Democrats To Hold Forum On Law Enforcement Accountability In New York City

By Daniel W. Reilly

(The Politico)  House Democrats, led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), will hold a community forum on law enforcement accountability Monday in New York City, after three detectives were recently acquitted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in Queens.

On April 25, the three officers were acquitted in state court for shooting Sean Bell outside a strip club hours before Bell was to be married in 2006.

In a press release announcing the event, the Democrats said they called the forum to address; "pressing national issues of law enforcement accountability and strategies for ensuring improved policing and greater public confidence in the fairness of the response to tragedies such as the Sean Bell case."

The dismissal of the Bell case is the latest flashpoint in ongoing tensions between the NYPD and many citizens who feel the police routinely overstep their bounds.

The detectives' dismissals touched off a series of protests last week, led by Rev. Al Sharpton, who will attend the forum Monday afternoon at the Alexander Hamilton US Customs House.

New York Gov. David Patterson, a Democrat, said Thursday he would examine undercover officer procedures in the wake of the shooting.

Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Nydia Velasquez (D-NY), Jose Serrano (D-NY), Ed Towns (D-NY) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) will also attend the forum.