NPR: White Cop Disciplined for Profiling Black Police Chief

White Cop Disciplined for Profiling Black Police Chief

A white police officer has been pulled off active duty after harassing the wrong man: Deputy Chief Douglas Zeigler.

The highest-ranking black officer in the NYPD was parked in a department-issued SUV, wearing plainclothes, when two officers approached him. According to the New York Daily News:

"In his briefing to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Zeigler said the two cops, who are white, had no legitimate reason to approach his SUV, ranking sources said.

After they ordered him to get out, one officer did not believe the NYPD identification Zeigler gave him."

NYPD Chief Douglas Zeigler

At the same time, the officers in trouble offer a different story:

"When one officer spotted Zeigler's service weapon through the rolled-down window, he yelled "Gun!" according to sources who have spoken with the officers.

Both cops raised their weapons and ordered the driver out of the car, sources said.

Instead of saying he was an armed member of the NYPD, Zeigler shouted, "Don't you know who I am?" the sources said."

Following a rash of highly-publicized incidents involving the police and civilians, some argue that this event further illustrates the notion that racial profiling in the department is alive and well.

State Senator Eric Adams is calling for reform within the NYPD, especially when dealing with minorities.

"Something is wrong with our Police Department and their interactions with people of color," said State Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn), a former police captain.

WCBS has more:

The incident was reported as police are being criticized for stopping and frisking record numbers of pedestrians -- about 145,000 in the first quarter of this year. The majority of them were black or Hispanic.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been leading demonstrations in the city to protest the acquittals of three police officers in the shooting death of an unarmed man as he left his bachelor party, took note of the Zeigler incident while speaking at his weekly rally in Harlem.

"You can't make this stuff up!" he said. "The problem isn't that they didn't recognize him. It is that they don't recognize our rights!"

Geoffrey Gardner

5:55 PM ET | 05-13-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

par for the course, I'm afraid.

Sent by Ama | 9:38 PM ET | 05-13-2008

I find it quite interesting that the White police officer was disciplined for harrasing/racially profiling the Black police Chief-Deputy Chief Zeigler. It makes you wonder what form of action would be taken in regard to the White cop if Chief Zeigler was not Chief Zeigler....makes you wanna say..hmmm. Sad to say...it's the same game just a different strategy.

Sent by Rahwa Neguse | 12:31 PM ET | 05-14-2008

Problems like this will never go away.

Sent by JC | 1:17 PM ET | 05-14-2008

The problem is that there are people in the deparment that are still acting as if racial profiling doesn't exist. Until they admit that there is a problem they'll never work to find a real solution.

Sent by Blackandmarriedwithkids.com | 4:16 PM ET | 05-14-2008

I think it was Chris Rock who had an album that sums it up well for people of color in particular as it relates to this article, the title of the album was "Born Suspect".

Sent by MJ | 4:59 PM ET | 05-14-2008

The bottomline is that a fair amount of whites are racist and racism has been embedded into their minds about blacks. They use their authority to harass people of color. No body is surprised anymore. It occurs all over this country, coast to coast. I have lived in both types of communities. At the end of the day your just a person of color to police. Teach your children good rules of how to deal with police. There is a book called "Boys to Men" gives good direction of how to teach yong black boys of how to behave in malls and various police situtations.

Sent by Tara | 6:32 PM ET | 05-14-2008

Over the years there have been a number of similar incidents involving minority officers who were similarly harrassed, beaten, shot, arrested etc while either out of uniform, undercover, or off duty. Until the outrage also includes white people the penalties will not be stiffened. And until the penalties are stiffened (rather than weakened as with the recent acquittal of the officers in the Sean Bell case) we can only expect more outrage from the minority communities that are so grossly and unfairly subjected to these abuses.

Sent by Whole9 | 2:12 PM ET | 05-15-2008

Send a Comment

Comments are reviewed and edited by NPR prior to display. All comments will be read, but not all will be posted.

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:	» List of local stations (PDF)
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
May we contact you with information about NPR programming and services? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

About 'News & Views'

News & Views is the companion blog of NPR's news magazine show, News & Notes. It extends News & Notes' ongoing conversation about the diversity of the African-American experience. For more information, read our Frequently Asked Questions guide and our Discussion Rules.