Chief vows to improve day laborer pickup site

By Stephen P. Clark
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/18/2008 01:00:00 AM EDT


STAMFORD - In his second meeting with day laborers and their supporters Friday, Police Chief Brent Larrabee described a "no-hassle zone" as ineffectual because there is no place for contractors to park.

The pickup site is along North State Street under Interstate 95 near Lafayette Street. Larrabee told about 20 laborers at that he will work with state and federal authorities to implement changes, such as taking down the "no parking" signs there.

"The chief's feeling is there are some inherent problems with the situation as it is," said Lt. Sean Cooney, a police spokesman.

Contractors prefer to pick up day laborers at South State and Elm streets near the I-95 entrance ramp because it's easier for them to get on the highway, Cooney said.

The designated pickup site is an enclosed area that intimidates some contractors when there is a large group of laborers there, he said.

"They prefer not to go down there," he said.

But the problem with South State and Elm streets, police said, is laborers dart into traffic to negotiate with contractors, posing a danger to themselves and motorists. Laborers also wait for contractors on East Main Street, drawing complaints from members of the East Side Partnership, a merchant and business group.

Cooney said Larrabee can't remove the parking signs himself because federal and state authorities don't want cars parking underneath overpasses after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"It continues to be a complicated problem, because the decisions are not within the control of the local government," said Stamford Partnership President Kathleen Walsh, who arranged both meetings. "We agreed we would keep working on it."
Walsh said they would meet again next month.

Before Larrabee first met with day laborers last month, they complained that police were forcing them into the no-hassle area by blaring their sirens, attacking them with pepper spray, poking them with batons and transporting them out of town.

Larrabee assured them at that meeting that they would not be harassed by police if they stayed within the no-hassle zone or out of the street. He said the laborers would not suffer retaliation for filing complaints against the police.

Last week, day laborer Juan Turcios-Ruiz filed a complaint against the police for driving him in a patrol car to Norwalk, where he said they confiscated his identification card from the consulate of his native Guatemala.

According to a copy of the complaint, obtained by The Advocate, Turcios was walking toward Dunkin' Donuts on Elm Street when an officer pulled up in a cruiser, jumped out and grabbed him by his sweatshirt and shouted, "Do you have some sort of a problem with me!"

The officer then pushed him into the back of the cruiser and dropped him off at an exit near the Darien/Norwalk line, according to the complaint. Police have not received the complaint, Cooney said.

Day laborers said they are not being harassed as much as they were before their meeting with Larrabee. Two different officers have been assigned to that area, but one of them has been verbally abusing them, the laborers said.

"While they are very happy that the criminal police activities are no longer being perpetrated, there is a female officer on the beat who continues to curse them out with the most vulgar language," said city Rep. Philip Berns, D-16, an immigration attorney who was ticketed last month for illegal parking as he tried to videotape police activity near the zone.

"We will entertain and investigate any complaint made by anyone about any officer," Cooney said. "But these vague anonymous accusations don't help the situation."

In regards to the pickup zone, Cooney said, "There's obviously no solution to satisfy all parties. The police department gets a lot of complaints from merchants, and we have to deal with that. And we have to recognize the day laborers are here, and the city has made certain arrangements to let them gather in certain spots. The contractors are desirous of employing them, so it's problem that's not going away.

"But for now, to ask officers to move them around is not a good long-term solution. I don't know what the answer is," he said. "We're going to have to work with our colleagues on the state and federal level and put our heads together and work on the problem. I don't think we have any specific things we are going to do in the immediate future other than talk to the people involved."

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