Community Forum in light of July 5 police videos

F.I.Y

South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race

The South Orange Maplewood Community Coalition on Race, Reverend Doctor Terry Richardson of First Baptist Church of South Orange, SOMA Action, SOMA Justice, and... Michael Minor together with other community partners are working to organize a community forum to discuss the recently released audio and video of the July 5, 2016 incident. The forum will be a safe place to express our feelings and to strategize future action. We believe that the way to move forward is through a unitedly agreed upon community-based plan of action. We invite all residents to this extremely important Community Forum, which is the first in many in our collective efforts. The forum will take place on August 7, 2017 at 7:30pm. The location will be announced in the near future. Questions should be directed to the Community Coalition on Race at 973-761-6116 or info@twotowns.org.

There is also a call to attend, as a community,  the TC meeting on Tuesday August 1 to let the TC  know our feelings and suggestions.




"The forum will be a safe place to express our feelings and to strategize future action."

After already condemning the Police over the weekend, this sounds like the time the CCR endorsed a candidate for Bd of Ed PRIOR to a debate that the CCR was hosting.



michaelgoldberg said:

"The forum will be a safe place to express our feelings and to strategize future action."

After already condemning the Police over the weekend, this sounds like the time the CCR endorsed a candidate for Bd of Ed PRIOR to a debate that the CCR was hosting.

This incident happened over a year ago.  The tapes were released last week, as were the transcripts.  It is clear what happened, and who is responsible.  The fact finding has happened, and the response up to this point has been insufficient.  Your analogy is poor and your conclusion weak.



max_weisenfeld said:



michaelgoldberg said:

"The forum will be a safe place to express our feelings and to strategize future action."

After already condemning the Police over the weekend, this sounds like the time the CCR endorsed a candidate for Bd of Ed PRIOR to a debate that the CCR was hosting.

This incident happened over a year ago.  The tapes were released last week, as were the transcripts.  It is clear what happened, and who is responsible.  The fact finding has happened, and the response up to this point has been insufficient.  Your analogy is poor and your conclusion weak.

Actually, there is an investigation underway, but nice to see you condemn cops as much as you condemn Israel


in what context would the scenes on the video be excusable?  In what context is it ok to mace or kick unarmed teens?  In what context is it ok for the police to demand that kids from South Orange and Maplewood walk to Irvington instead of going to their homes?  What more do people need to know before condemning what is seen on the video and heard on the audio?


Who are you suggesting that we bring so that there are absolutely no errors made among thousands of incidents?  

Let the investigation proceed and the recommendations heard before calling for the Chief's firing.  CALM DOWN.  See what they are going to come up with to make sure that this never happens again. 


This incident happened at July 4 - I can tell you I twice experienced real fear and concern by the crowds and fights that happened.  Each time I felt the police completely unable to handle the situation at all!  There have been some changes made to crowd control, but I believe completely inadequate -  honestly the only sane thing to do is stop the fireworks. The Area just isn't conducive to a safe environment.

So, while I don't in any way condone a thing in the video, i will say if the police were as afraid as I was, if the police felt put in an untenable situation, I do fully understand the response - they could not control things.  Wrong, but I get it.

Honestly, any inquiry into this situation should look at prior years too.  Did the police chief ever suggest cancelling the fireworks?  Was there political pressure or otherwise to make the police cope in an unmanageable situation?  The videoed police response is wrong, but I bet had the police, town committee, and others been realistic and smart given past history- the fireworks should not have happened , period.


Have you seen the video??  I just watched a clip where a teen was walking and a police officer body slammed him to the ground.  Under what circumstances is this appropriate and acceptable behavior?  This happened July 5 2016 - how much longer do we need to "WAIT" for them to come up with a solution??? 

Copihue said:

Who are you suggesting that we bring so that there are absolutely no errors made among thousands of incidents?  

Let the investigation proceed and the recommendations heard before calling for the Chief's firing.  CALM DOWN.  See what they are going to come up with to make sure that this never happens again. 



Am I missing something because I can't see a teen walking down the street, I see the cops run and clump together. I can't see the teen on the ground and I can't see what he is doing. I think we all have to know why they are ran and clumped, what happened? I see a lot of frenetic energy, but nothing is clear. I do see the cop kick, and I don't know what this is about, it does look bad because I know someone is on the ground and the kick is clear. 

