Letter to the Editor: Racism Has No Place in Montclair

Chief David Sabagh,

Again, I witnessed the best and worst of your high-tension, paramilitary police organization, with the attempted carjacking on Bloomfield Avenue Saturday, Oct. 11. I watched as a young man seized the opportunity to hop in the car and accelerate quickly against the red light.

I paused to see him turn sharp right the wrong way down a one-way street and swerve to avoid oncoming traffic. I saw him hop the curb and slam into the concrete light post. When I called an on-duty officer (so my call wouldn’t get routed through Glen Ridge’s 911), I avoided the pleasantries and gave him the description of the assailant as he ran down the street. He appeared approximately 16 to 18 years old, 5 foot 6 to 5 foot 8 inches tall, medium brown skin, backpack, greyish green jacket, running east down Glen Ridge Ave, cutting through the lot behind our cigar shop. He asked me to repeat it since the description was more precise than what was being announced over your radio system.

The response by the Montclair Police Department was instant. As multiple cars showed up, there was a quick response to the victim, gathering information, and more officers sped down Bloomfield Ave in various directions to apprehend the fleeing suspect. It was impressive.

But, in this impressive response, a man was stopped, the wrong man. The man did not fit the description but was being apprehended in front of 345 Bloomfield Ave.

One person then yelled “that’s not the guy,” while the apprehended man said he didn’t do anything. That man was ultimately released. The man apprehended started to walk away.

I then witnessed the victim pull over to park in a bus lane and, since he was harassed by the police for walking down the street and doing nothing other than being black, shouted his disgust for the situation. Instantly the officer proceeded after him and continued to harass the man who was not the suspect, while the suspect was simultaneously being arrested in front of the TD Bank.

When the officer was questioned as to why he was harassing the man who did not fit the description, the response was “he has been known to do things in the community.” This is not probable cause in any way.

What about your officers makes them so comfortable going after a man who they had already released since he was not the suspect to a crime? What makes your officers so able to stop for someone who does not fit the available description of the fleeing suspect? What about your police officers makes them so comfortable to harass a man for walking down the street while black? The wrongly stopped man was over 30 years old, above 6 feet tall, dark brown skin and in a brown jacket, with no backpack, and more importantly, walking while the suspect was running. Gross inconsistencies that bring pause.

Though passions and adrenaline run high in situations like this, racism, whether purposeful or subconscious, has no place in Montclair, it has no place anywhere. As a sworn upholder of the law and, theoretically, ideas of justice, in this town for almost 30 years, you know as well as anyone else that we value a police organization that respects its residents and where the officers understand that they should in turn respect the citizens.

I trust that you will take these observations and do all you can to deal with the level of respect displayed by your officers toward an innocent citizen.

Sincerely yours,

Tom Reynolds

Photo Courtesy of LinkedIn.