Mt. Vernon Community Demanding Formal Investigation of Mt. Vernon City Government Illegally shutting down local Businesses

Please join community leaders, local business owners and concern residents as they demand state of federal investigations in the actions of the Mount Vernon City Government and Mayor Richard Thomas' new Quality of Life Task Force from illegally closing local businesses in Mt. Vernon.  Friday, May 27, 2016, at 11AM, at OK Freddy's Meat Market, 132 South Fourth Avenue, Mount Vernon, New York 10050.  With no reasonable explanation or due process, the City of Mount Vernon illegally padlocked and closed down a very popular and successful business. OK Freddy’s is well known to the communities in Westchester and the Bronx. Customers travel from all over Westchester to patronize OK Freddy’s. To their dismay the business was closed on Saturday, May 14, 2016 by the City of Mt. Vernon at 3:00 p.m. with no citations or warning. The city of Mt. Vernon also illegally closed  Mega Beverage Redemption Center, located at 121 East Third Street. On Tuesday, May 24, Judge Susan Cacace ordered that both stores can reopen and padlocks taken off.  As a result 80 people was unemployed and would of made it virtually impossible to keep a roof over their heads with rent being due June 1st.  The community is in an uproar with no explanation that can be given to the employees and the community. We also will address the need for local, state of federal intervention to investigate Joseph Spiezio for impersonating an officer of the law by representing himself as a Deputy Police Commissioner of Mt. Vernon Police Department when illegally closing OK Freddy's Meat Market and Mega Beverage Redemption Center.  After acquiring about  Deputy Commissioner Spiezio position. We have found out that Mr. Spiezio was never sworn in as  Deputy Police Commissioner or in any law enforcement capacity in the City of Mount Vernon. There is no information recorded in the Mt. Vernon City Clerk’s Office that Mr. Spiezio holds any position. The thing to remember is if the Mt. Vernon City Government can come in, shut down and padlock a business with no previous violations, they can do it to any business next. All business owners need to come out and stand against this injustice. “This is the United States of America, where we are entitled to due process and fair warning,” says Karen Edmonson, former Yonkers NAACP President. “The rights of the owner of OK Freddy’s has been violated. I am Jamaican, and I personally travel to Mt. Vernon to purchase my traditional Caribbean meats and foods. This is simply unacceptable!!!  I am standing with this hardworking community-minded young man and his customers and the community against this local government’s unconstitutional tactics.” "Our local government operates by rules,laws and standards that protect working citizens of Mt. Vernon",  says Damon K. Jones, NY Representative, Blacks in Law Enforcement of America. "When our elected officials and appointees violate these laws and violate the people that they sworn to protect it creates distrust in the community in the process of a true Democracy, that was promises by these same elected officials."   Contact Karen Edmonson at (914) 841-4985 or Karendacostaedmonson@gmail.com Damon K. Jones at (914) 525-5288 or damonkjonesbleausa@gmail.com

Copyright © 2016 Blacks In Law Enforcement of America, All rights reserved. It is our duty as peace officers and members of Blacks in Law enforcement of America to continue the fight for freedom, justice, and equality for all citizens. We will be advocates of law enforcement professionals by establishing continuous training and support. As black law enforcement professionals, we pledge our time, honor, and talent for the uplifting of our communities. We are truly the leaders of the community, in and out of our blue uniform.

The Correlation Between Crime, Violence, and Poverty in Westchester County

The Correlation Between Crime, Violence, and Poverty in Westchester County by Damon K Jones

Blue Wall of Silence, Police Unions, Oversight and the Black Community

Blue Wall of Silence, Police Unions, Oversight and the Black Community by Damon K Jones

Carl Bell's firing as Mount Vernon top cop draws outrage at council meeting

The firing of Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Carl Bell by Mayor Ernie Davis continues to be a hot-button issue in the city nearly a month after Bell was let go.

Damon Jones, a Mount Vernon resident and the head of the Westchester chapter of Blacks in Law Enforcement, criticized Bell's termination as he addressed the City Council during its meeting Wednesday.

"How are we going to fire a commissioner who is holding officers to accountability?" he asked. "There are some police officers that are out of control."

He said the victims of police brutality are African-American.

"The only people they're abusing are people who look like us," he said.

Davis, who has sole responsibility over the police commissioner, has refused to comment on why Bell was fired -- an issue that Samuel Rivers questioned.

"An answer from the mayor that he doesn't discuss personnel matters is not good enough," Rivers said.

None of the council's five members addressed Bell's firing. Council member Roberta Apuzzo, the head of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, said she was "looking forward to having a dialogue" with Jones.

"I've been around here since 1986, and we've had 12 police commissioners. Something's wrong with that equation," City Council President Yuhanna Edwards said.