 



max_weisenfeld said:



michaelgoldberg said:

"The forum will be a safe place to express our feelings and to strategize future action."

After already condemning the Police over the weekend, this sounds like the time the CCR endorsed a candidate for Bd of Ed PRIOR to a debate that the CCR was hosting.

This incident happened over a year ago.  The tapes were released last week, as were the transcripts.  It is clear what happened, and who is responsible.  The fact finding has happened, and the response up to this point has been insufficient.  Your analogy is poor and your conclusion weak.

agree with Max.




erins said:

Have you seen the video??  I just watched a clip where a teen was walking and a police officer body slammed him to the ground.  Under what circumstances is this appropriate and acceptable behavior?  This happened July 5 2016 - how much longer do we need to "WAIT" for them to come up with a solution??? 

Copihue said:

Who are you suggesting that we bring so that there are absolutely no errors made among thousands of incidents?  

Let the investigation proceed and the recommendations heard before calling for the Chief's firing.  CALM DOWN.  See what they are going to come up with to make sure that this never happens again. 

I once did slightly less than what that teen did (and walking wasn't the only thing he did, obviously).  I found myself with my hands twisted behind my back, dragged down a flight of stairs, my face and shoulder used to open a heavy plate glass door, and nearly tossed over the hood of a police car until cuffed, charged with assaulting a PO, and tossed in the squad car.  

Conversation with my father the next day after bailing me out:  You ok?  Yes.  What did you do (he was already told)?  Nothing, really.  You did something, what did you do?  (Explained what I later learned he already knew.)  What the hell were you thinking?  Um... I wasn't.  Clearly. 


I believe the police have released 40+ tapes from that night.  Here is the one where an officer slams a kid on the corner of Elmwood and Orchard Road:

h4daniel said:

Am I missing something because I can't see a teen walking down the street, I see the cops run and clump together. I can't see the teen on the ground and I can't see what he is doing. I think we all have to know why they are ran and clumped, what happened? I see a lot of frenetic energy, but nothing is clear. I do see the cop kick, and I don't know what this is about, it does look bad because I know someone is on the ground and the kick is clear. 

 



Thanks Erin for this tape and that clarification. I was looking at the tape from the article and a different moment.



michaelgoldberg said:



max_weisenfeld said:



michaelgoldberg said:

"The forum will be a safe place to express our feelings and to strategize future action."

After already condemning the Police over the weekend, this sounds like the time the CCR endorsed a candidate for Bd of Ed PRIOR to a debate that the CCR was hosting.

This incident happened over a year ago.  The tapes were released last week, as were the transcripts.  It is clear what happened, and who is responsible.  The fact finding has happened, and the response up to this point has been insufficient.  Your analogy is poor and your conclusion weak.

Actually, there is an investigation underway, but nice to see you condemn cops as much as you condemn Israel

Nice to see you still see absolutely everything through a single lens, too.




ctrzaska said:



erins said:

Have you seen the video??  I just watched a clip where a teen was walking and a police officer body slammed him to the ground.  Under what circumstances is this appropriate and acceptable behavior?  This happened July 5 2016 - how much longer do we need to "WAIT" for them to come up with a solution??? 

Copihue said:

Who are you suggesting that we bring so that there are absolutely no errors made among thousands of incidents?  

Let the investigation proceed and the recommendations heard before calling for the Chief's firing.  CALM DOWN.  See what they are going to come up with to make sure that this never happens again. 

I once did slightly less than what that teen did (and walking wasn't the only thing he did, obviously).  I found myself with my hands twisted behind my back, dragged down a flight of stairs, my face and shoulder used to open a heavy plate glass door, and nearly tossed over the hood of a police car until cuffed, charged with assaulting a PO, and tossed in the squad car.  

Conversation with my father the next day after bailing me out:  You ok?  Yes.  What did you do (he was already told)?  Nothing, really.  You did something, what did you do?  (Explained what I later learned he already knew.)  What the hell were you thinking?  Um... I wasn't.  Clearly. 

Once the police made the assumption that, since the teens in question were POC they could not be our children, which then gave them license to handle them differently than they would if they were 'our kids' every action taken is framed by that assumption.

The investigation has been going on over a year.  It reeks of obstruction, including releasing the tapes in August, three days before the only TC meeting in August.

