More than 50 Queens community members packed into an office in Jackson Heights Oct. 15 with police accountability advocates and organizers to learn how to effectively monitor and document the police – a practice known as “Cop Watch.” The Queens training was the third in a popular citywide series aimed at training New Yorkers in communities that suffer the most abuses at the hand of the NYPD to gather evidence of misconduct and deter abuse, a press release issued by DRUM – South Asian Organizing Center said.
“We’re calling on all of Queens to monitor and document the police whenever they see them taking action against someone,” said Danny Sanchez, a representative of the Justice Committee and one of the trainers. “New Yorkers are coming back from Ferguson October with energy to address police violence in their own neighborhoods,” he said “Cop Watch is one way they can do this on a daily basis. It’s something we should all be doing to care for one another – like recycling or giving elderly people your seat on the subway,” he added.
Kelly Pervin, a 17-year-old DRUM member said she attended the training with the hopes of learning what to do when she sees something happening and determine whether it would be appropriate to start recording. “The most useful thing I learned was that it would make a difference in how the police treat us, if more of us stood and observed to ensure the respect of the rights of our fellow community members,” Pervin said.
“Peacefully documenting police activity makes communities safer,” said Roksana Mun, a trainer and representative of DRUM.
The workshop began with an explanation of the history of Cop Watch – which has its origins in the Black Panther Party – and an affirmation that videotaping the police is 100 percent legal. The trainers also shared Know Your Rights information and discussed the NYPD’s activities in Queens.
“There is a particular need for Cop Watch in many Queens communities, which are diverse and experience a wide range of abusive policing practices,” said Mun. “For example, in Jackson Heights the NYPD’s actively practices Broken Windows policing, taxi drivers and vendors are targeted for excessive ticketing, trans Latinas are frequently profiled as sex workers, and Arab, Muslim, and South Asian communities are targeted for surveillance and other forms of discriminatory policing,” she said.
According to the organizations leading the training series, in the best cases, Cop Watching can de-escalate and deter police violence and harassment.