Kenny Guido
Well-known member
Police prepare for reaction to Sean Bell verdict
BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND MICHAEL FRAZIER | [email protected]
[email protected] 10:41 PM EDT, April 23, 2008 Article tools
Up to 1,000 police officers are poised to mobilize in case community unrest follows tomorrow's verdict in the Sean Bell trial, police sources said.
Already the New York Police Department has organized crowd control training for hundreds of officers and met borough supervisors as part of preparations, a source said Wednesday.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman will announce his verdict Friday in the trial of three police officers charged in the shooting death of Bell, 23, outside a Jamaica, Queens, strip club in the early hours of Nov. 25, 2006.
Dets. Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper have been on trial since Feb. 25 for the shooting, in which two of Bell's friends, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, were also wounded and testified against the detectives. Bell and his group had just left his bachelor party at the Club Kalua when the fatal 50-shot encounter with cops happened.
On Wednesday, the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has advocated on behalf of the Bell family, Guzman and Benefield, denounced the police preparations, calling suggestions that rioting may result from an acquittal insulting.
"We never participated in or engaged in violence. Maybe you ought to ask people who believe it's all right to shoot 50 times at unarmed men how they are going to react," Sharpton said.
Sharpton spoke outside City Hall, where he was joined by Bell's father, William Bell, and fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, as well as Benefield, Guzman and other supporters.
"Nothing will ever bring Sean back, but hopefully I pray that if the right decision is made Friday, this will help any other family from suffering the way we have," Paultre Bell said.
As part of police provisions, scores of officers will be posted outside the Queens courthouse where the three detectives will learn their fate. Other officers will be assigned to Club Kalua and the Baisley Park Houses, the Jamaica housing project that was the scene of tensions after the shooting. Bell often gathered there with friends, including Benefield, who still lives there and was in the car when Bell died.
Sources said officers in the other boroughs have been told to keep an eye out for problems if there is an acquittal.
"The fact is, we've got a lot of young officers that haven't been tested out on the street," said one source with knowledge of the plans. "We know there could be rallies, but we're preparing for the unanticipated, just in case."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said late Wednesday he was not anticipating violence. "I expect everybody in the city to act in an appropriate manner."
BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND MICHAEL FRAZIER | [email protected]
[email protected] 10:41 PM EDT, April 23, 2008 Article tools
Up to 1,000 police officers are poised to mobilize in case community unrest follows tomorrow's verdict in the Sean Bell trial, police sources said.
Already the New York Police Department has organized crowd control training for hundreds of officers and met borough supervisors as part of preparations, a source said Wednesday.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman will announce his verdict Friday in the trial of three police officers charged in the shooting death of Bell, 23, outside a Jamaica, Queens, strip club in the early hours of Nov. 25, 2006.
Dets. Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper have been on trial since Feb. 25 for the shooting, in which two of Bell's friends, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, were also wounded and testified against the detectives. Bell and his group had just left his bachelor party at the Club Kalua when the fatal 50-shot encounter with cops happened.
On Wednesday, the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has advocated on behalf of the Bell family, Guzman and Benefield, denounced the police preparations, calling suggestions that rioting may result from an acquittal insulting.
"We never participated in or engaged in violence. Maybe you ought to ask people who believe it's all right to shoot 50 times at unarmed men how they are going to react," Sharpton said.
Sharpton spoke outside City Hall, where he was joined by Bell's father, William Bell, and fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, as well as Benefield, Guzman and other supporters.
"Nothing will ever bring Sean back, but hopefully I pray that if the right decision is made Friday, this will help any other family from suffering the way we have," Paultre Bell said.
As part of police provisions, scores of officers will be posted outside the Queens courthouse where the three detectives will learn their fate. Other officers will be assigned to Club Kalua and the Baisley Park Houses, the Jamaica housing project that was the scene of tensions after the shooting. Bell often gathered there with friends, including Benefield, who still lives there and was in the car when Bell died.
Sources said officers in the other boroughs have been told to keep an eye out for problems if there is an acquittal.
"The fact is, we've got a lot of young officers that haven't been tested out on the street," said one source with knowledge of the plans. "We know there could be rallies, but we're preparing for the unanticipated, just in case."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said late Wednesday he was not anticipating violence. "I expect everybody in the city to act in an appropriate manner."
