A Whisper on the Grand Concourse

The New York Times reveals that Rob Johnson, District Attorney of The Bronx, has been doing a little something about the city's dreaded stop & frisk practice.

In a significant blow to New York City’s use of stop-and-frisk tactics, the Bronx district attorney’s office is no longer prosecuting people who were stopped at public housing projects and arrested for trespassing, unless the arresting officer is interviewed to ensure that the arrest was warranted.

Prosecutors quietly adopted the policy in July after discovering that many people arrested on charges of criminal trespass at housing projects were innocent, even though police officers had provided written statements to the contrary.

When FritzMuffknuckle sent me a link to the story, he called it a start.  He's not alone.

Steven Banks, the chief lawyer of the Legal Aid Society in New York, said that the new requirement put “a procedure in place to verify that the stop and subsequent arrest were proper.”

“This is exactly what prosecutors should be doing before proceeding with criminal prosecutions — namely making sure that formulaic statements by police officers actually have some basis to support the arrest and prosecution,” Mr. Banks said.

But is that "exactly" what prosecutors should be doing?  And if it is, should they be doing so "quietly"? It's stories like this that cause me a great deal of consternation. On the one hand, any movement away from unlawful and unconstitutional conduct is a good thing.  The specifics of this shift, trespassing at public housing, was rife with outrageous abuse, though it never seemed to play out that way at arraignment.

Yet, it gives rise to another issue that can't be ignored. Dang, I hate to raise it and seem like an ingrate, but if Rob gets it here, which by definition means that he knows cops are feedings him lies for kicks under penalty of perjury (as the information they sign says so), then why isn't he prosecuting the criminals?

And why is he doing all this quietly, when they know how to call a sweet press conference for the arrest of criminals who don't wear blue?

And if they're lying on trespass cases, what about the dropsy cases, or the "furtive movement" cases, or the assault cases where the defendant's nose viciously struck the cop's fist?

Steven Reed, a spokesman for the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, said that the new policy of requiring interviews of officers “was discussed with the offices of the other district attorneys and the N.Y.P.D.,” but he would not comment further because of continuing litigation.

So the other DAs have chosen to persist in prosecuting cases based on lies?  And they know they're lies, yet they continue to pursue arrests? And lie to the courts? 

That Rob Johnson has chosen to pull away from this horribly wrong stop & frisk policy, even in such a small way as this, is a wonderful thing, for which I applaud him. But a principled position requires the principle to be played out all the way, or it's not really principled.  If it's not okay to fabricate complaints at will, then it's not okay, whether it's about trespassing or public display of pot after the cop pulls it from your pants pocket.

Recently, all the metropolitan district attorneys were riding tall in the saddle to proclaim how they're paragons of constitutional virtue. Rob Johnson was right in there with the brotherhood (and their wayward sister trying to horn in on the easy publicity).  They weren't shy about going public. There was nothing quiet about it.  They claimed to know right from wrong, and they were thrilled to shout that they were RIGHT!!!

So why not now?  Why is this one being held close to the vest? Why no press releases? No marching bands? No planes writing in the sky that the Constitution isn't entirely dead in The Bronx!

And what about Brooklyn?  Does Chuck Hynes say that Rob Johnson is an idiot?  Or Manhattan?  Will Cy Vance refuse to sit next to Rob at prosecutor lunches?  Same with Happy Hour?

Yet, my purpose isn't to chastise the district attorney for having moved in the right direction, even if there remains a great deal of work to be done, both within his own house as well as the houses of others.  But I'm not ready to build him a statue yet either.

Yeah, this is a tough one.  And stop & frisk continues to result in the noses of young men meeting the tan brick facade of once-grand houses on a once Grand Concourse in The Bronx.  A very tough one indeed.

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