www.adc.org

ADCNY: Calls for Racial Profiling in New York Must be Addressed

August 4, 2005

New York, New York The New York Chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC-NY) calls for an apology from Assemblymember Dov Hikind and New York City Councilmember James Oddo with regards to their comments advocating the use of racial profiling .

On July 31, Hikind made his call for racial profiling by the New York Police Department (NYPD), Hikind is alleged to have said that that men from the Arab World all look a certain way. To emphasize his point, he
held up photographs of Arab men. These comments came amidst the announcement that NYPD would be conducting bag searches in the public transportation system. Hikind further demanded that the NYPD conduct its bag searches by focusing on individuals with a Middle Eastern appearance rather than using random searches.

Then, on August 2, New York City Councilmember James Oddo indicated that he supported Hikinds call for racial profiling on the basis of his experience of the September 11 attacks.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly reiterated that NYPD will not engage in racial profiling in connection with the random bag searches in the citys public transit system or in any other aspect of
their work. However, ADC asks that concerned New Yorkers communicate their concerns specifically to Hikind and Oddo.

ADC NY has sent letters to the editors of the major local newspapers that reported on Hikind and Oddos public remarks. ADC NY has also written letters directly to both Hikinds and Oddos offices demanding an apology
for their calls for racial profiling and asking them to retract their statements concerning the purported relationship between what they associate with a Middle Eastern appearance and the profile of terrorists.

Assemblymember Hikinds call for racial profiling is misguided, at best, states ADC NYs Interim Office Director Sarang Sekhavat. These kinds of calls fuel fears across a wide range of New Yorkers that they will be targeted by law enforcement for nothing more than the color of their skin. That is precisely the kind of anti-immigrant and anti-minority discrimination that all New Yorkers, as members of a diverse and tolerant
city, must oppose. Sekhavat continued, In our letters we noted, Law enforcement officials and most politicians know from the sad history of racial profiling in this country that it does not work.

ADC NY believes that racial profiling undermines effective police work to disrupt and prevent terrorist attacks. By demonizing an entire community, racial profiling interferes with police efforts to track information based on individualized suspicion and undermines cooperation and trust between
communities affected by racial profiling and law enforcement agencies.

COMMUNITY ACTION:

As a strong supporter of the civil liberties of all New York residents, as an organization working in coalition with the diverse religious and ethnic communities that make up our great city, and in the spirit of our
long-standing opposition to racial profiling, ADC New York calls upon all concerned citizens to contact Assemblymember Hikind and Councilmember
Oddos office to demand an apology and a repudiation of their support for racial profiling.

To contact New York State Assmeblymember Dov Hikind:

At his local district address:

Assemblymember Dov Hikind
1310 48th Street, Suite 2
Brooklyn, 11219
Phone: (718) 853-9616
Fax: (718) 436-5734

or, at his Capitol Address:

Assemblymember Dov Hikind
Legislative Office Building
Room 551
Albany, NY 12248
Phone: (518) 455-5721
Fax: (518) 455-5948
[email protected]

To contact New York City Councilmember James Oddo:

At his district address:

City Councilmember James Oddo
94 Lincoln Avenue
Staten Island, New York, 10306
Phone: (718) 980-1017
Fax: (718) 980-1051

or, at his legislative office address:

City Councilmember James Oddo
250 Broadway, 15th Floor
New York, New York 10007
Phone: (212) 788-7159
Fax: (212) 788-7232
[email protected]

For more information on this matter, contact the ADC New York Office at
[email protected] or 212 480-2955.