Crime & Safety

79th Pct Community Council Meets, Addresses Latest Harrassment Charges

The 79th Police Precinct held its monthly community council meeting

Addressing community grievances of crime and police activity in Bed-Stuy were high on the agenda during the monthy community council meeting held last night in The Job Corps Center at 585 Dekalb Avenue.

Raymond Murphy, grievance chair and committee chair, raised the issue of police harassment — more specifically an alleged incident by 26-year-old Bed-Stuy resident Kameron Walker.

Walker alleged he was harassed and assaulted by two plain clothes officers on February 5th, as he walked down Halsey Street, between Tompkins and Throop Avenues, a patrol area of the 79th Precinct.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On February 16th, Bed-Stuy Patch covered the story entitled, "."

According to Walker, the undercover officers approached him aggressively and told him to get on the ground.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Walker claims the men failed to identify themselves as policemen, and then shoved him into icy snow, causing bruises to his face. The officers let Walker go after they determined he was not the person they were seeking.

However, the incident left Walker — who says he's never been in trouble before with the law — very upset, and he has filed a complaint against the city.

Several residents at the meeting, including Murphy, stood up and expressed concern about "the treatment of our young black men by the police," insisting that too often, they are criminal targets and without real probable cause.

79th Precinct Executive Officer Captain Clint McPhearson said the precinct is looking into the charges. He said, they would like to get to the bottom of it, because it is not a behavior they condone.

Also, he pointed out that Mr. Walker said the incident occurred at around 7:00 pm. However, all four of the plain clothes officers at 79 were still at the precinct until 7:30 pm. So, he said, there's a chance that the incident took place with an outside police unit, such as a detective, narcotics or gang squad.

"No one approached the precinct after the incident, so the only thing we have to go on right now is this article," said McPhearson. "If a resident ever feels like they've been mistreated, they should come in and file a complaint so that we can investigate it."

He continued to point out that outside units are sent within the confines of the 79th precinct all the time, and because they are not required to check into the precinct, the precinct may not always know which units are or are not present.

A resident stood up and asked why it was acceptable that additional, outside police forces can come into another neighborhood unsupervised.

McPhearson answered, investigations are going on all the time within the various precincts. And the units do not necessarily check in with every precinct. But, McPhearson added, the precinct currently is looking into identifying who was on duty the day of the alleged harassment.

He pointed out that although Walker's lawyer, Edward Wilford, said they would likely settle with the city, "I'm not sure how they plan to file a CCRB before making an identification. A harassment victim cannot settle before anyone is identified," he said.

"Something happened, and that's what we need to find out," said McPhearson. "But he should come in and talk to us, so we can first identify who it was."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.