On a two-block stretch of Brownsville in April, the police stepped aside and let residents respond to 911 calls. It was a bold experiment that some believe could redefine law-enforcement in New York City.
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Alicka Ampry-Samuel works out of a two-story office building overlooking an expanse of vacant land, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. She grew up a few blocks away, in one of the area’s nearly two dozen public-housing complexes. When she was fifteen, her closest friend, a girl she’d known since early childhood, got into an argument with a boy from another housing development. “And he pulled out a gun,” Ampry-Samuel said. The funeral was held at the St. Paul Community Baptist Church, a local institution. Teen-agers filled the pews. In the eulogy, a pastor told Ampry-Samuel and others to honor their friend’s life by “going to school and serving God.”
AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
Zero of those cases have resulted in convictions, though 12 cases are still ongoing.
Police officers enjoy special legal doctrines that make it harder to prosecute them.
On Tuesday, a grand jury in New York declined to indict any of the seven police officers involved in the killing of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died in March after officers placed a bag over his head while he appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis.
It was another loss for the office of the New York Attorney General. Out of the 43 investigations into police killings the attorney general s office has conducted since 2015, zero have resulted in convictions.