Below is Samy Feliz's, brother of Allan Feliz, testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety on December 17, 2024 on the abusive NYPD practices of abusive street stops:
"My name is Samy Feliz. I am the brother of Allan Feliz, who was unjustly stopped in his car and murdered by the NYPD in 2019. I am also a member of the Justice Committee, an organization that works with families whose loved ones were killed by police, and I’m a New Yorker who is regularly stopped because of the color of my skin.
I think you know Allan’s story: After Lt. Jonathan Rivera climbed into Allan’s car, beat, tased, threatened to kill and shot Allan at close range, Officer Barrett dragged Allan from the car, exposing his genitals. Rather than cover him up, the NYPD let him bled out in the street, cuffed and exposed. Lt. Rivera recently faced a discipline trial and my family continues to fight to ensure Commissioner Tish fires him for murdering my brother.
Allan was killed during a car stop, which is not the focus of this hearing, but the same disregard for human life and dignity the NYPD showed Allan is evident in their pedestrian stop practices.
When I testified at the first How Many Stops Act hearing, I shared that, under Eric Adams, the NYPD’s abusive stop practices were getting worse in my neighborhood of Washington Heights. Now, a year and a half later, things are even worse.
This past July, I was walking out of my home carrying a satchel I usually have with me. Officers suddenly jumped out of a car and demanded to know if I had weapons. When officers jump like that and tell you they think you have a weapon, what goes through your mind is, “this could be the end of my life.” They found a hairbrush inside my bag, which they said was the “bulge” they thought was a gun. I’m lucky the incident ended there, but I no longer carry a hairbrush.
As someone who knows all my neighbors and works to make our community safer, I hear stories like mine all the time.
Over the past several months, people have told me about being followed down the street by officers who want to see who they’re interacting with. When they shake a friend’s hand or offer a dollar to someone in need, officers roll up and question them. Others have shared how they’ve been approached while sitting on their stoops—maybe smoking a cigarette or a joint, both of which are legal—only to be harassed by officers demanding ID and explanations for their presence.
Some of these encounters have escalated to unjust arrests and community members I know have filed complaints. Most of these incidents involve officers in khaki pants, the so-called “Community Response” cops. To me, they’re “Community Robo Cops.” It’s absurd to call them a community team when their actions only harm the community.
Thanks to the How Many Stops Act, we know that - in spite of Black and Latine New Yorkers making up about 73% of the population in Washington Heights - they made up 85% of those targeted for level 1 stops and 97% of those targeted for level 2 stops last quarter. The data shows us that these kinds of racial disparities exist across the city. We need the NYPD to provide us with the raw data so that we can further understand the rationale behind these stops and address their discriminatory impact.
Some think these so-called low-level stops are just minor inconveniences, but when it happens to you all the time, when you’re constantly hearing about it happening to your neighbors, and when you know that the worst case scenario is that they escalate to loss of life, it causes constant fear and anxiety. That’s what my community feels.
Thank you to Chair Salaam and the whole Public Safety Committee for holding this hearing and paying attention to what is happening in our communities. This issue is deeply important to me and the other families whose loved ones were killed by the police because we want to make sure no other family has to join this club no one wants to be in. We appreciate your partnership on these issues so far and ask that you continue this partnership in the new year, especially because the NYPD’s abuse is only going to increase under Trump and at least another year of Mayor Adams.
Lastly, my family and I call on you to help us ensure that Commissioner Tisch and Mayor Adams hold fire Lt. Rivera for murdering my brother. The NYPD’s violence and abuse must end and it starts with meaningful accountability and systemic change.
Thank you."
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