Mayor Giuliani called the attacks "horrendous" after meeting with seven of the victims who described their attacks to him. But if the very descriptions could be termed horrendous; if the video, which the police now watch to identify attackers, portrayed such obviously criminal activity, why did so many police officers who were there do nothing? The New York Post quotes an unnamed 10-year veteran as saying police were told "We don't want to see any altercations between us and them ... If they're drinking, walk away. If they're smoking pot, walk away ... [we] don't want photos of altercations with minorities."
It is true that the attacks occurred roughly in the area of the park adjacent to the route of the recently-concluded National Puerto Rican Day parade. However, the media has carefully avoided characterizing the attackers as belonging to any race in particular, and the pictures of the attackers currently being circulated by police seem to include a variety of racial/ethnic types.
Both the About Race Relations Guide and the About Latino Culture Guide find this supposed explanation for police inaction somewhat suspect. "I've never seen a situation where the person was in the middle of a violent attack and the community protested when the criminal was arrested," says Latino Culture Guide Richard L. Vázquez, in his feature, NYPD's Image of Latinos. Race Relations Guide Kimberly Hohman echoes this sentiment in her feature, What's Race Got To Do With It?: "It seems absurd to think that the police would fear that the public might object to the arrest of criminals who happen to be members of a minority group."
Reading the features of these knowledgeable colleagues, I have to agree that the claim of "avoiding the perception of racism" rings a little hollow. The more cynical side of me wonders if the officers quoted were sending a more spiteful message: "That'll teach ya to call us racists." As if enforcing the law isn't possible without, as Vázquez puts it, "emptying guns on innocent men, or assaulting someone with a plunger."
Then again, the experiences many women have described on the forum would point equally well to another message: It's just a bunch of guys getting rowdy; boys will be boys; "you're not bleeding that much."
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Some people feel that the onlookers should have helped the victims instead of videotaping the attacks. I would like to think that human decency would not allow someone to stand by and take pictures while another human being is being viciously assaulted. But, on the other hand, I can certainly understand why "civilians" might be afraid to intervene with a mob that size. I certainly would be. So, I'll leave that question to you, and ask another question instead: What message does the inaction of both police and onlookers send to the victims? Here's one more post from the Women's Issues forum that describes one woman's answer to that question:
One night at a party, in front of about 30 or so people XXX got angry over something. I begged him to drop it and not make a big fuss in front of everyone. He started yelling what a whore I was, took a beer bottle and hit me over the head. As I laid on the front porch protecting my head and ribs, he kept kicking me. And I kept looking at everyone's feet. I kept thinking no one is moving? No one is stopping him? Maybe I really deserve this, maybe they know something I don't.
-- CCTEX
Should TV Stations Exploit Victims?
About Crime Guide Bill Bickel thinks Fox was wrong to show the clip - the government shouldn't prohibit it, but network standards should.
Sex Assaults in Central Park
The numbers look more staggering every time a new report comes out: Right now, they stand at 49 women assaulted by up to 60 men in broad daylight, with at least 10 onlookers standing there videotaping it, and cops nearby refusing to get involved. About Crime Guide Bill Bickel will keep you up to date on this continuing story.
Central Park Assaults: What's Race Got To Do With It?
As the events that occurred in and around Central Park on June 11 continue to unfold, it seems there are still more questions than answers. But the question that's on a lot of minds, but conspicuously absent from the press reports is: What's race got to do with it? About Race Relations Guide Kimberly Hohman looks at the complex issue of race, stereotyping, and crime.
NYPD's Image of Latinos
About Latino Culture Guide Richard L. Vázquez looks at the "concern" offered by some officers that enforcing the law might cause rioting, pointing out that there were over 3,000 acts of law-enforcement in connection with the parade that day, all without rioting or cries of racism.
Dateline NBC Exploits Central Park Victims
FAIR A Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting action alert takes issue with Dateline's coverage of the assault, both the repeated airing of video tapes of assaults in progress, and the insinuation that the women were somehow to blame for the attacks.
Finest Rescue Naked Victim
New York Post Not all of New York's finest ignored the attacks. These officers' accounts provide some balance to reports claiming the NYPD brushed aside victims' complaints and stood by idly during the assaults.
Victims Say Police Ignored Pleas For Help
CNN New York City police are accused of not responding when officers were allegedly told that a mob of young men had gotten out of control and were attacking women in Central Park.