Stop-and-frisk: Witness felt ‘humiliated,’ hopes for change
theGRIO REPORT - Frantz Jerome is an African-American who is involved in the ongoing stop-and-frisk trial. He tells theGrio about his own experiences being stopped and frisked and how he hopes for change in the practice...
A second ‘humiliating’ account
On a separate occasion over a year ago, Jerome was stopped in what he calls another “humiliating” experience, which has also recounted in a video piece by Yale Law School.
It was around 1 p.m. and Jerome was driving down 161 St. and Grand Concourse in the Bronx. He says he had just picked up his fiancee at the time, Aisha Jordan, who rode in the passenger’s seat. Their friend, and wedding planner, sat in the back.
Soon, Jerome had approached a red traffic light. Moments later, he says a police car pulled up alongside him.
“We were in our car as the police pulled up next to us,” Jerome says. “Then the officers came out, aggressively, and one yelled for me to turn off the car and throw the keys on the dashboard.”
Meanwhile, Jerome says their vehicles had stopped traffic in two lanes on the street.
Three officers had exited the car and stationed themselves directly across from each of the passengers, Jerome says.
“There was an officer at each window,” he says. “I noticed they had also unbuttoned the handle to their firearm.”
From there, Jerome says he, his wife and friend were asked to show ID and registration. During that moment, Jordan says she asked an officer for their cause of reason in being stopped.
“The officer was unresponsive so I told my wife, ‘We didn’t do anything’” Jerome says. “Then the officer said, ‘Don’t say you didn’t do anything.’ I didn’t know what to think of that.”
After scanning their IDs, Jerome says an officer then returned to the car and cited that the tassel he had hanging on the rearview mirror was an obstruction of view.
The tassels were from Jordan’s college graduation ceremony in 2009.
“There was definitely shock, followed by recognition of fear which then became humiliation, which then became anger,” Jerome says, thinking back to the emotions he felt at the time.
Hopes for change as trial nears end
Because of these incidents, and the several others Jerome says he has faced, he has decided to attach his name to the ongoing class action law suit.
Jerome says he has been more vocal in telling his stories to young community members to help raise awareness.
He is also an alumnus of Brotherhood/SisterSol — a comprehensive youth development organization focused on providing support, education and other helpful resources to young people.
Jerome — who says he has never been convicted of any misdemeanor or crime and states that his father is an NYC detective, says in the Yale Law School Video: “I knew my father was a cop so I inherently trusted every cop.”
Now, he says many of those feelings have changed as he joins a large community of blacks and Latinos who have become distrustful of the police.
Debate surrounds enacting inspector general position
As the trial wraps up its sixth week in court, Jerome is hoping it will end in some sort of reform in law enforcement tactics and procedures.
“Ideally, given the history of these things and of this system I can only hope that they create the inspector general position so police can be policed,” Jerome says.
The inspector general position is one that is tied to proposed bill by current NYC mayoral candidates who hope to appoint a representative to act as a watchdog and oversee police practices in the NYPD.
While Jerome believes the position would help monitor law enforcement, Mayor Bloomberg is vowing he will veto the proposal, if needed.
“Make no mistake about it: This bill jeopardizes that progress and will put the lives of New Yorkers and our police officers at risk,” he said, according to an article on NBC New York.
TheGrio has repeatedly contacted NYPD officials and the mayor’s office for comment on the stop-and-frisk practice and has not heard back.
Despite the mayor’s sentiments, Jerome says he still advocates for change in policing and hopes that the NYPD can bring back the community’s trust of the police.
“People need to genuinely feel a sense of safety around police officers and right now, it most certainly does not feel that way.”
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