Reverend Sharpton, Community Leaders Demand Deputy Inspector McCormack's Suspension
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- The Reverend Al Sharpton and a group of community leaders called on Police Commissioner Kelly to suspend NYPD Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack on Saturday.
Reverend Sharpton was joined by civil rights, labor, and other community leaders at the National Action Network on 145th street where he addressed the latest development in the debate over 'Stop and Frisk'.
A recording played in a Federal District Court in Manhattan on Thursday, featured a commanding officer instructing a patrol officer to stop the "right people, at the right time", the New York Times reported.
The commanding officer on the recording was Deputy Inspector McCormack, he was recorded by Patrol Officer Pedro Serrano saying that the people causing the most problems should be stopped on the street, according to the Times.
The voice identified as McCormack is then heard saying, "I told you at roll call, and I have no problem telling you this, male blacks fourteen to twenty, twenty-one."
The recording was played during proceedings in a class action lawsuit over 'Stop And Frisk', a tactic that the Bloomberg administration has cited for its effectiveness in driving down gun violence.
On Saturday the New York Police Department issued a statement that said that Deputy Inspector McCormack was doing 'what a good commander is supposed to do'.
Statement from the NYPD:
Deputy Inspector McCormack did what a good commander is supposed to do - direct officers under his command to protect the public, or as he eloquently said "the 99% of the people in this community (who) are great, hard working people who deserve to walk to the train stop, walk to their car, walk to the store [without fear of getting shot]."
The statement went on to mention that it was important to understand the context of the taped conversation, and that Deputy Inspector McCormack was referring to suspects in a pattern of burglaries in the South Bronx.
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