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NYC Police Shooting Draws Scrutiny

By DONNA DE LA CRUZ, Associated Press Writer, March 20, 2000

NEW YORK - The latest fatal police shooting of an unarmed black

man - in a city still dealing with the aftermath of the Amadou Diallo

case - has renewed scrutiny of aggressive undercover operations

against drug dealers.

The city's newest such initiative - ``Operation Condor'' - has netted

21,445 arrests since it began Jan. 17, according to police. Its goal:

to stem the slight increase in crime that occurred last year, after a

decade in which murder, robberies and other violent crime

plummeted to record lows.

Nearly two-thirds of arrests made through the program have been

for misdemeanor offenses. And violent crime hasn't been reduced -

as of Sunday, there have been 173 homicides in the city this year,

a 22.6 percent increase over last year.

While community leaders and a black NYPD officers' group

question Condor and other undercover narcotics operations, the

department has remained committed to tough enforcement. Police

Commissioner Howard Safir has said that 80 percent of crime is

linked to the drug trade.

Some experts on anti-drug efforts disagree. Joseph McNamara,

a former NYPD deputy inspector and former police chief in Kansas

City, Mo., and San Jose, Calif., said undercover initiatives are

highly confrontational and dangerous, and don't work.

``You get all of this police violence without any of the promised

results of less drugs,'' said McNamara, now a research fellow at

Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

The attention on New York's program intensified after Patrick

Dorismond was shot to death outside a Manhattan bar Thursday.

Police have said that when undercover detectives approached

Dorismond and asked where they could buy marijuana, the 26-

year-old man said ``no.'' An officer persisted, angering Dorismond,

and a fight ensued. Detective Anthony Vasquez shot Dorismond

in the chest, killing him, police said.

``He's the first black man in history who died for saying `just say

no to drugs,''' said Lt. Eric Adams, head of a group called 100

Blacks in Law Enforcement.

Deborah Small, director of public policy and community outreach

at The Lindesmith Center, said undercover operations create an

atmosphere of an accident waiting to happen.

``What the police are actually doing is not sitting around and

watching for people selling or buying drugs - they are actually

approaching people, initiating contact,'' said Small, whose New
York City-based research institute focuses on drug policy and

related issues.

After the latest shooting, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani defended the

officers, as he did those involved in the shootings of Diallo in

1999 and Malcolm Ferguson on March 1.

Diallo was shot 19 times by four plainclothes officers who in

February were acquitted of murder and other charges, leading

to calls for a federal review of the department. Ferguson
was killed after a confrontation with undercover officers in a drug

buy-and-bust operation.

Giuliani has publicized New York City's drop in crime in his Senate

campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton, and some political

analysts said the race could be affected if voters begin to
wonder if police tactics have become too aggressive.

``On one hand, you want to look like you've tamed New York City,''

said Lee Miringoff, director of polling for the Marist Institute of

Public Opinion. ``On the other hand, you don't want it to look like

it has come at too great a cost.''

In one of her strongest attacks yet, the first lady criticized Giuliani

Monday over his handling of the fatal police shooting, saying he

had ``hunkered down, taken sides and further divided this city.''

Clinton said she was still waiting for a ``full and fair investigation''

of the Dorismond killing.

``Unfortunately, the mayor has not (waited) and that is just wrong,''

she said, drawing applause from a crowd of about 1,000 people

at a Harlem church. ``He has led the rush to judgment. That is not

real leadership.''

Giuliani campaign manager Bruce Teitelbaum immediately called

her comments a cheap shot.

``Once again, Mrs. Clinton is shamelessly doing her best to exploit

this for political purposes,'' he said.

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