The Bronx News Network Roundup giving excellent coverage of local news for the area of the Bronx, including the new Stop and Frisk policy announced by the NYPD to City Council.

The Department of State gives us Secretary Clinton’s speech on diplomacy developments.  The more I read on these developments, the more I am further affirmed of what I always knew when hearing that President Obama had appointed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State; she was the best candidate for the job.  After serving my military years during the Clinton administration, I was ready to see these comebacks in our foreign policies.

On art and culture news, Lamento Borincano points us to two films featured directed by Latin Americans with one featured in the Tribeca Film Festival, Entre Nos and Sleep Dealers.  They are amazing works with Latino culture at its depth.

But the icing on top of my cake this week was this announcement made in the Huffington Post and everywhere else on the news.  Sonia Sotomayor being considered to replace Justice Souter.  I confess I’ll be on the edge on this till the real appointment is made.  But even at this point, the consideration of Justice Sotomayor to Supreme Court Justice is an amazing accomplishment for an already accomplished Puerto Rican woman.  And in a time when Puerto Ricans and Latinos have expressed low confidence in the system as it was stated in the PEW Hispanic Survey, it would be a decision to break stigmas too far ingrained.  Furthermore, young Puerto Rican women in Puerto Rico and the United States are graced by an awesome role model.  My heart will be beating a bit too fast for my own health.

While I am sure Mr Garabitos had a admirable record at the school and that he perhaps did not mean to cause such a serious ruckus with his personal problems, the reality of the situation is that he said all the right words to trigger an emergency evacuation plan. And lets be real; We live in the Post 9/11, Columbine High, Oklahoma City Bombing, Virginia Tech shooting, Binghamton shooting, Postal Workers going “Postal”, Bush-Cheney fear mongering -world. Unibomber, shoebomber and suicide bombings have been ongoing occurrences and they automatically create a feed in the media.

Remember when this system use to hit blue?

Yeah, neither do I.  Point being made is that no bombing threat response is really “blow out of proportion” these days.  And from all the information in the reports, the school staff acted accordingly to what they viewed was in the best interest of the children with their safety in mind.  No one has made a statement about Mr. Garabitos that would judge him as a “serious terrorist”, someone “against us” or anything of that nature.  The Police Chief and Police Commissioner have been careful of labeling Mr. Garabitos and his crime on statements.  Many parent and students expressed shock after the news and many teachers have empathize with the difficult situation he found himself in.  I’m sure Ms Escalera just meant to express her own sentiments of compassion, which are pretty admirable sentiments by all under the circumstances, but when commenting on the sudden jumpiness in bomb threat responses, just remember that we are still a lack of gun control, ever in militant readiness country.  Especially in the city of New York where we take our shoes off in the airport, we can’t carry regular 16 oz bottles of shampoo in our carry-on lugagge and we hear that if  ”we see something, we have to say something” every half hour on the train.

Another Holiday Annecdote

Thanks to Jenny Carrero for the feature!

“You are being a cop Shanali…but you are so nice…”

“I know you are going to do something with your decision to go into Law Enforcement, because you wouldn’t just join the pigs…”

These and many other comments of the “race-traitor-sell-out” variety come splashing at me every so often.  They come from my closest friends, co-workers, family and the media.  Some are related to me and others reactions to reports in the news, or things happening in the neighborhood.  Civilians, the police and the rest of the criminal justice system have an often difficult relationship.

What does it mean to me when my closest friends opine away on the status quo in the system?  When they share with me their trials with law enforcement?

I remember when my good friend M who is for all intense my brother in NYC stated the aforementioned sentence of “I know you are doing something different…”  It created a bit of hurt.  And no, not the kind of hurt where an apology is needed.  Is not that serious.

