Four black state parole officers in New York claim to have been racially profiled while on the job by Rockland area police, who detained them at gunpoint.
According to The Journal News the officers announced they are planning to file a civil rights lawsuit and said they thought they were going to be killed as a group of Ramapo officers and a Suffern cop pointed guns and an assault rifle at them on April 21.
However, there are two sides to every story.
The parole officers were wearing bulletproof vests and law enforcement shields around their necks. According to Ramapo Police Capt. Brad Weidel, the police officers were responding to a call from a resident of Airmont who was “”concerned about four individuals observed in bulletproof vests in an unmarked vehicle.”
“It wasn’t clear whether or not it was a police vehicle,” Weidel said. “Nothing indicated they were police. Our department didn’t receive the courtesy call about a parole operation in our area.”
Former New York City police offer and town police commissioner and current Rampoo Councilman Patrick Withers says the stop was “far from a racial incident.”
“The video from the patrol units show the officers acted properly and professional within department guidelines and did nothing wrong as far as I am concerned,” Withers said.
The department is treating the allegations seriously and is now awaiting a formal complaint and documents from the parole officers and the state Division of Parole.
Wow… these people aren’t very professional if they think they were being profiled. They need to find new jobs where thick skins aren’t required. Shame on them…
You do realize that the linked ‘The Journal News’ report is nearly a year old, right?
Posted May 19, 2014… LEO Affairs posted the report nearly a year later, May 4, 2015.
Correction: LEO Affairs report was posted May 4, 2015. Not 2014.