A12 - THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, June 11, 2020
Opinion Point of view
Press credentials — what exactly are they good for?
By JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL
I
was nearly arrested last Thursday night. I share that not to center my narrative in what occurred, but to convey some of what happened. That night — June 4 — I witnessed an unprecedented level of force in response to what was otherwise a peaceful protest against police brutality following the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The group started near the Third Avenue149th Street train stop. They marched through the neighborhood after 7 p.m., making stops along the way to rally the crowd, chant, or otherwise collect themselves. They were working their way toward the Willis Avenue Bridge, but a phalanx of officers cut off their route. So, they turned onto East 136th Street, and passed Brown Place. East 136th Street between Brown Place and Brook Avenue is a very small block. As the clock struck 8 p.m., the short-lived curfew time, a line of bicycle-wielding cops in armor immediately assembled along Brook Avenue and held the line, while officers in riot helmets and wielding night sticks flooded in from behind — a crowd control tactic known as “kettling.” Both lines of officers pushed people in, giving them no room to escape. They had done nothing more than chant. Former Riverdale Press photographer David “Dee” Delgado and I found our way out of the kettle to the corner
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL
Police officers form part of a kettle, a crowd control tactic meant to control protesters, on East 136th Street between Brown Place and Brook Avenue in Mott Haven on June 4. Nearly 100 peaceful protesters were arrested. of 136th and Brown where a woman was standing. A cop approached her. “Do you want to go home?” “This is my home.” “The street is your home?” “The Earth is my home.” “5 … 4 … 3 … ” “I’m glad you can count.” She starts to walk away, but the cop handcuffs her. As I’m standing against a building with Dee, I raise
my camera to take some pictures. The arresting officer looks at me and says, “Do you want to go with her?” I say nothing, and hold up my press credentials, issued by the very department the officer works for. “Do you want to go with her?” I hold up my hands and walk away with Dee. We make our way to the corner of East 138th and Brook as a massive fleet of police vans and cars
flood the intersection near where the group of protesters was penned in and arrested, including medics and legal observers. A photographer friend of ours caught in the mess was pepper sprayed. Cops were pummeling people. A police chopper flew very low overhead scanning the rooftops with its light. On Saturday night, I followed a protest for 10 miles through Lower
Manhattan. By the time I got on the train to go home at 10 p.m., the march was still going. No arrests had been made. Yet, in the Bronx they sent in so many cops, it was nigh impossible to count. Nearly 100 people were arrested, according to Gothamist. I made it out OK, if only because of a certain level of privilege and a press badge, issued by the police, that very nearly didn’t work. Part of the problem with press credentials rests with how they are administered. The New York Police Department presently issues press credentials, and has sole discretion about who gets accepted and rejected. City comptroller Scott Stringer is urging Mayor Bill de Blasio to transfer press credential authority from the NYPD to the mayor’s office. A major concern for Stringer is the language that accompanies the card: “This card is the property of the New York City Police Department,” which is followed by, “It may be taken away by competent authority at any time.” Taken at face value, the officer who threatened me with arrest could have confiscated my press pass for nothing more than taking photographs in a public space. There is virtue in Stringer’s push for a change in who oversees the issuance of press cards. The First Amendment protects peaceful assembly and the press. My ability to do my job shouldn’t be governed by the police. The author is the photo editor for The Riverdale Press.
Letters to the editor
Time to repeal 50-a To the editor: The New York Coalition for Open Government supports repealing New York Civil Rights Law 50-a to allow for the public disclosure of police records relating to police misconduct. Transparency is critical for improving public trust in our police departments, and for bringing about greater accountability
in addressing the performance of police services. Section 50-a makes personnel records for law enforcement confidential. That includes internal affairs files, civilian complaints and disciplinary findings. Delaware is the only other state in the country that also has a law comparable to 50-a, that restricts the scope
of law enforcement information available to the public. The state’s committee on open government said in 2014 the “Freedom of Information Law today affords the public far less access to information about the activities of police departments than virtually any other public agency — even though police interact with the public on a day-to-day basis in a more visceral and tangible way than any other public employees.” The death of Eric Garner in
2014 brought to light how 50-a shields police officers from public accountability. While being arrested for a minor offense, Mr. Garner — an African American man — was placed in a chokehold by a New York Police Department officer. Mr. Garner died after repeatedly shouting, “I can’t breathe.” Efforts by Mr. Garner’s family to obtain disciplinary records through FOIL were denied under 50-a. The recent death of George
Floyd — an African American man killed by a Minneapolis police officer, in circumstances similar to Eric Garner’s death — has brought about protests across the United States, calling for an end to police brutality, and demanding increased transparency and accountability for law enforcement. In Minnesota — unlike New York — police disciplinary records are accessible to the public. And through this transparency, the public was able to
learn that the officer responsible for Mr. Floyd’s death was the subject of 18 police conduct complaints. We urge you to bring greater transparency and accountability to police services by supporting the repeal of 50-a. Paul Wolf The author is president of the New York Coalition for Open Government. This is an abridged version of a letter sent to state lawmakers last weekend.
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