- If you're poor and a person of color, you're much more likely to be f*cked over.
There is something wrong with policing.
"People between the ages of 18 and 34, they did not experience
the New York of 1990 when the city was going to hell in a hand basket.
- The problem with broken windows cops overtly police
in different ways depending on who you are.
They ticket and they arrest people who little or no ability
politically to push back.
It's f*cked up and it demeans us, as a city and as a country.
- Many people are afraid to speak up, but I am so happy Bob has not been one of them.
- I'm Bob Gangi and the director of PROP.
The Police Reform Organizing Project.
We focus on exposing abuse of discriminatory police practices.
- "Robert Gangi is a long time critic of Broken Windows"
- Broken Windows is a philosophy, it's been translated
into a form of policing that supplied by the NYPD.
The notion is, if the goverment takes steps to prevent low level
infractions, like graffiti, jay walking, drinking a beer on your stoop
it's going to represent an effective stragety at curbing serious
crime like rap, homicide and armed robbery.
It's a theory thats never been proven. It targets, low income
people of color. The powers at be should stop it.
-You have to educate these families.
They need to learn core values.
I think that actually helps that whole Broken Window effect.
If you stopped a person drinking on a curb,
well maybe you'll stop them going into selling drugs.
- One of our more success actions, we went into Park Slope
and we gave out mock summonses to white people who were
riding a bike on the side walk, jay walking.
-" I think you just walked through a red light".
but it's just those kind of infractions that the police
regularly harass, ticket, even arrest people of color for.
- " You're going to see about 500 people doing what i just did".
- " All of this kinda falls under the umbrella of
Broken Windows policing".
- "Have you heard of Broken Windows?" - "No"
- Broken Windows is a policy that comes from up top.
It's the pressure from Bratton, from the borough commanders,
from precinct commanders for cops to make their numbers.
- So this is East Harlem.
And I would say that this is an area today you see a lot of
the issues of Broken Windows play out.
- Good evening everybody, my name is Carlton Berkley.
I am a retired New York City detective.
The Broken Windows theory, depending on how you use it
is a valuable tool. You don't use it to abuse it.
- We as communities of color, have become so accustomed
to having officers be apart of our daily life.
What I would push people to think about, to remove the
police from our neighborhood all together.
- Remove them from the community is not going to help.
- That's not what he said.
- If you don't have one of these. These police
are going to violate your rights.
You better get educated.
- Just because you are black or hispanic, let me tell you'll right now
some of the most racist officers out there are black and hispanic.
Don't get it twisted. There are some good white officers out there.
But your own kind can treat you the wrost.
- You're under survelliance all the time.
- We need less officers because it is expensive and this is
money we could be utilizing in our neighborhood.
- I think that we deserve better police and the quota and
the Broken Window is the reason for the abuse.
- Anybody who lives in the project or the community is a savage.
Look at those savages.
You know I told them that my moms a savage because she lives in one of those apartments.
- " Two latino men were allegedly arrested for man spreading."
- A young african american woman, the officer charged her with being in a park after dusk".
- " The squeege pests, were not being over run,
those will be taken care of very, very quickly."
- There is no main stream politician who will support what i just layed out.
Becuase essentially what I just laid out would be a significant reduction
in the number of people who work for the police department.
- I completely disagree with what you are saying.
Because Broken Windows does work.
A couple of weeks ago, some guy had his foot on a train and the cops
went up to him and questioned him. And guessed what he turned out to be?
A murderer.
- So the cops arrest literally hundreds of thousands of people
for having your foot on the subway seat because one of the arrest
put someone who had a serious criminal history. - No
- Why aren't the cops doing significantly good police work
so they catch that guy?
- You blatently lied when you said white folks don't get
stopped by open containers. I had four open containers right
infront of my dorm last year for having a red cup with beer in it.
- Did you say that I lied? - Yes you did, right over there.
- I said for the most part, these offenses have been
decriminalized in white communties and that's true.
[Arguing]
- It's obvious if walk into a community where
all you see is black people, it's a black community.
Even though white people may live there, for the most part
it is a black community. You can't define that.
I feel like at this point you're just arguing to argue.
- Whether it's corrupt, whether it's politicians who made this decision,
they were elected in a democratic process, so essentially
those laws were created by the community if you want to look at it by the book.
- I couldn't come up with a good follow up to the Park Slope Action
- We could also do Santa Con.
- The crazy santa claus people? - Yeah everyone dresses up as
santa and gets drunk and they're awful.
- Well if one of our people got hurt, it could help us politically.
- Cops overtly police in different ways depending on who
you are, where you come from.
So I mean look at this guy, just thinks he could walk where ever he wants to.
And this is not just on Santa Con. If you have ever been to the Lower East Side
like on the weekends, it's the same crowd. It's the same privelege crowd.
All these people are publically intoxicated.
[ We Wish You A Merry Christmas]
- Public drunkens are you like.. - " That's not illegal in New York"
- Okay, it's not? You can just be wasted on the street
- What about paper bags, open containers?
- That's not illegal in New York.
- Thats not illegal? - It's not.
- So you're not cracking down on that at all? - No
- Okay, thank you.
- They can do what they want. They can do whatever they want.
You can't help but feel cynical about all this sh*t because
why should I respect this law? Why should I respect any of these laws?
If they are not even enforced fairly?
- "We enforce the law. We are not targeting communities
of color. We are targeting behavior."
- They're there to make sure you stay in line, you don't do anything wrong.
That you don't violate anybody elses rights.
And that's what their jobs are. They're not there to please you,
they're there to enforce the laws.
- They have no love for cops out here.
And maybe people have to be cynical and distrustfil of the
police, because of the way the police have been designed to be.
Maybe there is no happy eneding here. Maybe the goal shouldn't be trusting police,
maybe it should be not needing police as much.
- If the community doesn't believe in the law, politicians
should pass a legislation, get rid of the law.
- One of the things I've been talking to people about,
is running a candidate.
We're talking about fundamental change. Stop Broken Windows,
stop the quota system. Realocated resources, the billions
and billions of dollars that go to the police department now
to other government agencies and other government services.
We'd have a better city, we'd have more and more people
leading better quality of lives. More people getting better
education, getting better healthcare.
Everyone should be able to experience that.