Still, the use of hollow-point bullets will be one of the issues examined at the upcoming Council hearings – even though it is the number of shots, not their type, that is mainly at issue in the Bell case. “You never want to put police officers in a position where they’re in a gun fight with people who have superior weaponry,” says Vallone. “But public safety concerns also have to be addressed, so this is something we’re going to take testimony on.”
Community Relations and Policing: No examination into NYPD policies, criminal justice advocates say, will be complete without a closer look at the role of race. While some of the officers involved in the Bell shooting are themselves black or Latino, it is widely contended that men of color are still disproportionately stopped and frisked or subjected to greater force.
“After Diallo, there was a package of legislation in the New York state assembly that sought to address some of those concerns, but it failed to become actual law,” Councilmember Monserrate said. “Sometimes when you’re taking a firm stand on advancing civil liberties, you’re branded as anti-law enforcement. I believe that cops have to go after the bad guys without shooting innocent people. Those concepts don’t conflict with one another.”
According to Noel Leader from 100 Blacks, the NYPD in recent years has emphasized the number of arrests and summonses issued at the expense of forging solid community relations in predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods. “We see harassment on a daily basis, and there’s a level of disrespect that trickles down from the top,” Leader said.
But the Bell incident could serve as a chance for both a wide-ranging conversation on the nature of policing, and for systemic change, contends O’Donnell of John Jay. “After Diallo, we saw all the angst and anger and people moved on,” he says. “Talking about policy isn’t sexy, but there’s a real opportunity here for us to try to fix many of the things that are broken in our criminal justice system.”
