was it found to be fully constitutional? I'm reading that NYC actually ended up modifying the policy in 2014.
8
@Sven
That is not true. In US District Court (Floyd v. City of New York, 2013), Judge Scheindlin ruled against the City, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, finding that the NYPD practice to that point was a violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as various statutes and the New York state constitution.
8
When galleries in Chelsea first appeared so did the police. They'd wait till about 3 or 4 would be outside the door with plastic cups of wine, show badges and ask for ID disappearing with everyone's wallets for up to an hour and a half coming back with no complaints, just "a judge lives down the street and says he doesn't like galleries".
Yeah, I saw them give back the wallets, but what they were doing with them for an hour and half, only they know.
8
Just make the subway free already. It is better for the climate. pollution and congestion. Just police it for disruptive behaviour like any other public place but stop criminalizing turnstile jumpers.
31
The thing to understand is that the MTA is essentially as close to free as it can get. It is heavily subsidized, so people who can’t pay the measly (and yes it is measly unless you are homeless, and most fare dodgers are not homeless) fare hurt every single person who pays their share. For reference, I can go from east brooklyn to queens ( a trip that would take about 2 hours since there is no train that directly connects brooklyn and queens) for only $2.75. The bus from where I live to NYC costs $9.25 for a one way ticket and the travel time is shorter. Not to mention the bus only comes every hour. I pay several times as much for the NJT than I do for the MTA and still the MTA gives so much more value. If I wanted to transfer buses I would need a separate ticket for NJT. For the MTA I get a free transfer from the train to the bus or from a bus to another bus. Again so much more value. It grinds my gears when people dodge the fare because it is so worth it.
17
@JDK
My experience riding the Los Angeles metro for many years is that the vast majority of disruptive behavior is caused by those who don't pay their fare. Keep them out, and the problem is prevented.
15
“Most of the people arrested on charges of fare evasion in New York are black or Hispanic, according to data the Police Department has been required to report under local law since 2017.”
Could this possibly be because most of the people committing the fare evasion are black or Hispanic? Not everything is a racist conspiracy, and there are two sides to every story.
46
@NCJ Did you read the article? It said that officers were told NOT to arrest white or Asian people for fare evasion. It’s disingenuous to rely on those stats to make any claims about who is committing the act more often as long as only a certain group is subject to punishment.
27
If you read the article the police were instructed to ignore whites and Asians who broke the law but instead focus on Blacks and Brown people. That is racist and skewed the statistics.
26
New YorKKK City. This is why the term "people of color" is not helpful; Asians have never experienced the same kind of discrimination as Black people have in this country, and I am rather certain the targeting of Hispanics was limited to non-White Hispanics.
29
I wouldn't say ACAB but enough CAB that policing should be radically, radically overhauled. Like raise requirements and severely restrict hiring of veterans. And no more than 25% white males on any given force because we are objectively the worst people.
5
I’m not white...but I do not like that say that. Never blame the majority based on the few- it’s how dictators gain and abuse power. Instead, it’s better to just hire qualified people.
@MAC I do not think there should be any white males on the police force, or for that matter, even living in the city. It will make the "hunting" easier, or harder, as "hunting" should be, after all, that is why they do not call it "finding".
Of course. Is anyone surprised?
8
The reasoning, at least in part, behind enforcing low level crimes is to create police contact that may uncover people with outstanding warrants or who are suspects in other crimes. Anecdotally from stories in the Times, Gothamist, Post, etc, it seems that a disproportionate amount of perps are Black or Hispanic, and furthermore, it's certainly true that there are more Black and Hispanic gangs or "crews" than there are white or Asian gangs. This seems like smart policing...
14
@Jon P The Mafia only hires whites and only accepts Italians for membership. How often do we ever hear of young Italian men being singled out for harassment by police?
10
For public servants of safety, those we all pay to protect our rights, blatenly targeting and overlooking groups based on age and ethnicity is and will always be wrong. This is a moral and ethics issue. Anyone asking for "arrest statistics" need to pay more attention. Understand the realization of police profiling and citation target goals. The goodness you know doesn't always transfer to your neighbor and your hate doesn't mean anyone hates you.
5
This is not a surprise to Black , Latino and POC. We have been saying this for decades. The Media who also participates in the racism of NYPD (how they print crimes of only Blacks & Latino only) knows this to be true. This is another woke moment for majority White folks and defenders of racist police departments. I'll also say this is not limited to NYPD either, it's a nationwide practice.
17
"How shocking!" said no one who is Black or brown for the past 50+ yrs.
48
Inspector Tsachas should have been fired not promoted. These officers seem to forget that Blacks and Hispanics pay their salaries too and expect equal treatment under the law.
32
"Soft targets"? What an odd construction. If your goal is strictly to meet your quota, why WOULDN'T you go after the "soft targets"? Clearly there was another agenda at work.
23
To those who have commented and expressed their belief that police arresting only black and Hispanic people is totally justified because "statistically" people of those races commit more crimes:
The obvious result of is that if you are only arresting people of color in neighborhoods where they predominate, and you deliberately avoid arresting people who are white or Asian, then by definition you are not only ignoring reality but also vastly skewing statistics. You are creating a false statistical result.
And especially, you are, by definition, being racist.
