By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CENTRAL HARLEM — Abusive police officers slip through the cracks despite rigid screening processes and intensive academy training, an NYPD deputy commissioner told a panel Thursday night.
NYPD deputy comissioner of training Wilbur Chapman told the panel, which was commissioned by the governor after a spate of police-on-police shootings, that training related to race sensitivity and weapon firing continues after officers graduate from the academy.
In addition, new officers are given two years probation after they're admitted to the force during which time the NYPD reviews their conduct.
But that's part of the problem, according to testimony given by Rev. Al Sharpton.
"The fact that there is such a vehement resistance to have anyone other than law enforcement review law enforcement raises doubts," Sharpton said.
The Police-on-Police Shootings Task Force was commissioned by Gov. David Paterson after undercover officer Omar Edwards was gunned down in a May "friendly fire" incident in East Harlem.
Panelists heard testimony from local leaders, law enforcement officials and civil liberties advocates.
Retired state Supreme Court judge and NAACP leader Laura Blackburne was among the community service and advocacy panelists. She said younger police officers have more problems with racial sensitivity and suggested that senior officers mentor rookies on how to treat citizens on their beats.
"Dealing with more senior officers, it is night and day compared to some of these young cats who are stopping people on the street," Blackburne said.
The number of times New Yorkers have been stopped and frisked by police is also on the rise. More than 1.4 million people were stopped and frisked by police over the last four years, and 80 percent of them were black and Latino, said Vince Warren, a lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
"After you are stopped, African-Americans are more likely to be searched than white people," Warren said. "African-Americans are more likley to have use of force against them."
The task force will next meet on Friday in White Plains, and will go on to examine police practices across the state. It is expected to report back to Paterson within six months.
