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Citizens Charge 5th Precinct Harassment

Citizens Charge 5th Precinct Harassment image Citizens Charge 5th Precinct Harassment image
Parent Issue
Day
10
Month
September
Year
1976
OCR Text

"No man can walk straight with a chip on his shoulder."

So claims a sign displayed in front of Fifth Precinct Police Headquarters at Mack and St. Jean on Detroit's east side. But according to several residents in the area, the police officers at that precinct carry the biggest chip of all. 

The citizens, the vast majority of them in the Jefferson-Chalmers district, charge gross harassment by Fifth Precinct officers and fear neighborhood youngsters may be hurt, or even killed, if the pressure isn't eased.

Right now residents are keeping a close eye on Ricky Meadows. The 17-year-old youth's name was mentioned in a Detroit News article last month as being a member of a gang, and ever since then, his family and friends say Ricky Meadows has been scared to leave the house for fear of a confrontation with the police.

"And confrontation was what he had, every time he left this house," his mother told The Sun.

She says it's known to most officers and residents in the area that Meadows has a bullet lodged somewhere in his chest and that his health isn't up to par. But, she claimed, police officers have threatened her son regularly since he was injured.

One recent incident occurred on August 26 as Ricky was walking down Marlborough, the street he lives. A scout car approached him and an officer hollered out the window, "Hey Meadows, whoever shot you should have killed you, 'cause if I ever get the chance, l'm gonna kill you."

Mrs. Meadows said the officer then got out of the car, pushed Ricky up against the vehicle, and hit him in the chest with a flashlight.

The latest incident occurred August 29 when, according to witnesses, Meadows was arrested for loitering while walking in the neighborhood with his brother, Kenny. Kenny Meadows was not taken into custody.

Alter calling Fifth Precinct HQs, Mrs. Meadows says she was informed that Ricky was being held on the loitering charge and that he could get out for $50.

"But when my husband and daughter went down to see Ricky, they told them he was being held for bomb threats," said Mrs: Meadows. '"Then they made fun of Ricky by saying 'Hey, do we have Meadows in there?' 'Yeah, we got Meadows. He's down here so much he has his own private cell'."

She says they then changed their story again and claimed the charge was "violation of probation." 

Officer Marianna Burkis of the Fifth Precinct told The Sun that Meadows had been initially picked up for bomb threats and was subsequently held for violation of probation.

His parents say they were not allowed to see him on August 31 and September 1. Meadows was taken before visiting Judge Samuel Brezner of Recorders Court and sentenced to sixty days in the Detroit House of Corrections (Dehoco) for violation of probation. Why was he on probation? Larceny under $100.

Mrs. Meadows says her son has long had trouble with police officers in the Fifth. She said they came into her home when he was only 15, accusing him of killing a man during an armed robbery attempt. He was then taken to a youth home and subsequently released, she said, due to a lack of evidence.

When asked if there had been other incidents, Mis. Meadows replied, "well, yes-they took him out to Grosse Pointe not too long ago and made him walk home." She also mentioned another incident where police came to the Meadows home looking for Ricky on suspicion of an armed robbery that had taken place the night before. "But Ricky was in jail at the time," she said, "which proves that they automatically come looking for him."

A resident in the Fifth Precinct said that Meadows' name was connected with the gangs when the police came tearing into his house one day looking for Ricky and two other brothers, the youngest one being 10. The police arrested them and called them 'Black Gangsters.' "That's where the gang affiliation came from," the resident explained.

James Curry said that the police are always connecting Ricky Meadows with bad things but overlook the fact that he started the Security Patrol, an organization of youths in the community who patrolled the streets to help make them safe.

He said officers from the Fifth Precinct forced the youngsters to break up the patrol by constantly arresting the youths for loitering.

Curry said Meadows was also instrumental in the Clean-Up'76 Program, where all of the youngsters got together and cleaned up the area-after a heavy flood.

"Ricky has just lost his faith in people," says Mrs. Meadows sadly. "He's not a violent dude- in fact, he says very little. And now he's scared, really scared."

Mrs. Meadows said that her family- five daughters and four sons- has been adversely affected by the events of the past weeks. "The kids are always upset," she lamented, adding that she doesn't like the idea of her sons being condemned as gangsters. Two more of her sons, Ken, 16, and Keith, 12, were also mentioned in The News as being gang members.

Mrs. Meadows says she and her husband. Z.B., have been married for 25 years and have always given their kids the best direction they could.

But the Meadows aren 't the only ones who claim harassment from the Fifth Precinct. One white woman in the area says it "just makes her sick" the way police officers handle the young black kids.

"I happened to be looking out of my window one day and saw nine cop cars ride down on four kids- can you imagine that?", the woman said in astonishment. -

And Elder Maston, a black man well known in the Jefferson-Chalmers area, says he had to go before the Police Commission before he was allowed to open up a skating rink in the area. 

"I wanted to open up the rink to give the kids something to do," Maston told The Sun, "to keep them off the streets. But the cops from the Fifth told me I couldn't open it up because there was too much crime in the area. So I went before the Police Board and got permission."

Maston said that one police commissioner told him, "If a business couldn't open because of the crime, nobody would be able to open, because crime is all over the city."

Maston was finally allowed to open his Top Notch Skating Rink last month. It's on Jefferson and Eastlawn and the kids in the neighborhood say they love it.

The Jefferson-Chalmers area is on the city's far east side, with the Grosse Pointes only a few steps away. The neighborhood is totally integrated: neat old houses, well-kept lawns, and a number of streets still made of bricks.

A great majority of the residents say they like the area, are aware of crime, but they say their area is no more vicious than any other. They say they take great pride in their homes and neighbors and don't fear them.

The citizens said they don't need any more police. What they do need, residents claim almost unanimously, is education, jobs and much more respect.