101
As long as the perpetrator isn't Donald Trump, it's telling how many "Readers Pick" Times commentators parrot the talking points of Trump and his PBA / Archie Bunker pals whenever the topic is race or immigration. Malcolm X had it right when he once wrote that the Mason-Dixon line runs along the Canadian border.
28
Stop and frisk white men and women in Soho on Friday and Saturday night for great nose treats.
29
And the republicans tell us that racism does not exist? Sure!!!
17
Does this really need to be a headline - isnt it obvious - why would anybody have to tell police to look at black and hispanics more for subway crime, russians and chinese are really not the problem are they - and please dont always highlight the one poor innocent black guy "just going to work" harassed by police because i will show you a few dozen young black males who actually did something illegal on the subway - all the indignity is a little disingenuous huh?
13
Racism is thinly veiled in this comment and clearly made by someone who has limited contact with people of color. If you believe that there is “one innocent black guy” just going to work that is affected by this type of policing, then you are deeply out of touch with the systemic racism that exists in this city and is evidenced by this article. And I say this as a black professional born and raised in NYC that loves his city.
21
@MB oh I have plenty plenty of contact with people of color in fact one assaulted me on the subway just yesterday and once again I am absolutely positive the nypd off 2019 is not looking to harass you sir but please let them do their job on those they need to deal with
2
No, I'm shocked. The NYPD is racist and targeting Black people? Isn't that why it exists?
10
Why does Tsachas still have a job?
24
This is shocking and reprehensible. No one should be penalized because of their race or ethnicity. But I don't see how it has anything to do with "overpolicing" and "the criminalization of poverty." Our objective should be to enforce the law impartially, not to suspend law enforcement. In that, the police department was clearly lacking, and the officer responsible should be dismissed.
23
There’s a documentary (Crime Punishment) that follows the “NYOD 12” lawsuit and lays out exactly how “over-policing” leads to targeting minorities:
1. Ticket quotas (a component of “over-policing”) put pressure on officers to write tickets in situations where they might otherwise use discretion.
2. Black and brown people are disproportionately targeted for these discretionary tickets for a variety of reasons, including; (a) less political influence; (b) reduced likelihood of successfully challenging a ticket (for a variety of reasons); and conscious or subconscious bias on the part of police officers.
32
@Brian Harrison
As I said, discrimination is never acceptable in law enforcement. But that's very different from "protests over a crackdown on fare evasion and other low-level offenses" or "The authorities have deployed hundreds of additional officers to the subways, provoking a debate about overpolicing and the criminalization of poverty."
Sorry, but I don't buy the claim that enforcing the law is wrong. What's wrong is applying the law unequally, as Commander Tsachas appears to have done.
10
@Josh Hill Yes, except it's not shocking at all to anybody who thinks about this for 10 seconds.
4
This is what police departments around the country need.
-Officers standing up to clearly discriminatory practices and making their voices heard.
The Blue Wall of Silence needs to be taken down.
197
Before we rush to judgement I would like to see the statistics on the amount of crimes committed by each race, after all if one particular segment of society is committing the majority of the crimes then yes that segment should be give more scrutiny
52
@EAH The problem is that 'amount of crimes committed by each race' is only recorded if said crime was busted. But if busting said crime is targeted towards certain races, then the crime data is biased to begin with and worthless in comparison or for drawing any conclusions.
167
@EAH This comment is an example of "not me" type justification of race-based bias. "Not me" says that other are 'racist' but no me therefore I'm approaching this issue with complete objectivity. Conveniently overlooking the fact that as another comment notes, if you look at only certain groups how are you going to come up with anything but what you assumed already. If you are trying to justify this approach by completely bypassing the fact that there is and has always been systemic bias directed towards black and brown communities then you are just simply reinforcing the socio-economic/political burdens on those communities while hiding behind a pretense of fairness.
53
@ben
It’s worth noting that the NYPD collects the victim reported perp data (eg when the police interview the victims and the victim gives a description of who did what) and compiles this data for the DOJ/FBI. It used to be available to the public if you visited you local precinct, but years ago they stopped sharing it with the ‘regular’ public bc “the potential for abuse” as I was told.
Regardless, determining the rate of criminality by race - as reported by victims not the police - is relatively straight forward. If it turns out that arrests in this precinct deviate from the victim-reported data, then this case might have merit. Otherwise, this suit might be little more than someone seeking a settlement. Time will tell.
8
Sounds one sided. Get a statistical analysis of the number of tickets written and then break it down . Many people feel that tickets are given out to make up for the cost of police.
Would be interesting to see how many hours of police time are spent and how much revenue raised. Might just be a break even. So if no tickets were written and these police officer’s actually fought drug crime and robberies crime would fall.
Many now feel that the subway should be free and the cost put onto billionaires , hedge funds, and corporations. The subways are filthy , filled with homeless , are not on time, over crowded and the majority feel they should be free.
14
@Ralph Petrillo The subways should be free. If there is a revenue incentive based on tickets/arrests then it is clear who bears the burden of being charged to create this profit.
13
@Ralph Petrillo you might start by reading the article. Your comment sounds non-sided.
3
@Ralph Petrillo Sure, make the subway free. It'll just be more filthy, filled with more homeless, be less on time and more overcrowded. I have no problems either way. Let's make it free and see what happens.
6