By the New RoAR News Editorial Board

On Friday, December 13, 2024 the Westchester County District Attorney’s office announced that a Grand Jury had declined to indict New Rochelle Police Lt. Sean Kane, whose own body camera showed him handling a baggy of white powder before putting it in place to make an arrest.  This outrageous decision highlights the frustrating hypocrisy of our criminal system. 

Lt. Kane handling a bag of white powder in his patrol care (l), Ivin Harper at hearing where drug charges were dismissed (r)

How is it possible that a bag of drugs seen on a police body camera is sufficient to arrest a Black man, but that same video evidence is not sufficient when it comes to indicting a white police officer?

Why wasn’t a police officer whose own body camera shows him in possession of felony level amounts of drugs not fired and arrested on drug charges?  Where is the investigation as to how he was able to gain access to those drugs?    

What level of gaslighting is at play when Westchester County  DA Mimi Rocah, who created a Conviction Review Unit, is unable or unwilling to present a compelling argument to bring a case to trial when it is all on videotape?

When the two-tiered race-based system of crime and punishment is so firmly in place, how do we dare call it justice?