Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Cops really going overboard

From the Village Voice:

Earlier today, right around the time that the City Council was holding a hearing on the NYPD's controversial stop and frisk practices, cops slapped a Brooklyn man with a trespassing charge for standing under an awning to get out of the rain.

Vincent Mouzon, a 55-year-old telephone pollster who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, tells the Voice he was on his way back to a local laundromat after mailing three letters when he paused under an awning outside an abandoned building on Malcolm X Boulevard.

When the rain abated, Mouzon resumed walking. About a block later, police officers from the 81st Precinct stopped and questioned him. The 81st Precinct, by the way, is the same station house that was the subject of the Village Voice's widely read NYPD Tapes series.

"I showed them my identification and explained what I was doing," he says. "I even opened the laundry bag for them."

Mouzon says he told the officers that the ticket would be thrown out of court. "I told them, 'look I know about you guys, I read the Village Voice article, and I know your precinct, and I know you guys are trying to make your quota,'" he says.

"Here's a guy who was absolutely doing nothing, and now I have to go to criminal court and take a day off of work to deal with it," he says. "I was just standing there seeking refuge, and it boggles my mind that this could happen. This doesn't inspire trust in the Police Department. It's such a waste of time and taxpayer's money."

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

i absolutely LOVE that every time the cops get caught being the goons they are, they Village Voice story pops up. I hope the NYPD never gets out from under that cloud.

Unanimous said...

I'm hearing of a lot of people going through this lately.

Babs said...

Too many - we're being MUGGED!

Anonymous said...

"I hope the NYPD never gets out from under that cloud."

What are you, an anarchist? I hope they do learn from their mistakes, I don't want to be the next guy hassled by a cook cop or someone under orders to fill a quota. And i certainly don't want my taxes going to settle lawsuits. Get the chip off your shoulder and try to make the city a better place.

Time's Up said...

Wow. Shame on me for actually being naive enough to think that precinct would have been on its best behavior following that expose.

Anyone who didn't read that Voice series really needs to.

Anonymous said...

It is amazing how they will stop and frisk an american citizen for nothing and do nothing about the illegal alliens. Nice job N.Y.P.D.!

Anonymous said...

Anyone who didn't read that Voice series really needs to.

And anyone that believes everything they read in the Voice should have their head examined.

It is amazing how they will stop and frisk an american citizen for nothing and do nothing about the illegal alliens. Nice job N.Y.P.D.!

Immigration issues are not the NYPD's job. Last I checked, they're not a federal entity or a branch of Border Patrol.

Anonymous said...

Don't blame the cops for the hands-off policy for illegals. Blame Bloomberg. My son was walking in a park filled with lots of people after dusk. The cops approached him and told him he was not allowed there after dusk. It was still light outside. The cop proceeded to give my son a desk appearance ticket, as he asked my son if he was employed and what he did for a living. He saw that he was white, clean cut and employed and able to pay the ticket. Nothing was said to the Mexicans with their open bottles of beer and barbeque. It's time for all the white folk to leave New York while you can. Who will the cops ticket when all the legal people leave?

Anonymous said...

Who's to say the next time it won't be trespassing and a desk appearance ticket, but drug possession and a crooked arrest, or "I saw a gun" and getting shot?

Anonymous said...

Immigration issues are not the NYPD's job. Last I checked, they're not a federal entity or a branch of Border Patrol.

So what you are saying is the po po won't stop and frisk them for loitering on corners? An American citizen can get fined for doing laundry but an illegal can crowd corners on Queens Blvd., drink alcohol and harress residents? Last I heard, that too would be a real good reason to stop and frisk them.... Why aren't they ticketed?

Anonymous said...

It is amazing how they will stop and frisk an american citizen for nothing and do nothing about the illegal alliens. Nice job N.Y.P.D.!

Immigration issues are not the NYPD's job. Last I checked, they're not a federal entity or a branch of Border Patrol.

THEN MAKE IT a NYPD's job. How hard is this. A small island like Hong Kong in the past (a British Colony) has cops profiling anyone who looks like an illegal immigrant from Mainland China by asking them for ID and checking it. If you don't have one, they bring them into a precinct until they can proof they are legal, otherwise they get deported.

I mean if the cops are doing this to legal citizens, why not convert these energy to check up on the illegals.. ooh I forgot, maybe they have a quota to fill and illegals has no ID to make it a legal quota.

Babs said...

Thanks for the introduction to the Voice article - great investigative journalism.

The City is now extorting money from its citizens - wtf is going on? Why is this allowed?

Anonymous said...

Well, not to worry, it won't happen here in the 104 precinct. They don't get out of their cars

Anonymous said...

The NYPD is the most anti libertarian organization to ever walk the earth.

The NYPD violate the UNITED States Constitution at least 1,000 times a day (if not more) and nothing is ever done about it.

Anonymous said...

This is ridiculous. I am ashamed to be a very-soon-to-be former cop. The job is dead. The bosses are forcing the rookies to do this, and the poor dumb rookies are playing the game. I feel sorry for this city.

JO said...

why should the cops stop the practices outlined in the Voice article. All it does is outrage the public. they don't answer to the public.

Anonymous said...

they don't answer to the public.
Unfortunately, this is true. BUT THEY SHOULD TO US. We're paying their freaking salary. Without us, they will not have this job to allow to play this game.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, this is true. BUT THEY SHOULD TO US. We're paying their freaking salary. Without us, they will not have this job to allow to play this game.
-----------------------------------
Well when you think about it, doesn't everyone pay for everyone else's salary? Be careful with this argument, it doesn't just work towards cops.

Time's Up said...

"And anyone that believes everything they read in the Voice should have their head examined."

OK, my anonymous friend, please tell us what was factually inaccurate in that series of articles.

I presume that you don't refer to the hours of audiotape that was actually secretly recorded.

So, please, enlighten us. Your response will be especially interesting in light of the fact that the NYPD itself has been conspicuously silent.

Anonymous said...

This is all Bloombag's doing to pad the pockets of the city and the elite that rape it.

INDICT THAT FUCK NOW!