I have spent the better part of 20 years defending Maplewood and our police.  I was wrong.  When I am wrong, I admit it and I try to fix it.

This is me, trying to fix it.

If you have an issue with that, please step to the side and get out of my way, because I have work to do and I do not have time to be pissing around on MOL with you.


So a year has passed and you had fireworks nearly a month ago, how did it go?  body slamming?  chasing teens to the Irvington border? or any other sort of police misjudgments?



Copihue said:

So a year has passed and you had fireworks nearly a month ago, how did it go?  body slamming?  chasing teens to the Irvington border? or any other sort of police misjudgments?

Ok, so you can excuse the beatings from last year because there were no beatings this year?

Please.


That's the one I was referring to. 


No one is excusing anything, but I think that they learned from their experience the previous year.


I don't understand why our police department did not make the video and audio tapes publicly available last year when this happened.  



Sweetsnuggles said:

I don't understand why our police department did not make the video and audio tapes publicly available last year when this happened.  

Because they didn't want people to know what they did. 



ml1 said:



Sweetsnuggles said:

I don't understand why our police department did not make the video and audio tapes publicly available last year when this happened.  

Because they didn't want people to know what they did. 

Thank you.  This is just plain wrong.  I'm signing the petition on Change.org to remove our Police Chief. 


The Township Committee voted 4-0 tonight to request Chief Cimino's immediate resignation and to place him on paid administrative leave for 60 days. Mayor DeLuca later described the leave as a procedural move required under state law and assured the audience that Cimino would not be returning.



max_weisenfeld said:



ctrzaska said:



erins said:

Have you seen the video??  I just watched a clip where a teen was walking and a police officer body slammed him to the ground.  Under what circumstances is this appropriate and acceptable behavior?  This happened July 5 2016 - how much longer do we need to "WAIT" for them to come up with a solution??? 

Copihue said:

Who are you suggesting that we bring so that there are absolutely no errors made among thousands of incidents?  

Let the investigation proceed and the recommendations heard before calling for the Chief's firing.  CALM DOWN.  See what they are going to come up with to make sure that this never happens again. 

I once did slightly less than what that teen did (and walking wasn't the only thing he did, obviously).  I found myself with my hands twisted behind my back, dragged down a flight of stairs, my face and shoulder used to open a heavy plate glass door, and nearly tossed over the hood of a police car until cuffed, charged with assaulting a PO, and tossed in the squad car.  

Conversation with my father the next day after bailing me out:  You ok?  Yes.  What did you do (he was already told)?  Nothing, really.  You did something, what did you do?  (Explained what I later learned he already knew.)  What the hell were you thinking?  Um... I wasn't.  Clearly. 

Once the police made the assumption that, since the teens in question were POC they could not be our children, which then gave them license to handle them differently than they would if they were 'our kids' every action taken is framed by that assumption.

The investigation has been going on over a year.  It reeks of obstruction, including releasing the tapes in August, three days before the only TC meeting in August.

I have spent the better part of 20 years defending Maplewood and our police.  I was wrong.  When I am wrong, I admit it and I try to fix it.

This is me, trying to fix it.

If you have an issue with that, please step to the side and get out of my way, because I have work to do and I do not have time to be pissing around on MOL with you.

Sometimes the anger transcends the intellect.  This time it complements it.  



Who did not vote?

DaveSchmidt said:

The Township Committee voted 4-0 tonight to request Chief Cimino's immediate resignation and to place him on paid administrative leave for 60 days. Mayor DeLuca later described the leave as a procedural move required under state law and assured the audience that Cimino would not be returning.




Copihue said:

No one is excusing anything, but I think that they learned from their experience the previous year.

I think anytime you have a crowd of thousands and only about 2 dozen police, there is chance something can go wrong.  Small towns do not have enough police to handle these kinds of events, not to mention the shortage of parking, the intrusion into residential neighborhoods and the garbage left is more than reason enough to end the July 4th Fireworks celebration.  



Re 4-0 vote: Greg Lembrich did not attend because of a previous family commitment.


Has Lembrich made any public statements regarding this issue?

DaveSchmidt said:

Re 4-0 vote: Greg Lembrich did not attend because of a previous family commitment.



yes. It's published in the Village Green story 


In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.