Yosef Bergovoy, one of three bochurim who were stopped by police and given criminal court summonses for what he says is the NYPD’s obsession with ticket and arrest quotas, is taking action.
It was 10 p.m. on Sunday, October 24 when Bergovoy was standing on Carroll St. near Kingston Avenue, talking to his friends.
Four NYPD officers asked for their ID, and proceeded to give them each a summons for “blocking pedestrian traffic”, even though a photograph shows a virtually empty sidewalk.
The three have contacted Norman Siegel, a civil rights lawyer, who is looking into bringing a lawsuit against the police for their actions, and they are seeking other similar victims who may have received unfair summonses from the Police in the Crown Heights area.
“We have decided to take steps to prevent further similar situations from occurring,” Bergovoy told COLlive. “Citizens should never be, or should ever fear to be, harassed or to have to spend their time and money on disputing frivolous or fictitious tickets. It is time to stand up for ourselves.”
“Government and public servants, such as the police, are here to serve us and protect us, not prey on us. Unfortunately, they sometimes forget that there are limits to their privileges, specifically unwarranted searches, detainment and tickets. As I am now learning, this forgetfulness often occurs when quotas need to be met and when budgets are tight.”
So why not get the charges dismissed and let it fade away?
“It is our responsibility to do what’s right for our community, city and country even when inconvenient,” Bergovoy says. “Enough people in this city have given up enough freedom – now it is time to take a stand and tell the NYPD: enough! Focus on fighting crime and stop preying on innocent citizens.”
Bergovoy says they have set up an email address to compile as many stories and incidents as they can. They are looking for incidents that are relevant and happened in this past year. Every incident will remain confidential until the attorney can discuss the incident with you. With enough documented incidents, he says, they will be able to force some level of accountability from NYPD brass and make a credible complaint.
The group will be holding a meeting this Thursday, December 9th with the lawyer. Please e-mail them at [email protected] if you feel you have been targeted and have received a false charge or arrest. Please be sure to include the details of the incident, your name and number. Please notify your family and friends to e-mail us if they have a case as well. E-mails will be replied to with the details of the meeting, where it will be held, and what time it will take place.
EVERY SUBMISSION WILL STAY CONFIDENTIAL. If need be, we can give you a document assuring your of confidentiality from the attorney who is assisting us.
I AM HURAY FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT………….THIS PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN RULE OUR LAW………..GO BACK TO YOU COUNTRY,AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO
lets see if u say the same thing when this happens to you
There is absolutely no problem with commenting in Yiddish. If you can’t understand I would be glad to translate, as I do understand.
Happy Chanukah!
! א פרייליכען חנוכה
if you have a problem with yiddish online, then thats very sad
Yosef, I’m your biggest fan!
Way to go Yosef! It’s good to see someone taking a little initiative. You should run for Crown Heights Community Counsel.
I’m very happy for u, ur a real Chevramen. Kol Hakovod
Hatzlacha.
What part of what #11 said has to do with intelligence? all he/she said was that he/she heard a different story. Hearing a story does not require a lot of brain power unless it is a very detail-oriented story.
What’s with the Yiddish man? If you can read English why can’t you write? This is America. We speak English in this country.
Gut gezukt. And we need to show appreciation for these men who are doing something with mesiras nefesh to help the community. These kind of things need to be addressed in order to stop them from getting worse.
That is great, Thank you!
איך טראכט אז ווען מזעט אן איד אין צרות דארף מען פאר עם דאווענען מיט אסאך כוונה אז ער זאל האבען הצלחה אין וואס ער טוט און מען זאל נישט זאגען זאכען וואס זיינען נישט שיין. הער אוין מיט די נישט שיינע רעד.
I’m sure if you were the one that was ticketed for merely standing outside with some friends and having quiet conversation you would have a different perspective to this story. You need to open up your eyes and see the light. A great time to start that would be on Chanukah.
P.S. you need to stop trying to sound like a ‘Snag’. You don’t sound cool. Wana sound cool? Speak like a Chossid.
To comment 13: of course its HP. But how do you know why it happened? How can you claim it happened because they should have been inside learning? And how do you know they weren’t taking a break from shteiging?! And while you are judging, maybe it happened so they could take legal action in order to protect other citizens (like you)
You are so close minded – the OPPOSITE of a true Chabadnik.
You probably shouldn’t be on the internet posting, because you are not doing Hashem’s will right now! You should be learning Torah. Get off the internet!
where r your brains? they didnt get a ticket for disturbing the peace or harrassing the cops……show a little compassion.
When ur done getting something done, I think you need to form a vaad hakahal coalition!! U got my vote!!
What are they doing standing around outside anyway? They should be inside learning. It’s Hashgacha Pratis that they were ticketed. It’s Hashem’s way of telling them to go inside and learn. The fact they they are now blowing this whole incident out of proportion and suing is simply their method of finding another way to waste time. They should just accept Hashem’s will and do what they are really meant to be doing; learning Torah.
Well you must have heard wrong, since I was a witness to the scene. As well as the investigative reporter seeing a different picture as well. And if you see the link to the video in comment 4, he did a great job of portraying the truthful story.
I heard a different story. That they were making a lot of noise and were making fun of the cops from across the street.
These guys could just show up in court and have it dismissed and it will be over for them but they decided to go and fight for other people as well, for us, the rest of the community these boys deserve our utmost respect and cooperation if we can.
especially when dealing with armed conglomerates who create circumstances at will
…and crime continues to grow in this neighborhood. I understand that the police do try to catch the thieves, muggers, and other criminals that are striking in our area with alarming frequency but not enough is being done. We are not adequately protected. I am terrified to go out. Two weeks ago my nephew got hurt, last week- a neighbor, and these boys are getting a ticket …for what? Perhaps, if we organized groups such as these guys- 3 or 4 at each corner each night, crime would go down- as the streets would be fuller and the criminals might… Read more »
Couldnt you find a better lawyer than the guy from the director of the ACLU. He is a good lawyer, but you dont have to help with his other motives
is that miss sebel sis????
Hope they are $uce$$ful!
Here is the link to the article and video originally published on Collive: https://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=11575&alias=nypds-obsession-with-quotas
This is a very important action and will hopefully prevent future bullying of law abiding citizens- by those who are supposed to protect the public! I know there are decent, admirable police out there because I’ve met them
Nice, keep up the good work!!
go for it if you got the time &money ,you will improve the quality of life for all of us & get us back are rights,& stop the bullying !