Page 2 - 7-17-15 Friday's Edition

Features
More Than 200 Attend Forum Held By Justice Department
BY LEON B. CREWS
Sentinel Staff Writer
On April 17, 2015, St. Pe- tersburg Times published a se- ries of articles entitled, “How riding your bicycle can land you in trouble with police if you’re Black.”
In the article, the writers said Tampa Police had written bicycle riders 2,504 tickets, more than Jacksonville, Miami, St. Petersburg and Orlando combined.
The response from the Tampa Police Department at that time was that it was gung ho about bicycle safety and fo- cused on stopping bicycle thefts.
The article said police failed to point out that 8-out-of-10 bi- cycle riders ticketed were African American. The subse- quent investigation by the writ- ers revealed that police were targeting poor, Black neighbor- hoods with obscure subsections of a Florida statute that outlaws things most people have tried on a bicycle, like riding with no light or carrying a friend on the handlebars.
The news report was that Tampa Police officers were using minor violations as an excuse to stop, question and search almost anyone riding a bicycle. They also said the po- lice department didn’t just con- done the acts, but encouraged them by pushing officers who patrol high crime areas to do as many as possible.
The article went on to say that more than 10,000 bicycle tickets had been issued in the past dozen years, with 79% of them being issued to African Americans.
After that article was pub- lished, city officials reportedly asked the Department of Jus- tice and COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) to investigate the story.
On Tuesday night at the
Joe Robinson and the Mas- ter of Ceremony for the forum, Jim Letter.
Mainstage Theater on the cam- pus of Hillsborough Commu- nity College-Ybor, more than 200 people attended what was advertised as a “community lis- tening” forum where a panel listened to complaints and sto- ries from citizens who have been confronted unjustly by police. Also, advocates of the police department’s bicycle ci- tation policy spoke.
Joe Robinson, Vice-Pres- ident of the Tampa-Hillsbor- ough NAACP, started off the public comments by stating that there were no African Americans on the panel of five people.
“This is definitely a race issue and we do want the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department to act on this issue.
“It should also be noted that there’s no documentation of how the meeting was called, and maybe officers need to start handing out manuals on the laws of riding a bicycle. I was stopped for driving while Black, and I was verbally abused by the officer who hap- pened to be Hispanic. I took the incident as an attempt by the officer to give him an ex- cuse to arrest me or worse.”
Robinson said he has pre- pared a letter to be sent to Po- lice Chief Eric Ward requesting data that will allow the NAACP to work with the
youth, college students and adult population.
“We are requesting data pertaining to citations issued, date and time of the citations, the location and zip code of where the citations were is- sued, ethnicity of the people given the citations, gender age, the identity of the officers, and the disposition of the cases.”
Disabled Veteran, Preston Scofield, said he feels he has no rights as a resident of Tampa.
“I was stopped by police, and my car was taken away. After they discovered they had made a mistake, I tried to get my car back, and they don’t know where it is. All I’ve been getting is the runaround.”
Civil Rights Attorney, Mike Maddux, said there needs to be change and police policing themselves has to stop.
“Officers react to people be- cause they have attitudes. There’s no law against that and officers escalate situations to provide negative attitudes and give them a reason to arrest you.”
Community activist, Con- nie Burton said it’s all about control, not bicycles.
“This is just another tool police claim they’re using to deal with crime. People ride their bicycles along Bayshore at night without lights, and they aren’t stopped and asked to show proof they own the bicy- cle, nor are they being cited for not having lights.
“The police come into the
Black community like gang- busters, and there is a double- standard in the way they treat us and whites, because if they treated whites the way they treat us, they know there would be consequences. I’m tired of Black people having reunions at the courthouse.”
Andrew Joseph, Jr.,
whose son was killed after he was ejected from the Florida State Fair last year, said racial profiling is what’s going on and he knows it well, because he saw it every day in his native New Orleans.
“I think there is a mission in Florida to keep the prisons full, and it’s Black people taking up the residency.”
Dr. Kurt Young, son of Arthur Green, Jr., who died while in police custody said he thinks this is much broader
than bicycle riding.
“I think this is about what’s
going on in Black communities at the hands of police. I know all too well how inhuman police treat Black people because of what happened to my father. Don’t insult our intelligence by acts like this of having you guys come and listen to us.”
The panelists said they would compile all of the infor- mation gained from Tuesday night’s meeting, and would re- lease a report by the end of the year on their findings.
Several people in atten- dance agreed with Robinson that this case should be in the hands of the Civil Rights Divi- sion.
If anyone has additional questions about the meeting, please visit the website, www.vcpionline.org.
Pedestrian Lying In Road Dies From Injuries
CONNIE DR. KURT PRESTON ATTY. MICHAEL ANDREW BURTON YOUNG SCOFIELD MADDUX JOSEPH, JR.
A 23-year-old Tampa woman died Sunday after being struck by a minivan. Po- lice said the driver did not see her.
According to the Hillsbor- ough County Sheriff’s Office, Ms. Gloria Willemae Johnson, who was reportedly homeless, was lying in the roadway on Tidewater Trail, just west of 78th Street, around 5:30 a.m., Sunday. James Eu- gene Joyner, 32, was driving at approximately 35 miles per hour and did not see Ms. Johnson and struck her.
Ms. Johnson was also lodged under the vehicle and dragged, police said. The van was lifted off of Ms. John-
GLORIA WILLEMAE JOHNSON 8/7/1991 --- 7/13/2015
son’s body after police arrived at the scene. No charges have been filed against Joyner, po- lice said.
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