It was a little bit of hurt somewhere in the unconscious, acknowledging that I, my friends, my family and my community always need to take a pause and make the distinction of being “them” but “not really them”.   I remember having to assert with him that “yeah…you know I’m doing something different”.  But I can’t quite deny that there is a part of me that wishes this was not needed.  I hear the same woes coming from my fellow students of color at Monroe who suddenly find themselves pursuing a criminal justice career after living in a neighborhood that feels in constant struggle with authority.  The goals we place on ourselves to serve and protect, work for our communities and diversify the system suddenly seem almost transparent  in contrast with the actions of the archetypal police officer, like the officers in my previous post.

However, what I’m describing here is a thought process; a moment that passes in a matter of a second and then is gone.  And the more I’m faced with the moment the faster it happens until it will probably be gone altogether from my mental reflexes.  I guess what I’m trying to say here is that the more I hear these words, the more that feeling is overtaken with an acceptance that these words come with the territory.  It is also replaced by a sense of duty to the people I’m listening to.  Instead of throwing my hands in the air in an expression of learned helplessness thinking, “well I guess now I’m one of -them- now, and my family hates me”, I instead focus on what I came to do and building bridges between the agencies I will serve in and the community.  It’s not an easy job but someone has to do it.  And there are plenty of officers, agents, prosecutors and judges with this very intent in their minds.  Knowing that with the territory comes all the voices and opinions we have to hear about what we do.  I would not want to serve a country or a city where those voices did not exist.

Our jobs as criminal justice professionals with progressive thinking is to not get offended by what our family and friends have to say.  We have to listen, internalize, reflect on what is being said and help create those bridges that are desperately needed to move forward.

What is excessive force?  In training this is defined as using force that is unequal in proportion to that which is used against you or another.  So if someone slaps you and you slap them back, that’s not excessive force.  If someone slaps you and you pull out a gun, that’s excessive force.   If someone is holding a knife to your partner’s throat and you pull out a gun, that’s not excessive force.

Slapping, shoving or pushing a student that is screaming, without first trying to ask him to step away from the area, is excessive force.

From all of the coverage in this report, this particular incident is the one that would hold the most ground in front of a judge, because all of the actions were recorded by Mr. Jourdan of Brooklyn from start to finish.  One of the comments I read about this action was that the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board was no source of recourse for people who suffered from police violence.  That might be true if there were not enough details or evidence to prove what actions were taken against this young man.  However, seeing as the CCRB has to account for its existence just like any New York City employee, especially in a recession; Jourdan might just have handed them a cup cake.  We also have to take into account how much information the students gathered on the police officers making arrests (badge numbers, precinct, unit, etc.).  There also seems to be a bit of tension between the departments due to the 2007 CCRB report.

Another thing noted by me was the four police officer’s against the one man who fell on an almost fetal position.  I was not entirely sure what that was all about except that this particular group of officers seem to be operating with no one in charge, because the ones in charge where inside making arrests inside the building.  In situations like this, leadership is what needs to be at the forefront of the operation.

In a period of recession were Mayor Bloomberg is cutting jobs by the thousands in the police department, Law Enforcement has the luxury of being caught on tape with their hands in the unprofessional cookie jar.  It is also a really bad time to create a CCRB file on yourself.    Lets address this part for a second.  Wanting the CCRB to be a complete advocate for the people is unrealistic and a call for instant gratification that is not there.  However, anyone who speaks to a Police Officer and other Members of the Service can tell you that files in the CCRB stops a cop from getting promotions.  And since promotions are scarce to begin with, this would not be the time to get a file on you that will stand in the way of getting an extra 5,000 in your paycheck.

And while these things will not protect people during the event of police taking action, filing a complain with CCRB, and then looking for your nearest “needing to put in my pro-bono hours” sympathetic lawyer to help file a suit in court, might put a Police Officer in a defendant box real quick with a misdemeanor count.  Especially when there is a video.  If you don’t believe me, ask P.O. Patrick Pogan.  A family cop stripped of his gun and badge.

And here is where I add the next part of the conversation: “What is this about the F word Shanali?  Where does all that come from?”

