Queens, NY – Two New York City police officers ran into some unexpected trouble when they pulled over a vehicle carrying one of the city’s more powerful officials, schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.
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Walcott was a few blocks from his Queens home just before midnight Thursday when his city-owned vehicle was pulled over by plain-clothed officers in an anti-crime unit. Walcott was a passenger.
The chancellor’s spokeswoman, Natalie Ravitz, said the driver hadn’t done anything wrong, and Walcott spoke up.
“When Chancellor Walcott asked the officers to please tell him why they had been pulled over, the officer responded that they had failed to use a turn signal,” she told the New York Post. “Chancellor Walcott told the officers that this was incorrect as he heard the turn signal.”
After Walcott identified himself, the officers ran a license check and let the vehicle go without writing a ticket.
“There was no traffic violation, and at no time did Chancellor Walcott ask that any ticket be waived,” Ravitz told The AP in an email. She said Walcott asked one officer for her badge number, but neither she nor the other officer identified themselves.
The Post said Walcott later complained to the police commissioner.
A department spokesman, Sgt. Carlos Nieves, said the internal affairs bureau is reviewing the incident.
Like other police departments, the NYPD has been criticized over the years by black motorists who have complained about being stopped for minor or nonexistent violations. In 2008, a white officer was disciplined by the department after he unknowingly confronted a black motorist parked on the street who turned out to be a high-ranking NYPD commander.
Walcott, a former deputy mayor who worked with the police department in the 1990s on improving community relations, is black.
Asked whether Walcott believed race was a factor, Ravitz declined to comment. She also declined to disclose the driver’s name, saying he had done nothing wrong.
“NYC has the best police force in the world, and Chancellor Walcott has a long history of working with the NYPD and respects that the police were there to protect the neighborhood,” she said.
This incident really doesn’t surprise me. Cops in all jurisdictions are known to invent stories, and write tickets for moving violations, which never in fact occurred. If one goes to court to fight such bogus charges, it’s your word against the cops, and the judge usually sides with the cops (in the absence of witnesses). One time, I took photographs of an intersection, where a cop alleged that I made a right turn, which was not permitted. In fact, the sign was covered by bushes and branches, making it impossible for a motorist to see the sign. I shown the photos to the local prosecutor, and she had the judge dismiss the traffic citation.
Looks like another case of driving while black…
perhaps he heard the signal clicker, but the bulb was burnt out and therefore no turn signal light was visible…
“The Post said Walcott later complained to the police commissioner.”
About what? That someone else driving his car was pulled over for something he says he didn’t do? I got pulled over yesterday–I’m going to have my passenger complain to the police commmisioner.