Results tagged “donnalieberman”

Leonard Levitt, a veteran journalist who spent 10 years covering the NYPD for Newsday and now writes at his own website, NYPD Confidential, is suing the NYPD over its refusal to grant him a press pass. In this video, Levitt explains how the NYPD's action are "strictly retaliatory," because of his past writing exposing NYPD issues.

Even though he has amended his plan to give illegal immigrants the opportunity to get driver's licenses, Governor Spitzer can't make everyone happy.

aboutmattlaw took this great photograph at the Ditmars Boulevard subway station stairs. It's a nod to Queens City Councilman Peter Vallone's proposed legislation to ban "non-sensual" peeping, with punishments like 90 days in jail and a $500 fine for first offense. Vallone said that his bill was prompted by some women's complaints that a "rather large pervert" was lurking under the Ditmars station's subway steps. Per the Queens Gazette, Vallone emphasizes, "These perverts use their eyes to invade the privacy of people's bodies, leaving many feeling violated. Yet, up until now, there has been a peephole loophole that gives anyone a license to gawk, leer and spy anywhere they please."

L.B. Jeffries would be screwed! City Council member Peter Vallone Jr. is proposing legislation to ban "non-consensual peeping with cameras to peeping with the naked eye" according to the NY Sun. The crime would be a misdemeanor, with a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail. CityRoom has some of the legislation:

b. Voyeurism in a private place. It shall be unlawful to deliberately view another person, without that person’s knowledge and consent, at a place and time when a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, while such person is (1) in a state of undress or partial dress, (2) engaged in sexual intercourse or sexual contact, or (3) urinating or defecating.

Continue reading "Vallone Wants to Stop Peeping Toms (and Tonyas)"

The NYPD decided not to appeal a judge's decision that the NYPD should declassify its surveillance documents from the 2004 RNC, so it has set up a special NYPD RNC Documents website with the documents. Of course, you have to scroll down to the very bottom for a zip file of the 600 pages of documents. And what's above the documents is the NYPD's rather thorough explanation/ defense justifying why it did such extensive surveillance of disparate groups and people, listing various terror incidents between 2001 and the convention as well as other incidents of protest. Here is Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's statement:

“I think a close examination of the documents is going to show that the New York City Police Department did an outstanding job in protecting the City during the Republican National Convention. People wanted to come here and shut down the City, to replicate what happened in Seattle, Montreal and Genoa. We simply didn't let that happen, and I think it'll just underscore the outstanding work of the men and women of the Department. In terms of gathering information, the vast majority of information that was gathered was open-source information. It was gathered from the Internet; these groups that were coming here were advertising what they were going to do — bragging about what they were going to do. It wasn't particularly difficult to get the vast majority of this information.”

Good to know that the NYPD is watching all of us, including MSNBC and the Sierra Club. The NY Times has all the documents plus highlights which people and/or groups were mentioned in the documents. Here are but a few:

ACT UP, Sierra Club, City Council members (Charles Barron, David Weprin, Bill Perkins), Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Johnny Cash Bloc, MSNBC, A31 Coalition, NYCLU, NOW, Planned Parenthood, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Stuyvesant High School Students, Westboro Baptist Church, Indymedia, Democratic National Committee, Coalition of Fire and Police Unions, Grandmothers Against War, Falun Gong, Arab Muslim American Foundation, Time's Up, Billionaires For Bush, United for Peace and Justice, The Surveillance Camera Players, ACLU, Hip Hop Summit Action Network, The Federation of East Village Artists, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, Restaurant Opportunity Center of New York

The NYCLU's executive director Donna Lieberman said, "These documents paint a picture of a surveillance program that was broad, clumsy, and often unlawful. The NYPD failed to differentiate between unlawful behavior and behavior that is not only lawful but should in fact be cherished and protected. Today the public can finally bear witness to that failure." The NYCLU also offers an index of the groups monitored as well as the documents released yesterday, plus others previously released.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board issued a report that finds many police officers are only getting "slaps on the wrist" versus actual punishment after the CCRB brings cases against them. For instance, 75% of police officer who are "reprimanded for such offenses as improper searches usually got instructions on improving their conduct," which is 34% higher than three years ago. The "lenient" punishment is doled out when the offenses do not involve weapons or physical force. The NYPD says that the ability of the public to call 311 and make unsubstantiated complaint has played a part in the increase, though the CCRB says that they didn't think the complaints were to retaliate against certain officers. The Sun offered this explanation of how the CCRB works:

After a complaint is registered with the board, investigators interview witnesses, the complainant, and any police officers mentioned in the complaint. The board, which is made up of five mayoral designees, five City Council designees, and three police commissioner designees, then makes a decision on the case and recommends a level of punishment. Punishment usually ranges from verbal warnings to a period of suspension, known as "command discipline."

Continue reading "Report Says Police Get Off Too Easy"

Protesters unleashed a campaign of demonstrations all over Manhattan yesterday. Aimed at being a day of non-violent, civil disobedience, things actually got much hairier as police tried to clamp down and ended up arresting 900 protesters. Some say the police were being overzealous, even reneging on agreements with protest groups about their protests. The NY Times reported NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman's concerns:

"It's an example of the police suckering the protesters...It was a bait-and-switch tactic, where they approved a demonstration and the protesters kept up their end of the bargain. They undermined people's confidence in the police, and that's a serious problem as we go forward.

Naturally, the Post says demonstrations grew demonic, noting that 16 cops were injured and an intense confrontation with protesters spitting on delegates outside MSG. Gothamist loves the idea of these protests, but we get worried when we hear they get violent - both on the protesters' and police's sides - because that just means less flexibility and working with the police in organizing protests later. Sure, underground protests are effective and disruptive, but there are legitimate concerns about backlash from the heartland hearing soundbites about "demonstrators in NY hurting the delegates." Be good, everyone.