A Black New York man was awarded a $614,500 settlement Dec. 8 after he was stopped and frisked by NYPD officers in a Jan. 26, 2012, incident.
Jateik Reed, then 19 years old, was grabbed and harassed by police officers while walking with two friends.
According to NBC New York, police officers from the 42nd Precinct encountered the men during the height of the stop-and-frisk policy in the city. Just a year later, the controversial policing tactic was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Many critics posited that the policy racially profiled and unfairly criminalized Blacks and Latinos. Despite the harsh treatment and routine stops, their policy had no real effect on the crime rate.
Bystanders recorded the illegal arrest and surveillance footage captured Reed being brutalized by five police officers.
In that footage, five officers can be seen slamming Reed onto the side of a van and then hurling the him to the ground. They pick him up and surround him while continuing to rough him up.
But the now 24-year-old told NBC New York that officers did not stop. When he was loaded into a police van, he was further pummeled and was also beaten him inside the precinct.
Reed was accused of possessing drugs, assault and other offenses, but all charges against him were dismissed.
Not only did he become a victim of police brutality, his family also was allegedly assaulted by police when they went to precinct to attend to Reed.
However, the community and police relations did not improve after the officers were disciplined.
“Nothing’s changed,” Reed says. “It’s gotten worse.”
Officers from the 42nd have been accused of making false arrests, threatened people with beatings and intimidating witnesses, according to NBC New York.
David Terrell, one of the officers named in Reed’s lawsuit, has been placed on modified duty because of complaints.
