Officer Pedro Serrano secretly taped a conversation with Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack, who told him to specifically go after young black males for stop-and-frisk and also told him to focus on the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.
A top Bronx cop was caught on tape telling an NYPD whistleblower to specifically target “male blacks 14 to 21” for stop-and-frisk because they commit crimes.
Stop “the right people, the right time, the right location,” Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack is heard saying on the recording.
“He meant blacks and Hispanics,” Officer Pedro Serrano, who made the secret recording, testified Thursday in Manhattan federal court.
“So what am I supposed to do: Stop every black and Hispanic?” Serrano was heard saying on the tape, which was recorded last month at the 40th Precinct in the Bronx.
McCormack said to focus on the Mott Haven section, where the problem “was robberies and grand larcenies.”
“I have no problem telling you this,” the inspector said on the tape. “Male blacks. And I told you at roll call, and I have no problem [to] tell you this, male blacks 14 to 21.”
During cross examination, City lawyer Brenda Cooke got Serrano to admit that McCormack never said he wanted Serrano to stop all blacks and Hispanics.
“Those specific words, no,” he told her.
Serrano used a recorder to tape a conversation with Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack, who told him to specifically target 'male blacks 14 to 21' for stop-and-frisk.
Also, the first of several tapes surreptitiously made by Brooklyn cop Adrian Schoolcraft made its debut at the trial.
This one was recorded at a Nov. 1, 2008, roll call and on it Lt. Jean Delafuente is heard telling officers that making the arrest quota should be easy in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
“You’re working in Bed-Stuy, where everyone’s probably got a warrant,” he said.
Schoolcraft claims he was hauled off to a psych ward to discredit his allegations that the 81st Precinct pushed officers to fill arrest quotas.
Serrano told the court he taped McCormick because he had gotten poor performance reviews for failing to meet what he claims was the monthly quota of 20 summonses and five stops-and-frisk and wanted evidence to show he was being retaliated against.
For speaking out, the 43-year-old cop who joined the NYPD in 2004 testified earlier that he was smeared as a “rat” and ostracized by fellow officers.
Like Adhyl Polanco, the whistleblower officer who testified before him, Serrano said the quota system had the backing of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ordered-secret-recording-stop-and-frisk-young-blacks-males-article-1.1295665#ixzz2OFhm0OFG