Well unfortunately this one officer is now made into the face of the NYPD.  The immediate reaction of the masses is to generalize, or to go from one extreme or another in opinions.  The type of officer in the New School video, Mr. Pogan and many others using questionable procedures, contribute to the police bully archetype (read stereotype).  Furthermore, these actions have the misfortune of reflecting badly in a diverse police department known for a level of professionalism that can be an example in every state.

And more on the F word on the next post.

“Constitutional law forbids jailing people solely over fees and fines they cannot pay” (NYT, April 7th, 2009)

When the word constitution appears in an article, the assumption is that the actions taken by the court were unconstitutional.

Immediately there are cries and fist thrown in the air and people wanting to advocate for these poor people.

Now to clarify things from the get go. I am an advocate of the poor. I guess you have to be an advocate of the poor when you have been poor. And you most definitely have to be an advocate of the poor when you are not stripped down poor but still have to work in order to live, in order words part of the middle working class. I petition or sign petition when the state does not allocate funds for poor neighborhoods in education, healthcare, neighborhood services and street safety. In addition, when unfair state policies make it hard on the poor to stay out of jail, or make it hard to pay court fees, there is a call for action. But which action?

I noticed that no one in the article was talking about petitions, signatures, letter writing campaigns or filing appeals with the courts. (Writ of Habeas Corpus anyone? Bueller?) This made me suspicious about the people quoted in the article. I was also not impressed with the way John Schwartz handled his statement on constitutional law, among other things.

If Florida is suffering from anything here, are bad algorithms. Thinking that by being harder than they already are on court fee repayment, they will create something of revenue to overcompensate for their budget. Of course, then the budget suffers by the cost of incarceration. According to the report, these measures are affecting people by the thousand. So naturally, residents of Florida might want to take action on how courts are handling fee repayment. Again, I have thrown that word “action” at you, which seem to be missing in the article. Making some noise about state’s procedures unconstitutionality is not action. Is not anything. Is just making some noise around a lack of action. In addition, for anyone who takes the time to do a bit of research, ask questions of field experts, hit search on Lexis Nexis, the noise becomes baseless. There is no precedence to declare Florida policy as unconstitutional. The courts are in their right to incarcerate people for not paying fines, fees and other financial social duties as child support.

I understand that New York is New York and not Florida. We have a way of working with lower income folks that is more doable, more in touch with reality. If a person shows that they are receiving public assistance, then several clerical fees are dropped or waived. However, these are local procedures, that came from a lot of advocacy and action by the people, a lot of appeals filed over time etc. Therefore the moral of the story for Florida and all of these “advocates” making some noise is if procedures are creating a social problem, take some action, demand due process, appeal, write letters and make demands of your public service. And a step further from this is to educate those who are in need. Educate people to be confident when standing in front of a judge. I would have to quote my introduction to Criminal Justice Professor who told us many times: “Our people have been intimidated to -not- speak in court and settle…”

And last but not least be skeptic when people “advocate” for your rights. Be skeptic of journalism, this is only one source among tons others. We are our best advocates in this.

On a side note, I was speaking to a classmate of mine yesterday on the amount of community activist that seem to not take advantage of these public meetings the precincts hold with the Community Boards. Cynicism aside, dialogue has to be opened by all channels possible and there is a reason the meetings were opened in the first place.

The next event would be a flier campaign in the neighborhood to be distributed to both men and women with educational facts that would challenge men and women to think differently about street harassment. I am researching how to compose the flier and I’m hoping that I can meet any artist or graphic designers that would contribute layout ideas.

Anyone who wishes to collaborate on either of thes project is welcome to contact me visa Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or email.

After a few days both the Daily News and the New York Times have reported the account from Ms. Katsiambanis stating that she did not recall hearing cat calls from the van driver.

