Date: Sunday, July 21, 2013
Time: 11:00 am
Location: Front of One Police Plaza, New York, NY

Presiding:
Anthony Miranda, Executive Chairman National Latino Officers Association (646) 772-3728
Noel Leader, Co-Founder 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care (917) 335-2784    
Charles Billups, President of the Grand Council of Guardians (917) 864-6084                            

The National Latino Officers Association (NLOA), 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, and Grand Council of Guardians join forces to denounce any consideration of New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, being appointed to Secretary of Homeland Security.

Black and Latino Law Enforcement organizations call on President Obama to reject any recommendation of N.Y.P.D. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly for the position of Secretary of Homeland Security. Anthony Miranda, Chairman of the NLOA, said “Commissioner Kelly’s crime fighting strategies have been found to be abusive and racially biased. Commissioner Kelly’s enforcement policies leave no protection to people’s basic rights or civil liberties; the rights and liberties that distinguish this great nation. Kelly’s appointment would lead to an all out assault on the citizens’ constitutional protections, an unbridled attack on communities of color”.

Under Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly:

• NYPD Stop Question & Frisk/racial profiling practices have reached outrageous levels. These unconstitutional activities have been roundly repudiated throughout the city’s religious, political and civil rights communities (a federal lawsuit remains active).
• NYPD was caught engaging in illegal surveillance of Muslim students, clergy and places of worship (a federal lawsuit remains active).
• The NAACP has filed a lawsuit accusing the NYPD of falsely arresting public housing residents and their visitors for trespassing in buildings they legally occupy (a federal lawsuit remains active).
• NYPD officers continue to target Blacks and Latinos by making legally baseless arrests in operations such as “Operation Lucky Bag” (a federal lawsuit remains active).
• The NYCLU has reported on the NYPD’s alarming number of racially biased marijuana arrests, which has clearly targeted Blacks and Latinos (a federal lawsuit is being considered).
• While legal claims against other NYC agencies dropped an average of 19%, claims against the NYPD increased 22%, causing the city to pay over a billion dollars in fines and settlements over the past ten years.

As a result of racial and religious biases soaring under Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly’s tenure, Black and Latino Law Enforcement Officials deem him to be highly unqualified for the position of Secretary of Homeland Security.