Justice Dept. to investigate use of force by Austin police

AUSTIN, Texas — Federal authorities will review the Austin Police Department’s use of force policies, city officials announced last week, three years after a civil rights group accused the department of using excessive force against minorities.

Justice Department investigators could begin their review in the next 30 to 60 days and likely will take at least a year to complete it, City Manager Toby Hammett Futrell said in a statement.

The investigation stems from a complaint filed in 2004 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People that outlined numerous alleged civil rights abuses by officers.

The complaint followed an investigation by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, which found that between 1998 and 2003 police were twice as likely to use force against blacks as against whites, and 25 percent more likely to use force against Hispanics than against whites.

During that period, police used deadly force against 11 people. All but one were minorities.
Futrell said the department has made several changes to address the NAACP’s concerns, including installing video cameras in patrol cars and doubling the number of certified mental health officers to more than 300.

“The Austin Police Department has always been open to oversight and scrutiny and fully understands that trust is the cornerstone of building a solid community policing program,” Futrell said in the statement.

NAACP unveils reform campaign to address state courts

DETROIT — The Detroit branch of the NAACP is seeking to reform the state’s court system, which it calls dysfunctional, underfunded and discriminatory toward the poor, disabled and minorities.

The civil rights organization, with the help of the Michigan ACLU, found six areas in the courts that it said were either unconstitutional or needed desperate change. The NAACP’s legal counsel, Melvin “Butch” Hollowell, says the problems go back years.

“The system has gotten so dysfunctional we felt we couldn’t wait any longer,” Hollowell told The Detroit News for a May 30 story. “We have an emergency situation in our courts.”
Race and income play a big role in a state prison population that is predominantly poor and black, civil rights leaders say.

“The justice system is working for a privileged few,” Hollowell said. “But it’s not working for the average person.”

A long-standing problem is jury selection in Wayne County, Mich., which results in a pool that is 12 percent black even though the county is 40 percent black, according to a 2006 report by the National Center for State Courts that was commissioned by the Wayne County Circuit Court.

“The court is very supportive of the proposals of the NAACP initiative as it concerns jury composition issues,” Wayne County Circuit Chief Judge Mary Beth Kelly said.

The NAACP is also troubled that the state has left it up to counties to decide how to counsel indigent defendants. Without guidelines or adequate funding, civil rights leaders say poor people aren’t getting proper legal representation.

Attorney of man shot by NYPD officer wants federal investigation

NEW YORK — A lawyer representing the estate of Sean Bell and the family of a motorist fatally shot by an off-duty officer wants the U.S. Attorney’s office to investigate the New York Police Department for possible civil rights violations.

Michael Hardy, who also serves as general counsel for the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, said in a May 29 letter to U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia that the NYPD has a history of excessive use of force in minority communities.

“The recent shootings and the history of shootings … certainly suggest that the NYPD is engaged in a pattern and practice of continuous and systemic violations that have, at minimum, a disparate impact in black and Hispanic communities,” Hardy wrote.

Chief NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said there was no discrimination, “considering the descriptions of suspects provided by victims of crime,” he said.

Hardy’s letter cites a 1996 Amnesty International report concluding that police brutality was a problem in the city. It mentions testimony given by New York Civil Liberties Union director Donna Lieberman, who said police misconduct is widespread. Lieberman was testifying before a task force convened after the shooting death of Sean Bell, who was killed in a hail of 50 police bullets on his wedding day in November.

In the Bell case, a Queens grand jury indicted two officers on manslaughter charges and a third officer on a misdemeanor endangerment charge.

“While all agree that the job of New York City police officer is a dangerous and difficult one ... something is terribly wrong within the department which is having a fatal and disproportionate impact within the New York City communities of color,” Hardy wrote.

The letter came 10 days after the death of Fermin Arzu of the Bronx. Arzu, 41, was shot by an off-duty police officer during a confrontation after a hit-and-run car accident. Arzu had smashed into a parked car, then driven away, and authorities said the officer had been trying to stop him from fleeing the scene when he fired his gun.

Browne promised there would be a complete investigation in the Arzu case.

“It is already under way,” he has said.

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