May 29, 2007 9:47 pm US/Eastern
Sean Bell Attorney Wants Federal Investigation
QUEENS (CBS/AP) ―
A lawyer representing the estate of Sean Bell and the family of a motorist fatally shot by an off-duty officer wants the U.S. Attorney's office to investigate the New York Police Department for possible civil rights violations.
Michael Hardy, who's also general counsel for the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, said in a letter Monday to U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia that the NYPD has a history of excessive use of force in minority communities.
"The recent shootings and the history of shootings ... certainly suggest that the NYPD is engaged in a pattern and practice of continuous and systemic violations that have, at minimum, a disparate impact in black and Hispanic communities," Hardy wrote.
The U.S. Attorney's office had no comment Tuesday on the letter.
Chief NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said there was no discrimination, "considering the descriptions of suspects provided by victims of crime," he said.
Hardy's letter cites a 1996 Amnesty International report concluding that police brutality was a problem in the city. It mentions testimony given by New York Civil Liberties Union director Donna Lieberman, who said police misconduct is widespread. Lieberman was testifying before a task force convened after the shooting death of Sean Bell, who was killed in a hail of 50 police bullets on his wedding day in November.
In the Bell case, a Queens grand jury indicted two officers on manslaughter charges and a third officer on a misdemeanor endangerment charge.
"While all agree that the job of New York City police officer is a dangerous and difficult one ... something is terribly wrong within the department which is having a fatal and disproportionate impact within the New York City communities of color," Hardy wrote.
The letter comes 10 days after the death of Fermin Arzu of the Bronx. Arzu, 41, was shot by an off-duty police officer during a confrontation after a hit-and-run car accident. Arzu had smashed into a parked car, then driven away, and authorities said the officer had been trying to stop him from fleeing the scene when he fired his gun.
Browne promised there would be a complete investigation in the Arzu case. "It is already under way," he has said.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
