Minorities subject to Hackensack Police bias

Several African-American and Latino residents complain they are being randomly stopped, questioned and searched by city police, prompting a local community group to contact the U.S. Department of Justice. Larry Riley of the Concerned Citizens Organization of Hackensack has gathered statements from residents who say they have been unfairly targeted by police because of the color of their skin. The written police harassment complaints are mostly from residents living in central Hackensack, where African-Americans and Latinos reside. "There's no reason to stop a person when they are walking the street,'' said Riley, who mailed the complaints to Washington on Thursday. "They are not doing that in the Fairmount section." Eric Holland, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said each complaint received would be reviewed carefully. Last week, Riley and several members of the minority community attended a City Council meeting at which they aired their grievances against police. They told the council that some members of the Police Department are rude, disrespectful and always seem to be picking on them. "It's not every cop, it's just some police officers,'' said Toni Haverty, another member of the group. Several teenagers said police have stopped them and pointed flashlights at their faces, simply because they were walking down the street at night. [more]