Yonkers Police say social media video of officers interacting with Black child gives wrong impression
YONKERS, N.Y. -- Yonkers Police say a social media video gives a wrong impression of an interaction between two cops and a young African American boy.
The video was shared by celebrities with millions of followers on Instagram.
The encounter happened on Elm Street in June.
This week, comedians Leslie Jones and D.L. Hughley, with 4 million followers between them, posted on social media a video shot by a bystander of two white Yonkers cops interacting with a young African American boy.
"They always bothering somebody," the bystander can be heard saying.
As the police followed the boy, an officer spoke to the bystander, saying, "Are you recording?"
"Yeah I'm recording, of course. Dealing with a Black kid, what the hell you think, I'm not?" the bystander said.
On Instagram, Jones called the video "The scariest s*** I've ever seen" and called police out for harassing the boy. Many of her followers also blasted police.
"You have two officers that are checking on the welfare of a minor. This is what police officers do every day," Yonkers Police Commissioner Chris Sapienza said.
"We need to have dialogue. I think we have reached a point where we go into camps of good and bad," civil rights attorney Mayo Bartlett said.
Bartlett reviewed the bystander and body cam videos and says police did nothing wrong, but he understands why the bystander video appeared ominous to some.
"We routinely see on television interactions between law enforcement and members of the community that don't go as they were supposed to go ... That all leads to mistrust and it also leads to a very real concern that the police may be doing something wrong," he said.
YPD decided to push back on what it considered a false narrative, releasing the 911 call that led cops to the boy.
The caller says, "I see this boy. He's walking around."
A concerned resident called to say the boy, who she estimated to be 5, needed assistance.
In body cam video, officers ask the boy how old he is, and he tells them he's 13.
Police say they properly and politely asked the boy for basic information and had a duty to make sure he was OK after the 911 call.
"Don't presume that police are doing something negative. Presume that they are looking after your kids, that they are looking after the community to make sure everybody is safe," Sapienza said.
After police released the body cam, Jones removed the bystander video from her social media. She did not respond to a request for comment.
