Thread: Latin Group Files Bias Complaint Against Suffolk CO. Police

Posted: Tuesday, 25 November 2008 8:20PM

Latino Group Says Suffolk County Is Biased

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) -- A national organization that advocates for Hispanics claimed Tuesday that the Long Island police department that investigated the killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant, allegedly targeted because of his ethnicity, fails to adequately investigate crimes committed by whites against Latinos.

In a nine-page complaint to the U.S. Justice Department, Latino Justice contended that the Suffolk County Police Department discourages Latinos from reporting crimes. Police and county officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but they have repeatedly said since the Nov. 8 killing of Marcelo Lucero that crime victims are not asked about their residency status.

Seven Long Island teenagers have pleaded not guilty to charges including gang assault after police say they surrounded Lucero and another man near the Patchogue train station. The men, police said, were targeted by the group because they were Hispanic, and were only the latest victims in what authorities believe was a marauding spree by the teenagers.

Lucero's companion managed to flee and call for help, but the 37-year-old laborer was killed when he was stabbed once in the chest with an eight-inch folding knife. The 17-year-old accused of inflicting the fatal blow is being held without bail, charged with murder as a hate crime.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota noted the teens admitted targeting another Hispanic man in Patchogue about a half hour before Lucero was killed. Two of the teens also had been involved in a BB-gun shooting of a Hispanic man about 18 hours earlier, and there are reports of other attacks.

``To them, it was sport,'' Spota said, noting one of the defendants told police: ``I don't go out doing this very often, maybe once a week.''

Latino Justice also criticized Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, for advocating various initiatives they contend created a hostile environment for Hispanics in Suffolk County. Levy has signed legislation requiring contractors doing business with the county to verify their employees are in the country legally. He also has supported crackdowns on overcrowded housing, which opponents contend unfairly targeted Hispanics.

A spokesman for Levy said the complaint ``is coming from the same Cesar Perales who said that the county was engaging in racial politics when the county started to notify the federal government about those here illegally who had committed major crimes in Suffolk.''

Perales is the executive director of Latino Justice, formerly known as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said Tuesday the Justice Department is continuing to monitor the situation, but did not elaborate.

The Latino Justice complaint also comes amid an overhaul of top brass in the police precinct that patrols the Patchogue area. Police Commissioner Richard Dormer announced Monday that the highest ranking Hispanic officer in the department was taking over as commander of the Fifth precinct.

He said the decision was based on the ``seriousness of the incidents that have occurred in Patchogue. We want to re-establish communication between the community, the department and the commissioner's office.''

http://www.1010wins.com/Latino-Group-Sa ... ed/3385779

Perales is the executive director of Latino Justice, formerly known as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

With names like this they have to wonder why they are targeted? They shove RACIST down our throats, but that's the pot calling the kettle black! Yes, what happened was a tragedy; but the more they demand rights they are NOT entitled to the more resentment piles on to their "cause".