III. Citizens To Be Heard: An Opportunity to Address Corruption in the NRPD

The New Rochelle City Council will hold two important public hearings and its usual monthly Citizens To Be Heard session on Tuesday, September 10^th, beginning at 7 pm at City Hall. 

The first public hearing will address the long-awaited proposal for a Civilian Complaint Review Board to review or investigate cases of alleged police misconduct.  The second hearing will address the proposed change in the name of Radisson Plaza to “Hannahs Way,” which would both reference and obscure an important piece of New Rochelle’s African-American history. 

And the Citizens To Be Heard session, at which New Rochelle residents may address any topic of their choosing, will provide an opportunity to discuss the current investigation of NRPD Lieutenant Sean Kane, whose body camera recorded him handling a baggie with white powder in his patrol car shortly before he “discovered” a similar bag under the car of Black New Rochelle native Ivin Harper and had him arrested.

New RoAR News has covered all these important topics in recent months, and we are reviewing each of them this week to help encourage and prepare concerned New Rochelle residents to discuss them with their elected leaders on September 10^th.

Part I: Civilian Complaint Review Board

Part II: The Saga of Hannah Pugsley

Today, we highlight the case of Lt. Sean Kane by reposting our recent article on the dismissal of Ivin Harper’s drug charges and his powerful statement to the court about the impact of racist policing in New Rochelle.  Also, please see New RoAR News‘s analysis of the questions that the NRPD and the City administration need to answer in the wake of this case.

Charges Dismissed Against Ivin Harper Amid Evidence That NRPD Lieutenant Kane Planted Drugs

Kane has been “destroying our Black community for years,” Harper tells judge

Drug-possession charges against Ivin Harper were dismissed in City Court on August 23 based on body-cam video suggesting that NRPD Lieutenant Sean Kane planted drugs under Harper’s car near Bracey Houses on May 29.  It was the second time in two years that drug charges were dismissed against Harper under circumstances suggestive of police misconduct.  Kane has been suspended and is currently under investigation by the Westchester County District Attorney’s office.

Ivin Harper at his court hearing (Credit: Frank Becerra Jr., The Journal News)

In a statement to the court recorded and published by LoHud, Harper, a Black fitness trainer and actor, said he had been “destroyed” by the repeated false drug charges, losing the opportunity to continue working on a series for Amazon Prime Video.

He also identified Lt. Kane as a longstanding and continuing threat to the Black community who has been promoted several times despite repeated complaints about him.  “This big white cop been destroying our little Black community for so many years,” Harper said. “We’ve been coming down here begging you guys, so many complaints.  Every time we came with a complaint, they promoted him. He was Cop of the Year in 2011. They gave him a Municipal Housing Project award. That’s a slap in the face. They gave him an award for arresting the people in the projects. This has destroyed us. Nobody listened to us. We’ve been down here complaining about this guy for years, and look where we at now.  I just want to say I hope this guy is not … the best y’all have to offer to our community.”

The full text of Harper’s statement appears at the end of this article.

LoHud has also reported details of Kane’s conduct on May 29, drawn largely from his own body-cam recording, which was released to Harper after he filed an official complaint with the NRPD.  According to LoHud, Kane drove up to Harper’s car on Main Street near Bracey Houses, got out of his patrol vehicle, and when Harper ran, chased him up the stairs of the Bracey parking lot and across the street into the New Roc City parking garage.  Video later shows Kane in his vehicle with a baggie in his hand, then exiting his vehicle, approaching Harper’s car, and reaching under the front driver’s side tire, apparently retrieving something, returning to his vehicle, and reporting grounds for a felony charge by radio. 

Charging documents against Harper indicate that Kane saw Harper toss the bag under his car.  But according to LoHud’s analysis of the videos, Kane was not on the same level of the lot as Harper’s car when Harper passed the car, and therefore could not have seen him toss anything under the car.

Harper was arrested on July 10 and filed a complaint a few days later.  Kane was suspended on July 29.

Harper had a claim against the NRPD for false arrest after a similar incident last year.  In that case, the police reported that a bag of protein powder found in Harper’s car had tested positive for cocaine, but the case was thrown out due to a two-day delay in testing the powder during which the custody of the evidence could not be established. The arresting officer in that case, Jared Gramble, has left the department.

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Full text of court statement by Ivin Harper:

I had a letter written out, but I don’t even really want to say it because it’s gonna make me cry. I feel defeated. Before the officer came and planted some drugs on me, I was a very upbeat, happy person. I’m just a mere shell of myself, can’t sleep at night. This has destroyed me.

This happened to me last year in the same courtroom. I got arrested for protein powder, mysteriously it turned to cocaine. I spoke up about myself. I got the case dismissed.  Now, one year later, while I’m waiting to try to get my life on track, they do this to me again. This is the second time in two years, I’ve been charged with two B felonies that destroyed my life.

I was a celebrity fitness trainer and an actor.  I got shows on Amazon Prime. Now I can’t go back. I was supposed to be on Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. They canned me. I’m done, because I’m a drug dealer in their eyes. So this just destroyed me.

And you know what? If I never had this video, who would have believed me? This big white cop been destroying our little black community for so many years. We’ve been coming down here begging you guys, so many complaints.  Every time we came with a complaint, they promoted him. He was Cop of the Year in 2011. They gave him a Municipal Housing Project award. That’s a slap in the face. They gave him an award for arresting the people in the projects. This has destroyed us. Nobody listened to us. We’ve been down here complaining about this guy for years, and look where we at now.

I just want to say I hope this guy is not … the best y’all have to offer to our community.