The public hearings, which began in January and are jointly sponsored by Council’s Public Safety and Civil Rights committees, were assembled in response to the Nov. 2006 incident in which Bell, 23, and his friends Joseph Guzman, 31, and Trent Benefield, 23, all of whom were unarmed, were shot in a hail of fifty bullets fired by five plainclothes NYPD detectives outside the Kalua Cabaret in the Jamaica section of Queens.
The first Council hearing, a sometimes-testy session at City Hall which featured testimony from Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly on an assortment of NYPD policies including the rule allowing undercover detectives to consume a two alcoholic drinks while on duty, was followed by another public inquiry on March 9, which examined the efficiency of oversight agencies like the Civilian Complaint Review Board and the Internal Affairs Bureau.
Two more hearings are planned, including one that will probe the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy using recently disclosed data that showed that more than 500,000 people were stopped by police officers last year. In addition, both Council committees continue to hold police-related public assemblies at venues throughout the five boroughs. According to Councilmember Peter Vallone (D-Queens), chairman of the public safety committee, the forums have provided a worthwhile outlet for both fact-finding and airing grievances from neighborhood residents.
"They’ve been going very well. These hearings are designed to learn from the Sean Bell tragedy," Vallone said. "And we’d also like to try and open up new lines of communication between the NYPD and members of the community because most problems that exist now come from a lack of communication."
The police officers, who had the nightclub under surveillance over a range of apparent violations, maintain that they witnessed a confrontation involving Bell and his friends on the verge of escalation, and further perceived a threat after Bell struck an unmarked police van with his Nissan Altima. Both Guzman and Benefield, however, insist that detectives failed to identify themselves when they approached Bell’s vehicle with their weapons drawn and opened fire. Detectives Michael Oliver, who fired 31 shots, and Gescard Isnora, who shot 11 bullets, both face first- and second-degree manslaughter charges, while Detective Marc Cooper received a second-degree reckless endangerment charge.
After a recent forum at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, Anthony Moore, 27, said he hopes that the hearings can produce tangible results. "I’ve heard a lot of politicians talk and talk, so we’ll see what happens," he says. "I know all police officers aren’t bad, but sometimes I feel that when I see one on the street and make eye contact, then I’m asking for trouble. Something needs to be done for police officers to show respect to the young black men they come across and not treat them like criminals."
But the hearings have also drawn intense criticism from detractors in various quarters. “We have no confidence in [Council Speaker] Christine Quinn, [Bronx Councilmember and chairman of the civil rights committee] Larry Seabrook or Peter Vallone," says Noel Leader, retired NYPD sergeant and co-founder of the group 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement Who Care. "Before they even took testimony at the first hearing, they’re commending the police commissioner for an excellent job instead of taking an objective stance. The hearings are a farce because they’ve already made their conclusions."
