Thread: Day laborers say cops intimidated

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/sto ... 0248c.html


Day laborers say cops intimidated


BY JIM FITZGERALD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Immigrant day laborers suing a Westchester village over alleged harassment testified yesterday that intimidation by police has often prevented them from getting work on the streets.

Four of the plaintiffs - introduced as John Does No. 1, 4, 7 and 8 - testified at the federal courthouse in White Plains, where the workers are seeking an injunction against harassment, selective law enforcement and discrimination.

John Doe No. 4, a 34-year-old Guatemalan who has spent six years in Mamaroneck, testified that village police Officer Matthew DiRuzza, in particular, "stares at us from behind dark sunglasses, with one hand on his gun" to force laborers from the sidewalk where they solicit work from contractors each morning.

John Doe No. 8, born in El Salvador, said DiRuzza "screams at us, saying that he doesn't want to see us anymore."

All the men described seeing police using checkpoints or other means to dissuade contractors from stopping to pick up laborers. And all told how police have forced them to keep moving along the sidewalks, even when they are not blocking anyone. Several said they had never seen the police do the same to non-Hispanics.

Mamaroneck Police Chief Edward Flynn, a defendant who was in the courtroom, refused to comment.

The plaintiffs' direct testimony, like that of most witnesses, was presented in written statements, and cross-examination is with a Spanish translator available. Judge Colleen McMahon said the procedure would speed up the nonjury trial.

On cross-examination, lawyers for the village brought out that the men had never been ticketed for seeking work, had earned money at their work and were still using Mamaroneck's streets to look for work.

The men were not asked their names or their immigration status. The plaintiffs have said they fear retaliation from police if they give their names.

In addition, their lawyers have dropped all First Amendment claims because McMahon said the workers would have to reveal whether they are legal or illegal immigrants to pursue that action.

Originally published on September 13, 2006

So its okay for your illegal buddies to beat up, rape, murder, & molest American citizens, but you cry foul play when a cop harasses you?

I can't even post up here what i'd say next. The nerve of this!
I think Americans should get together and sue the entire illegal latino community just for being here. I've had enough of these frivelous law suits.
What will they sue for next, trespassing on their sacred aztlan? PUKE!!!
The right to have one's day in court should only allowed to citizens!

Originally Posted by sippy

So its okay for your illegal buddies to beat up, rape, murder, & molest American citizens, but you cry foul play when a cop harasses you?

I can't even post up here what i'd say next. The nerve of this!
I think Americans should get together and sue the entire latino community just for being here, whether they are illegal or not. I've had enough of these frivelous law suits.
What will they sue for next, trespassing on their sacred aztlan? PUKE!!!
The right to have one's day in court should only allowed to citizens!

Sippy:

Would your lawsuit include the over half of LEGAL Latinos that oppose illegal immigration and the Latino's that make up 6% of ALIPAC's support base?

W

W,
Good point. No way, the legal citizens are our allies, and they deserve their citizenship for doing it the right way. I knew I should have proof read that better! I did an edit.

Thank you.

We value our Hispanic / Latino supporters and want everyone to be very cautious to make sure what they are trying to say is not misinterpreted, miscommunicated, or taken out of context.

W

When I lived in CO, I made good friends with a latino
family who owned land in S. central CO. They could
trace their history back to pre-CO statehood. Like a
lot of rural folks in CO, they were good repubs & quite
conservative on some issues. Several of the kids were
vets. You really have to be careful as not to lose the
good guys.

You really have to be careful as not to lose the
good guys.

Absolutely but lets not get PC ridiculous about it either.

No way, the legal citizens are our allies

Cruz Bustamante, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Raul Grijalva to name but a few legal Latinos who are not our allies.

PC ridiculous? I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that.
Anyway, that was a dumb move on my part. I shouldn't be typing responses when I'm in the middle of a t-con! I tend to lose my train of thought that way.

http://www.silive.com/newsflash/metro/i ... st=simetro

Westchester village police chief says he knows of no harassment
9/13/2006, 5:30 p.m. ET
By JIM FITZGERALD
The Associated Press


WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — A village police chief testified Wednesday that he has no firsthand knowledge of any of his officers ever asking a day laborer to move from where he was standing.

Chief Edward Flynn, of the Village of Mamaroneck, was the first defense witness in a federal lawsuit in which six immigrant day laborers are accusing the village of harassment, selective law enforcement and discrimination that prevents them from finding work on the streets.

The chief's testimony contradicted that of the workers, who have claimed scores of incidents in which officers intimidated them into moving, sometimes by putting a hand on a holstered gun.

Flynn said that if any officer did ask a laborer to move, he believed "it would be in order to clear a path if the group was blocking the sidewalk or obstructing pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic flow."

The workers, who are seeking an injunction against the police practices they cited, testified that they are forced to move even when they are not obstructing the sidewalk.

They have also claimed that police are harassing the contractors who try to pick them up on the street, but Flynn said the traffic checkpoints that have been established in the area are unrelated to the laborers' search for work.

The police chief also said that between August 2004 and January 2006, when a parking lot at Columbus Park was used as a laborer pickup site, police received complaints of "drug use, child molestation, public exposures (urination and defecation) and littering" in and near the park, and a double homicide was committed there.

On cross-examination, Flynn said he had no record of the complaints and most were not investigated to see if they were valid.

"When someone makes a complaint we assume they're accurate," he told plaintiffs' lawyer Alan Levine.

The complaints led to an increased police presence, he said, "for the safety of the day laborers, the contractors and the community at large." He also testified that "several day laborers actually stood up and thanked me personally" at a community meeting because they felt safe.

He said that he had never issued or received an order to selectively enforce the village's law based on ethnicity and did not know the ethnicity of the day laborers.

Similarly, Sgt. Gerard Ferraro, supervisor of the bike patrol in the area where day laborers gather, testified that while there was "a strong police presence" in the area, it had nothing to do with the laborers being Latino.

Sgt. Steven Gerardi, who heads the village's traffic unit, said the unit "has never had an assignment specifically related to day laborers" and he has never given or received an order to ticket the contractors. On cross-examination, he testified that although "Day Laborers" was the subject heading on e-mails about traffic enforcement in the area, the e-mail had nothing to do with the workers.

The village trustees closed the parking lot as a pickup site in February 2006, and the workers have since moved to the streets.

The last two of the six plaintiffs, John Doe No. 3 and John Doe No. 6, testified earlier Wednesday though a Spanish interpreter. Their names and their immigration status are not being made public because they fear retaliation.

John Doe No. 3, a 24-year-old Guatemalan, said police often approach groups of Latino men waiting for work "and tell them that they didn't want to see them standing there anymore." He said a policeman once "told me that I could not stand there, and that if I did he would arrest me."

John Doe No. 6, a 36-year-old Mexican immigrant, said, "Police officers use physical intimidation to make us feel not only unwanted but also physically threatened." One officer, he said, stands within 18 inches, crosses his arms and stares and sometimes "places his hand on his gun."

John Doe No. 6, a 36-year-old Mexican immigrant, said, "Police officers use physical intimidation to make us feel not only unwanted but also physically threatened." One officer, he said, stands within 18 inches, crosses his arms and stares and sometimes "places his hand on his gun."

Perhaps you should take the hint, John Doe. Heck, it would be nice if 20 million illegal immigrants would take the hint the American public is trying to send. Exactly what does it take to make these folks feel unwelcome?