Rep. Meeks Participates In A Community Forum On Law Enforcement Accountability: Police Community Relations In The Wake Of The Bell Verdicts

New York, NY– At a House Judiciary Committee community forum called by the House Judiciary Committee in the aftermath of the recent acquittal of the police officers involved in the 50-bullet shooting of Sean Bell, Joseph Guzman, and Trent Benefield, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks reiterated his support for the current federal civil rights investigation of the incident and for a Justice Department pattern and practice investigation into the excessive use of force by the New York City Police Department.

Bell was killed in the November 25, 2006 incident. Guzman and Benefield were seriously wounded.

The Southeast Queens Congressman who represents the Sixth Congressional District said, "Although the justice system has spoken in regard to these charges, Judge Cooperman's decision must not be the end of the quest for justice." He added that, "We who are members of the United States Congress must utilize our legislative powers and the moral authority of our offices to help the victims of unwarranted and excessive use of force seek a redress of grievances at a federal level."

Meeks also said the verdict "reinforces a widespread belief that our justice system's inability to hold police officers accountable in these cases actually encourages some police officers to engage in a pattern and practice of using excessive force against citizens of color." He argued that both a federal civil rights and a pattern and practice investigation are "especially important when local authorities are unable or unwilling to make police officers pay a price for their abuse of power, and when police departments are unable or unwilling to properly train or restrain officers who stain the reputation and damage the community's trust in the overwhelming number of police officers who diligently, and with distinction, protect and serve us all."

Rep. Meeks was joined on the panel by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Reps. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Jose Serrano (D-NY), Ed Towns (D-NY), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), and New York State Minority Leader Senator Malcolm Smith. The panel heard expert testimony from Professor Rachel Harmon of the University of Virginia Law School; Professor Deborah Ramirez, Northeastern University; Professor Chris Stone, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government; Mary Frances Berry, former chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights; Rev. Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network and the Bell family's advisory; Michael Hardy, legal counsel for the victims and their families; and Hazel Dukes, president of the New York State Conference of the NAACP. Nicole Paultre Bell, Sean Bell's widow, Valerie Bell, his mother, and Joseph Guzman, who was shot 19 times during the incident, also made brief comments.