On the morning after an intensive three day internal leadership development conference/retreat, Brother Andres Perez and I attended this event as representatives of Picture The Homeless.

I continue to find certain aspects of our Anti-Stop and Frisk campaign troublesome, to wit; Have we framed this social/legal debate in our collective best interest?

Have we shot ourselves in the foot? Sisters and Brothers PLEASE note that the Supreme Court of these United States has previously ruled on the legality and constitutionality of Stop and Frisk, Police v Citizen street encounters; in a discision  called TERRY V. OHIO; when a much more liberial Supreme Court body sat  upon its bench. Accordingly, so long as my organization P.T.H. sends me to represent the Picture The Homeless perspective with respect to this issue, our allies can look forward to my sometimes disruptive hand going into the air. {Roberts Rules Of Order}  It is not in our collective best interest to continue to lump the currently legal stops /frisks I.E. Citizens V. Police street encounters , are thrown in with illegal racial profiling and overall illegal., unconstitutional law enforcement behavior.

It has been reported, that in 2011, there were more than 555,000 quality of life summonses issued to citizens of New York City. I beg the question: HOW MANY OF THESE STOPS WERE OUTSIDE OF THE PREVIEW, THE MANDATE, OF TERRY V. OHIO?  I would respectfully argue that Terry V. Ohio, neither sanctions or condones RACIAL PROFILING OR ANY STREET ENCOUNTER THAT IS NOT BASED UPON EXIGENT CURCUMSTANCES AND PUBLIC SAFETY!

IT is ONLY when these situations exist that Terry says that Law Enforcement Agents are free to proceed absent a warrant , or reasonable suspicion! Terry speaks of situations and circumstances pursuant to which a prudent person, with experience, after some concrete observation would conclude that “A CRIME HAS BEEN, OR IS ABOUT TO BE COMMITTED!”

Accordingly, we members of this history-making “COMMUNITIES UNITED FOR POLICE REFORM, must consider that at the time when Terry V. Ohio was rendered, there were no Giuliani  time so called quality of life OFFENSES, key word , OFFENSES……….So the question emerges…..ARE AGENTS OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT on firm CONSTITUTIONAL grounds, when they engage a citizen upon the streets of New York City, for an allegded Anti-Social act, which is LESS THAN A CRIME, WITHOUT EITHER PROBABLE CAUSE,. OR REASONABLE SUSPICION!

Sisters and Brothers, we are not Joshua, and contemtemporary New York City is not Jericho. We cannot merely march,chant, beat drums and blow whistles, until the walls of police-state oppression come tumbling down,My fellow Board member and Union Theological poverty scholar in residence Mr. Willie Baptist says  it best, “A DUMB OPPRESSED PEOPLE WILL NEVER OVERTHROW A SMART OPPRESSOR.”At each and every town hall gathering that  WE CONVENE , WE MUST DISTRIBUTE “Cop Watch” tee shirts , to EVERY COMMITTED  ADULT. Our adversaries must be made to see hundreds if not thousands of these tee shirts upon our streets!

We must find a way to attract district board members as well as members of neighborhood block associations to these future town hall meetings ,so that monitoring police behavior becomes a twenty-four-seven community activity! We MUST  find a way to distribute our anti-Stop And  Frisk buttons to our youth of color , block by block, avenue by avenue-----This mobilization will cause our adversaries to pause and to rethink their frontal assault upon our distressed communities. This demonstration of solidarity in conjunction with ongoing litigation will slow down the population control freaks from the Rand Corp. The Manhattan Institute; and the Heritage Foundation, while we collectively implement more concrete life-saving reforms.

Somewhere along the road to progressive police refoprm we absolutely MUST form a grass-roots citizens study group to reevaluate our present city charter----The level of corruption and illegal police behavior that exists in  our current city government has not been seen since Teddy Rosevelt  was this city's Police Commissioner , mere cosmetic adjustments will not provede the progressive reform that disproportionately communities of color in this city need to insure their survival. Rest assured we won’t cure a color-centric problem with a non-color centric W.A.S.P. solution.My personal  message to all global communities of color, across the Afro-diasporia  is  !UNITE OR PERISH.

I Submit that pursuant to the present city charter:

The Mayor has too much police power that never enhances the “COMMON GOOD”, but always focuses upon making the business community feel safe and secure. Secondly, the Speaker of our City Council has far too much power over the disbursement of discretionary funds----its  current use rewards ignoring the COMMON GOOD, while rewarding special interests groups.

I hope that the concerns and the perceptions expressed above are not viewed as distractions or expressions of divisiveness----on the contrary the above are expressions of genuine concern that I bring before this august group[ for due consideration and deliberation.

                Respectfully

               Jean Rice

         Andres Perez

        Board Members

       PICTURE THE HOMELESS