Racial Profiling Alive and Well in Rochester, NY (VIDEO)

Rochester, NY's Boys in Blue

By Davy V.

If you're black in Rochester, NY you're likely to be racially profiled, illegally searched, thrown to the ground, and have your constitutional rights violated by Rochester, NY Police officers.

All for being BWW.

Black While Walking.

Rochester, NY Police Mobile Command Unit
conducting intense racial profiling.

With the weather finally breaking, and temperatures rising, Rochester, NY Police will no doubt intensify their "Operation Cool Down", which former Rochester, NY Police Chief James Sheppard introduced a couple of years ago, and which basically gives already, prejudiced, and racist white RPD officers, even more of an excuse to racially profile minorities.

“If you’re riding a bike and it doesn’t have a bell, we’re going to stop you. If it doesn’t have lights, we’re going to stop you. Tail light’s out – we’re going to stop you, If you’re on a corner and we think you’re engaged in criminal activity, we’re going to stop you," former Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard said last year.

Two Rochester, NY Police officers
profile African-Americans
with the assistance of camera above.

“We're going to be clearing corners. We're going to be checking for guns. We're going to be doing the traffic stops and the bike stops, all those things because we know we have to set the tone and set it early,” Sheppard said.

And, although at first it sounds like good, proactive police work, what the Rochester Police department, and City officials, including mayor Lovely Warren don't want taxpayers to know, is just how many innocent citizens ate being racially profiled, harassed, and abused in inner city neighborhoods, simply for being Black While Walking.

Or Black While Riding.

Or Black While Driviing.

Or, as was the case with Benny Warr, an African-American, disabled, one-legged amputee who was picked up off his motorized wheelchair, slammed to the sidewalk, pepper sprayed and beaten by white Rochester, NY Police officers while waiting for the city bus, BLACK WHILE STANDING.

The video below shows a preview of what African-Americans can expect as the weather gets nicer.

It shows a black young man laying flat on a sidewalk on Thurston Rd., handcuffed, while at least one white Rochester Police officer searches him, before putting him on the back of a police cruiser, Monday afternoon.

To all the African-Americans who voted for Lovely Warren, Rochester, NY's first African-American female mayor, just know, that Lovely Warren is not only fully aware of the Rochester Police department racially profiling African-Americans, but even more disturbing, she completely approves of it.

Click Play to watch video

Click Play to watch video of Rochester, NY Police officers Anthony Liberatore, Joseph Ferrigno, and Mitchell Stewart II, beating disabled, one-legged amputee


 



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Rochester, NY Police Profile, Illegally Detain, Harass and Assault Musician

Harry Allen

By Davy V.

If you've been to open mic nights at Johnny's Irish Pub on Culver Rd. in Rochester, NY, you may have seen Harry Allen.

The cowboy hat wearing musician enjoys occasionally playing the harmonica on open mic

Thursdays.

Last Thursday night, Harry was walking home after playing at Johnny's, when he was stopped by two Rochester, NY Police officers, on Merchants Rd.

"I was doing no harm, just walking home," said Allen.

"They pulled up alongside me as I was walking down the sidewalk, they asked me what I was doing, where I was going and asked for ID, I politely said I was just going home and that I lived just around the corner and attempted to proceed walking."

"They (the officers) rushed around me, grabbed me and asked me for my 'papers'", Harry said, adding, "Again, I repeated 'I'm just going home', and did not have to show them anything."

"They forcibly grabbed me, and took my backpack, after I told them they were only harmonicas and proceeded to search my person, reaching into my pockets, practically pulling my pants down, grabbed my wallet, searching every little pocket, then found my ID."

"Unfortunately I had an outstanding bench warrant due to a missed court date for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle."

Allen was arrested and taken to jail, where he was bailed out a few hours later.

Ok, let me make something clear here.

Harry Allen was doing nothing wrong when he was walking home after a night of playing his harmonica.

The Rochester Police officers who stopped him, as he was walking home, had no probable cause to stop him.

And given the Rochester, NY Police department's history of profiling, illegally detaining, and falsely arresting innocent people, I have next to no doubt that those officers didn't have ANY reasonable suspicion that Allen was either committing a crime (HE WAS SIMPLY WALKING), or about to commit a crime (HE WAS SIMPLY WALKING), or that he had committed a crime, all necessary for a police officer to detain someone.

What poor Harry didn't know is that once stopped by the Rochester Police officers, he should have immediately asked them a simple question.

"Am I being detained?"

This forces the officer(s) to either say yes, or no.

If the officer(s) respond "yes", then Harry Allen's next question to tend officer(s) should have been:

"For what crime?"

Actually although I don't recommend getting sarcastic with a low I.Q., overzealous trigger-happy Rochester, NY cop, a better question wold be: "For what? Walking?"

I guess technically that's two questions... but who's counting?

If on the other hand, when Harry asks the officer(s) "Am I being detained?", if the officer(s) respond "No", then Harry would have been bake to simply walk away.

Of course, in Harry's case, he had the outstanding warrant, which again, had NOTHING to do with the fact that the Rochester Police officers illegally, and unconstitutionally stopped him, WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE.

NOTE: ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS IN THE EVENT THAT YOU, OR YOUR LOVED ONE IS STOPPED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

Again, Harry Allen was doing NOTHING wrong.

The fact that Allen happened to have an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor, had nothing to do with the fact that the RPD officers stopped him.

He wasn't driving.

He was walking.

And the cops didn't know he had a warrant when they profiled him, and decided to stop him.

In fact, it wasn't until the officers found Allen's ID, then ran a '29' on Allen, which basically means inputting his name in their database, that they learned that Allen had an outstanding warrant.

But up until that point, the Rochester Police officers had NO probable cause to stop, let alone detain Allen.

The officers obviously profiled Allen.

They saw a man, walking late at night, wearing a cowboy hat, and carrying a backpack, and they stopped him.

Once again, the Rochester, NY Police department lives up to their well known history and reputation of profiling, harassing, and abusing innocent citizens.

Like a guy wearing a cowboy hat, waking down the street, minding his own business.

I mean in a city known as the “Murder Capital of New York State", where murderers, and rapists roam the streets as cold case files fill some Rochester Police file cabinet, it's so reassuring to see that Rochester Police officers would rather misuse our hard earned taxpayer dollars harassing some harmonica playing, middle age man walking home, than catch real criminals.

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