blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/04/eric_adams_stat.php
Eric Adams, State Senator, Testifies Police Commissioner Told Him He Wants to "Instill Fear" Into Young Blacks and Hispanics
State Sen. Eric Adams, a retired NYPD captain, testified yesterday that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told him that he ordered his commanders to "target young black and hispanic men to instill fear in them that any time they leave their homes they could be targeted by police."
Adams, often a critic of NYPD policies over the past decade, was testifying in the stop and frisk class action trial in federal court in Manhattan. The case is titled Floyd v. City of New York.
Adams claims that Kelly made the statement during a July, 2010 meeting with politicos. Adams testified that he was "shocked" by the remark, and told Kelly that was illegal and not what stop and frisk was supposed to be."
"How else are we going to get rid of guns?" Kelly replied, according to Adams.
In response, a lawyer for the city tried to read from an affidavit prepared by Kelly in which he denied saying those words. But Judge Shira Scheindlin wouldn't allow it, saying: "If he'd like to come here, he's welcome in this courtroom."
The plaintiffs tried to subpoena Kelly to testify but the city refused to allow it, saying he was too busy.
The day saw a little more drama when courthouse security refused to allow young people of color into the building who were wearing t-shirts with the slogan, "More Than a Quota." They had planned to sit in on the trial.
Another airing of the secret recordings made in Brooklyn's 81st Precinct by Police Officer Adrian Schoolcraft will be played today.
Meanwhile, in a bit of push back at the city's contention that the stops follow crime trends, this afternoon, the relatives of five men killed by police will hold a press conference to throw their support behind the plaintiffs.
The relatives include Nicholas Heyward, whose son was killed in 1994, Margarita Rosario, mother of Anthony Rosario and aunt of Hilton Vega, who were killed in 1995, Juanita Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson, killed in 2000, and Valerie Bell, the mother of Sean Bean, killed in 2006.