Press Releases and Statements

Statement in Solidarity with (Un)Occupy Together Protestors in Oakland, NYC and Around the World

Peoples’ Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability (Peoples’ Justice or PJ) stands in solidarity with (Un)Occupy¹ protests in New York City, Oakland, throughout the country and around the world, and with all others who struggle against capitalism, the severe economic inequality it causes, and the unjust systems of oppression (e.g. white-supremacy/racism, patriarchy/sexism, heterosexism/homo- and trans-phobia, xenophobia etc.) that co-arise with it. Furthermore, we stand for the rights of protestors to make their voices heard without fear of repression by police departments that use our tax dollars to protect and defend the wealthy elite (the 1%). These departments do not serve our communities and never have.

In recent weeks, in cities across the US, the police have been deployed to silence and violently suppress protestors and evict encampments. The tear gas, “non-lethal rifles”, and concussion grenades used against Oakland protestors last week were perhaps the worst attack so far, but sadly, not the first and probably not the last. Here in New York City, over the past forty-plus days, we have repeatedly witnessed the New York Police Department (NYPD) attacking people exercising their right to assemble. They have used pepper spray, batons, fists and unjust arrests against protestors since the beginning of Occupy Wall Street, most recently severly beating several protestors who were marching in solidarity with Oakland. Through these actions the police in Oakland and New York have only demonstrated that they do not serve the people.

Peoples' Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability

Statement on the NYPD Killing of Iman Morales

Peoples' Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability condemns the killing of Iman Morales by the NYPD last Wednesday afternoon in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Like the shooting deaths of Sean Bell and Jayson Tirado by NYPD officers, Mr. Morales death sends yet another message that the lives of people of color in New York City are expendable. Furthermore, it is another example of the NYPD's disregard and disrespect of people with disabilities.

Incidents such as the killings of Eleanor Bumpers, Gideon Busch, Khiel Coppin, and now Iman Morales are evidence of the NYPD's blatant dehumanization of people with mental disabilities. Peoples' Justice supports the call of Rights for Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities' (RIPPD) for the NYPD to make use of crisis intervention teams. Such teams, which exist in other parts of the country and have been used with great success, are well trained in non-lethal de-escalation techniques and are prepared to deal with similar situations without the use of TASERs or any other weapons. These teams also always have mental health clinicians on-site, who are prepared to offer treatment, not abuse, to emotionally disturbed individuals.

Download People's Justice Announcement of Copwatcy (PDF)

click to download the press release (PDF)

Peoples' Justice, Coalition of NYC-based Grassroots Anti-Police Brutality Organizations, Launches City-Wide CopWatch at 1 Police Plaza

PJ Says: The Eyes of New Yorkers are On the Police

June 12, 2008, New York, NY – Peoples' Justice, a coalition of New York City grassroots organizations formed to combat police violence and misconduct, launched a city-wide Copwatch program today. The CopWatch program involves groups of people monitoring police activity in neighborhoods that are heavily policed by the NYPD. The monitoring involves videotaping police actions with the goal of preventing police misconduct, as well as documenting abuses in an effort to insure accountability. PJ's CopWatch program will also focus on informing New Yorkers on their rights through Know Your Rights trainings that will offer practical advice on how to deal with police encounters. In addition, PJ will offer training to residents on how to form their own neighborhood CopWatch-style programs. The program, a multi-racial, multi-gendered effort, will begin immediately in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with plans to employ teams in the remaining boroughs in July.

click to download the press release (PDF)

NYPD Announces Operation Torch on Same Day Judge Gave a Pass to Cops in 50-shot Death of Sean Bell

Peoples’ Justice Denounces New Program

May 14, 2008, New York – On Friday, April 25, 2008, the NYPD announced their latest effort in so-called "terrorism" prevention – Operation Torch. In this new federally-funded program, NYPD officers will be equipped with automatic assault rifles and bomb-sniffing dogs and will patrol subways and platforms. In addition, the money received from the federal government will be used to buy the latest in surveillance technology, including new surveillance cameras. Peoples' Justice – a coalition of grassroots groups organizing against police violence – issued the following statement denouncing the new program:

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Coalition of NYC-based Grassroots Anti-Police Brutality Organizations Condemns Judge's Failure to Convict Cops Who Killed Sean Bell: 50 Bullets But the Judge Misses Badly

Peoples Justice Says: All Cases of Police Brutality, Past and Present, Must Be Investigated By Independent Prosecutor

April 25, 2008 - Today, after nearly two months of one of the most controversial police murder trials in New York City's history, Judge Arthur Cooperman announced that he found the NYPD police officers who killed Sean Bell and seriously wounded his friends Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman not guilty on all charges. Peoples' Justice (PJ) - a broad coalition of NYC-based grassroots organizations fighting police brutality - is deeply outraged by the verdict and calls on all New Yorkers to come out to the Queen's D.A. office today for a rally demanding justice for Sean Bell and for all victims of police brutality in New York City.

"This scandalous verdict is another reminder that the courts will fail the people of New York City over and over again when it comes to trying police violence," said PJ member Latanya White of Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. "While people of color, immigrants, and queer people are brutalized by the police and left with physical and emotional scars, the police continue to get off easy. It's outrageous."

Peoples' Justice is appalled by the Queens District Attorney's lackluster prosecution of the officers, which many observers and attorneys believe contributed to the acquittals, and demands that this case be re-tried by federal prosecutors based on civil rights violations. Furthermore, Peoples' Justice calls for an independent prosecutor in all past and present cases of police misconduct and violence.

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