More black and Latino officers are planning to join a class-action lawsuit against the NYPD for allegedly pressuring them to issue more summonses in predominantly minority neighborhoods, reported the Post.
Earlier this week, four NYPD officers came forward alleging their supervisors were practicing discriminatory and intimidation tactics against them, as black and Latino cops, when they fell short of arrest and ticket quotas in minority neighborhoods. On Wednesday, a dozen more officers have joined that suit.
The plaintiffs claim racial discrimination is at work both because the department is targeting minorities with the quotas — and because black and Latino officers are punished more harshly than white cops when they failed to meet their numbers.
Officer Pedro Serrano, a Puerto Rican, said he protested that the Puerto Ricans he was targeting for summonses in his South Bronx precinct couldn't afford the fines, but was told by a superior it was OK because they were "animals."
Another plaintiff cop, Sandy Gonzalez, complained in the suit about allegedly being forced to work alone in a cold, dark and dangerous area after complaining. He said he was advised that "on 128th Street, you can write 100 'C' [criminal] summonses any day."
The lawsuit is set to be filed on Monday, March 9, in Manhattan Supreme Court.