While details on the act of street harassment seem to still be unclear for the public, one thing the initial report did was bring back to light the subject of cat calling and street harassment. While Ysemny might not have been the victim of cat calls, the scenario of a van slowing down to a roll beside a woman and a man leering, harassing or intimidating her is not unfamiliar to women in New York City. Nor is it now strange to hear of death caused by initial street harassers, as the case of Mildred Beaubrun from Orlando Florida.

The topic of death and street harassment hit too close to home for me, as a Puerto Rican woman living in this city. I experience and witness the objectification that directly targets women who look like me, share the same ethnic background and find themselves alone in the streets. We need to set in motion the wheels to counteract whatever acceptance of these actions we still find around us. There are many good organization and media projects available for women of color and women of NYC, such as NYC Safestreets, Girls for Gender Equity and Hollah Back NY. But it is up to us to organize and implement these resources in our local area. I personally would like to see an increase of action in this particular area of safety in our communities. We need to protect our mothers, our daughters and our sisters. Our community is made strong by guarding all of our best interests.

I see all the safety loopholes and oversights both by the authorities and by members of my community. It has inspired me to look for other women both in East Harlem and in the Puerto Rican/Latino community to speak about these issues directly in the near future. And it makes me realize all the work that still needs to be done in my block to make sure that there are safe havens and tactics placed in motion by our community so that another woman doesn’t have to fall.

This would be due to the fact that many people still expects politicians to cave at the pressure of watching over their impeccable image of being “tough on crime”. It is interesting to note that there is a popular notion as to what that means. Being “tough on crime” means that any type of reasoning will absolutely shatter the hard as nails security we have come to expect from our law enforcement agents. Fortunately I’m not the only one who is aware of this notion.

And as I commented earlier in the Brutally Honest Politics blog, pot legalization might be a hot contested issue during this CJ Reform overhaul. Whether legislation votes for or against, really, I think this reform will bring debates that will be a step forward on pragmatically approaching the issue. And Mr. Grim at the Huff Post, sharing this assesment, went to immediately confirm this with a statement from the Senator. (Amid one that was more about body language and subtleties)

Senator Webb is pursuing every aspect of every issue in the criminal justice system, including racial profiling. And as it happens often when “Race” becomes an issue, someone had to bring the “…why are we talking about this again instead of paying attention to the real problem” statements.

Never mind statistics or prison records. We are just going to argue this point again, just as it happens with every other race relations rhetoric, the Obama election, and now the criminal justice system.

This is not a new debate. It’s just the debate being regurgitated again as subtopic of an issue – because the god aweful “race” word was brought up. And people will of course, comment on it, debate on it or argue about it.

Thanks to my on-going reading on psychology lately, this all tied up in my head with the subject of defense mechanisms. There seems to be a collective knee-jerk amongst several of our citizens when race relations or institutional racism comes up as a subject in any way shape or form. An automatic reaction to blotted it all out from the screen so that readers can come back to the “real” issues. Because race is apparantely not a real issue, only this thing that people keep “pestering me with…” This reaction reminds me of the mechanism used by a lot parents when faced with the fact that something aweful just happened to their kid and they were not there to protect them. So instead of talking about it openly for the benefit of the child’s health and the health of the family as a whole, they react with denial and groan everytime anyone wants to talk about it, feigning headaches, sickness, “nerve spasms”, etc. Same thing is happening here. Everytime someone mentions race, there is a group of Americans that groan, protest, debate, argue and feign indifference or disgust about our lack of “focus on the real issues”.

Which brings me to the question: “What are you in really in denial about?”

Denial is not what will make this issue of racism disappear or talked about less. Your desire for a country where race doesn’t matter and we are already “color blind” will not make the last five centuries be of no consequence.

If America is ready for racism to be of no consequence in legislation, then all real issues need to be spoken about in the open with respect for all people living in this country, including those people who are constantly labeled: minorities.

The Criminal Justice system is ready for reform, and real reform comes with the desire of healing and progress. And progress comes when there is closure and solution for all issues contributing to a problem. And that solution comes when defense mechanisms are put to the side and all things on the table are addressed with openness and honesty.