Clairvoyant Cops: NYC Gang Bill a Step in Wrong Direction
By Charisa Smith
February 18, 2010
It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to see a new series called Psychic Cops launched on A&E, considering recent gang-related legislation passed by the New York City Council. After all, its Psychic Kids series about inherited psychic abilities is already a hit. In this new series, cameras could follow New York Police Department officers who City Council members apparently believe are so clairvoyant that they can tell when a group of people is a gang. Even more remarkably, these “psychic” police officers could decipher whether this group of people committing an alleged crime were involved in a gang initiation.
This scenario is as ridiculous as it sounds. But it has become a reality in New York City, where on Feb. 11 the city council passed in a vote of 38-9 the bill Intro 1-2010, which creates a new Class A Misdemeanor penalty for “criminal street gang initiation.” The bill defines a “street gang” as “a formal or informal group of three or more persons who engage in certain activities, one of which involves a criminal purpose.” A person charged under the law would face up to one year in jail for the initiation of a person into a criminal street gang if it created “a substantial risk of physical injury.” To convict, prosecutors do not have to prove with witness testimony that an injury took place during the gang initiation. The bill’s sponsors proudly tout the fact that law enforcement would not need the testimony of a victim to prove this crime occurred.
A hypothetical look at this law in action conveys our city’s dilemma. An African-American male stands by his apartment building, speaking informally and animatedly with three African-American male friends. Their conversation is casual and none of the young men are gang-affiliated. But their predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhood has been labeled a gang hotspot by the NYPD, and members of their community are stopped and frisked regularly. Suddenly, a police car screeches to a stop and two officers jump out, their guns drawn and yelling. They arrest the young men and charge them with “gang initiation activity.” The young men vehemently argue that they were not committing a crime, and that the police have no proof of any gang activity. But their case goes to trial, and without a witness needed to attest to what was taking place that day, all the young men face one year in jail under Intro 1-2010.
Scenarios similar to this one take place in cities that have implemented similar gang-related legislation. Sponsors of the New York City law, including council members Maria del Carmen Arroyo, Peter F. Vallone Jr., and Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., and Speaker Christine C. Quinn, are trusting that NYPD officers can properly perceive a group’s “criminal purpose”; the actions comprising a “gang initiation”; and a risk of injury to another person without having witnessed any acts and without intensive fact-gathering, let alone an actual inquiry of the people involved.
This overarching faith in police raises deep Constitutional issues about potentially wrongful arrests without probable cause, and unfairly lowered burdens of proof for prosecutors at trial. I am currently the Coordinator of the New York Task Force on Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System, a coalition that has worked for the past two years to communicate with decision-makers in governmental agencies including the NYPD to eliminate the overuse of juvenile arrest, incarceration and racially biased policies and practices. Police officers from diverse parts of the City have expressed a desire to use different, more constructive strategies than arrest. While the police often have the chance to stop crime with resourcefulness rather than handcuffs, NYPD policies already leave little leeway for alternatives; and Intro 1-2010 makes their job more difficult.
It is more than likely the NYPD and prosecutors will fall short of the new law’s expectations. The city’s district attorneys stated in testimony that the definitions of gang-related crimes as presented by the bill were imprecise and overly broad. The result would mean shifting valuable human and financial resources away from the few individuals who actually commit gang-related crimes to the many who may be perceived to be, wrongly. Intro 1-2010 will widen the net of “suspects” — which undoubtedly adversely affects low-income communities of color who are already subject to intensive police scrutiny — while also failing to address the root causes of criminal gang activity.
Furthermore, the bill is another step in the wrong direction during a budget crisis. By dictating that “criminal street gang initiation” activity is now punishable by up to one year in jail, New York City will be adding to the exorbitant cost of detention, which is currently $200,000 per year per youth. What is the social cost of this price? Recidivism rates as high as 81 percent for girls and 89 percent for boys. By comparison, community-based programs cost as little as $10,000 per year per youth, yield recidivism rates as low as 15 percent, and teach youth the skills they need to become productive and law-abiding.
Community-based and faith-based organizations have the ability to respond to young people’s need to feel protected in their communities by offering a network of supportive, involved adults and positive peers. These groups need resources including funding and property. The City can respond to the lack of recreation in low-income areas by funding, and investing in, creative after-school and evening programs and safe spaces for youth, including alternatives to detention and incarceration. And we New Yorkers can help the City tackle unemployment by creating partnerships between the private sector, the public sector, and communities, which would enable individuals in need of job opportunities the chance to make money lawfully. Drug treatment programs are also necessary to deter young people from joining gangs; and with these solutions, we will see more vulnerable youth steering clear from gang culture while still feeling safe.
Harassment, criminal mischief, assault, and other crimes that could be involved in gang initiations are already illegal, according to Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., chair of the Public Safety Committee, and prosecutors who testified at a City Council hearing. Intro 1-2010 simply tacks on expensive and unproductive jail time to currently punishable crimes. Instead, New York City should invest in true crime prevention, gang deterrence and community empowerment measures.
Why implement Intro 1-2010 when we know it will not keep the public safe and will not address the true problem of gangs in our City?
Charisa Smith is the Coordinator of the New York Task Force on Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System, an effort directly supported by the W. Haywood Burns Institute. To interview/book Charisa Smith and other members of the New York Task Force on Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System, please contact her directly at info@charisasmith.com
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