Jones said he plans to write letters to the Department of Justice's civil rights division about police abuse of Mount Vernon residents.

In a Monday letter to Mount Vernon city Attorney Nichelle Johnson, Jones said the organization would continue to question the motive behind Bell's firing.

"This has completely jeopardized the process of accountability and transparency in the Mount Vernon Police Department," Jones said.

Several members of the police force are under investigation by the FBI and U.S. attorney's office for possible ties to gang members, Newsday reported Feb. 22. Sources familiar with the investigation said the probe was in its preliminary stages and was not focused solely on officers from any one race or any particular hometown.

FEDERAL PROBES

Davis, who is the target of a separate federal probe into his finances, has said he knows nothing of the Police Department probe. Sources have said that Davis and Bell have been kept in the dark about the police investigation.

Bell, who is taking time off before deciding his next career move, told Newsday he appreciated the support he has received from Mount Vernon police officers and city residents since he was fired.

"It's nice to know there are people who appreciate the job I did," Bell said. "But I'm looking forward, not looking back."

Davis fired Bell on Feb. 19, ending Bell's 2 1/2-year tenure as commissioner. The firing came after a year in which shootings and homicides spiked in Mount Vernon and relations between Davis and Bell -- who was appointed in August 2010 by Davis' predecessor, Clinton Young -- deteriorated.

The mayor on Feb. 28 appointed Richard Burke as deputy police commissioner. Burke -- a former Mount Vernon police lieutenant who retired in 1994 after 21 years with the force -- will run the 205-member Police Department until a commissioner is named.

Sources said that Davis' first choice for the commissioner's job is former Mount Vernon Police Officer Terrance Raynor, who heads the 35 investigators of the Westchester County district attorney's office.

Raynor attended Burke's swearing-in March 1 and said afterward he had not applied for the job. He didn't give a direct answer when asked whether he was interested in the post.

Last year, there were 10 homicides and more than 20 shootings in Mount Vernon. Only two arrests have been made in the homicide cases. The 10 killings surpassed the combined total of the previous two years.

BLEA Letter to Mt. Vernon Corporation Council Questioning the City's Oversight of Law Enforcement

As a National Organization of Law Enforcement Professionals, we question the failed actions of the city of Mt. Vernon for oversight and accountability of the actual documented actions, complaints and lawsuits of officers of the Mount Vernon Police Department that have violated the City of Mount Vernon’s and the Mount Vernon Police Department’s code of conduct and are still currently working the streets of Mt. Vernon.

Letter to the City of Mt. Vernon Corporation Counsel

Dozens gather to protest the firing of Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Carl Bell

MOUNT VERNON — A small group of residents and community activists gathered in front of City Hall on Friday to protest the ouster of Police Commissioner Carl Bell and demand an explanation for why he was fired.

Damon Jones of the group Blacks in Law Enforcement of America organized the rally and decried Mayor Ernest Davis’ decision to fire Bell, who had held the post since July 2010.

“He tried to straighten up a police department that really had no accountability,” Jones said of Bell. Instead of enjoying the mayor’s support in that effort, Jones said, Bell, who was fired Tuesday afternoon, “was being undermined.”

Bishop William Ewell, a minister at the nearby New Hope Cornerstone Apostolic Church, described the departed commissioner as “a hands-on commissioner (who) really pushed the department forward.”

Davis has not publicly explained why he dismissed Bell. In a brief exchange in City Hall with a reporter, the mayor said, “I don’t comment on personnel matters. You should know that.”

The mayor’s finances and business interests and several nonprofits he founded are being investigated by federal authorities. Several of the protesters outside City Hall said they found the timing of Davis’ decision to fire Bell suspicious.

“Is this because you have the feds — you’re on their radar?” said Nazarine Duncan, a Mount Vernon resident who has worked to raise awareness about the violence plaguing the city. “To me, it looks like he’s trying to take the light and shine it on somebody else.”

Duncan’s two children survived an attack by a gunman two years ago. Bell was largely responsible for bringing their attacker to justice, she said.

“To me, he (Davis) had no justifiable reason why he fired him,” Duncan said. “We are owed an explanation.”

Citing the federal investigation, Ewell said, “In the midst of those things, I feel this was the wrong time to fire the police commissioner.”

In an interview this week with The Journal News, Bell said he had tried to raise the standards of the city’s police force and “instill some structure.”

He said his attempts to discipline officers who misbehaved were undermined by the mayor’s meddling. Bell said the mayor told him he didn’t understand politics.

Davis has not said whom he will choose to replace Bell or when he will make that appointment. For the time being, Deputy Commissioner Reginald Ward is overseeing the Police Department.