In the aftermath of the 2008 murder of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue, NY, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a comprehensive investigation into the operations of the Suffolk County Police Department. The DOJ spent several years on this investigation of discriminatory policing against Latinos. This month they tentatively agreed to a settlement with the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), which calls for SCPD to implement new and enhanced policies and procedures to ensure nondiscrimination in the provision of police services to Latino communities in Suffolk County.
Key DOJ findings include:
◾ Inconsistent tracking and reporting of hate crimes
◾ Failure to instruct officers adequately to understand what hate crimes are
◾ Police policy and instructional documents containing “vague and inconsistent” guidance on hate crimes; for example, not making clear that youth could be charged with hate crimes
◾ Failure to recognize the severity of criminal conduct by brushing off attacks as “just kids being kids”
DOJ recommendations included the following:
◾ Provide bilingual officers, particularly because the department has sizeable limited English-proficient communities
◾ Implement a toll-free bilingual civilian complaint hotline
◾ Engage in community outreach
◾ Add more training to promote familiarity with other cultures
◾ Enhance community policing efforts
◾ Ensure that vital documents are translated into appropriate languages and implement a process for engaging limited English- proficient individuals, either through bilingual officers or a telephonic language line or similar service
Learn more about the settlement at the U.S. Department of Justice website and how Patchogue, NY leaders and residents responded after Lucero's hate crime killing in our PBS documentary, Light in the Darkness.
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