I have talked to dozens of young people who have had experiences like mine. And I know firsthand how much it messes with you. Because of them, I’m doing what I can to help change things.
Nicholas recounts the advice his mother gave him at 14:
WHEN I was 14, my mother told me not to panic if a police officer stopped me. And she cautioned me to carry ID and never run away from the police or I could be shot.
I also began instructing my son at age 14 as to how to react when stopped by a cop. My intent was that he know never to consent to a search, even if he had nothing to hide. (It doesn't stop cops from planting evidence and you never know what your passengers might have on them or have left behind in the car you're riding in.) I told him, if a cop ever asks him to waive his rights and make a statement or agree to a search of his person or car, he should say, very politely, "I'm sorry, sir, but I only waive the flag." And then he should ask, "Am I free to leave?" I told him that the cop would probably beat the sh*t out of him for being a smart-as*, and take him directly to jail, but at least he'd know he stood up for himself and his rights.
Like Nicholas Pert didn't forget his mother's advice, my son never forgot mine. He included it on his essay to get into college as one of the most defining moments of his life (along with working on the Timothy McVeigh defense team.) And when he first became a criminal defense lawyer, the name of his website was WaiveTheFlag. (It's now called something more appropriate, but it's still a cool website.)
The point being, unlike Nicholas Pert's mother, I didn't have to worry about my son being stopped because of the way he looked. I was concerned that if my son was stopped, the cop could probably gin up reasonable suspicion of something, and I didn't want that reasonable suspicion to be elevated to probable cause for an arrest, based on my son's agreement to forego his right to remain silent and refuse a search.
Unlike Nicholas Pert, my son didn't have to change his activities and worry on a daily basis.
I dress better if I go downtown. I don’t hang out with friends outside my neighborhood in Harlem as much as I used to. Essentially, I incorporated into my daily life the sense that I might find myself up against a wall or on the ground with an officer’s gun at my head. For a black man in his 20s like me, it’s just a fact of life in New York.
I can't imagine many things worse for a teenager than being thrown in jail. It's not something you forget about the next day. It fosters a fear and distrust of authority that can last a lifetime. It messes with your self-esteem. It's so unnecessary.
But for young men of color -- black, brown, and Latino -- in New York City, it's a fact of life:
Last year, N.Y.P.D. recorded more than 600,000 stops; 84 percent of those stopped were blacks or Latinos. Police are far more likely to use force when stopping blacks or Latinos than whites. In half the stops police cite the vague “furtive movements” as the reason for the stop.
....These stops are part of a larger, more widespread problem — a racially discriminatory system of stop-and-frisk in the N.Y.P.D. The police use the excuse that they’re fighting crime to continue the practice, but no one has ever actually proved that it reduces crime or makes the city safer. Those of us who live in the neighborhoods where stop-and-frisks are a basic fact of daily life don’t feel safer as a result.
It should be beyond the pale for a police officer to initiate an investigative stop of anyone because of the color his skin. The system needs to change. NYPD officers should be required to undergo rigorous training about what's acceptable and what's unconstitutional, before being handed a gun and told the hit the streets. If, as has been brought out in other recent New York lawsuits, these NYPD officers have arrest quotas, it's even worse.
Please express your support for the Center for Constitutional Rights lawsuit, and say thanks to people like Nicholas Pert, who are willing to come forward and testify, sharing these humiliating experiences in public. By getting many of these personal stories before the Court, judges will be forced to realize how bad it really is out there, and do something about it.
