From Carl's Campaign:
BUT WHEN A BILL TO BAN NEW YORK CITY'S RACIAL PROFILING IN THE FORM OF IT'S STOP AND FRISK POLICIES WAS BEFORE THE STATE LEGISLATURE, CUOMO SAID AND DID NOTHING:
"[We] met with Mr. Cuomo's staff in order to denounce and give suggestions to these unconstitutional acts, and to date he has done absolutely nothing," said Noel Leader, a founder of [100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care]." -New York Times, June 3, 2010
On the F.B.I., Stop-and-Frisk and Fireboat Heroes
The New York Times
A new head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York will probably be in place by mid-June.
“I’d be surprised if it wasn’t known by the 18th,” said an official with knowledge of the situation. “I’d be surprised if it went another two weeks.”
What is causing the current vacancy began months ago, in March.
That is when Joseph M. Demarest Jr., the assistant director in charge of the New York field division of the F.B.I., was dispatched to Washington. Since then, George C. Venizelos has been serving as acting assistant director in charge of the field office.
Now, Mr. Venizelos is among those competing for the permanent job, considered a plum assignment in the ranks of the agency. An open application process for the job ended earlier this week. Several people are said to have applied. Now the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, can choose someone from that list or pick a name not yet heard of, officials say.
As for Mr. Demarest, his horizons have broadened. Last month, he was named assistant director of the bureau’s International Operations Division.
“In his new role, Joe will be responsible for more than 600 F.B.I. employees here at F.B.I. Headquarters and across the globe in our legal attaché offices,” Mr. Mueller said in a statement. The division “plays an integral role in our national security mission by building trusted relationships with our foreign law enforcement and intelligence partners,” he said.
Stop-and-Frisk Meets Politics
One statewide candidate who has become more visible since the recent state Democratic Convention in upstate Rye Brook, N.Y., has been hitching her agenda to the issue of the New York City Police Department’s stop-and-frisk tactics.
The candidate, Kathleen M. Rice, the Nassau County district attorney, who is running to succeed Andrew M. Cuomo as state attorney general, said more sunlight should be shined on the issue.
“I find the data released recently regarding the N.Y.P.D.’s ‘stop and frisk’ initiative to be a deeply troubling indication of potentially serious deviations from effective and legal policing,” Ms. Rice said in a written statement on May 13, following a report in The New York Times.
“While `stop and frisk’ can be a useful crime-fighting tool when used lawfully, there exists no excuse for initiatives that place law enforcement gains ahead of the civil rights of New Yorkers,” Ms. Rice said.
She went on: “If I am elected attorney general, I will review the N.Y.P.D.’s use of ‘stop and frisk.’ We must ensure that the N.Y.P.D.’s guidelines comply with the law and the tactic does not violate the civil rights New Yorkers.”
Ms. Rice’s statement pointed out that gun buy-back programs in Nassau County had taken more than 1,400 weapons off those suburban streets since 2008.
Ms. Rice is said to be favored by Mr. Cuomo from among a crowded field of candidates.
Interestingly, a group known as 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care has condemned Mr. Cuomo over the very issue of stop and frisk.
In a statement on May 25, the group called on New York city voters to “outright reject” Mr. Cuomo’s candidacy.
“Earlier this year, members of our organization met with Mr. Cuomo’s staff in order to denounce and give suggestions to these unconstitutional acts, and to date he has done absolutely nothing,” said Noel Leader, a founder iof the group. “Not only are innocent citizens being violated, but N.Y.C. is losing an increasing amount of taxpayers’ revenue as a result of lawsuits surrounding these illegal stops.”
It was Mr. Cuomo’s predecessor, Eliot Spitzer — as the statement pointed out — who investigated the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices.
Sully’s Helpers
Some of the first to respond after Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III glided US Airways Flight 1549 onto the Hudson River in January 2009 were firefighters on Fire Department boats.
For their role in the rescue work that chilly winter afternoon, the members of Marine Company 1 were given the World Trade Center Memorial medal at ceremonies on Wednesday at City Hall.
The firefighters aboard Marine 1 and a smaller vessel, Marine 1 Alpha, helped the passengers who were standing on a wing of the plane, and then ferried them to a pier on the West Side of Manhattan. They also helped secure the plane for its recovery, which was instrumental in the investigation. Seven firefighters, including Capt. Richard Johnson and Lt. Thomas Piambino, were given the medal, and were among the dozens of honorees at this year’s Medal Day, the department’s 141st event.