"They're running amok like the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

I'm twenty three years old. I was arrested for coming out of a building where there were allegedly cops that actually sell drugs to suspecting buyers in hopes of as soon as they get downstairs or come out the building they're arrested. Coming out of the building I was asked to, "get on the floor" with I believe five or six other African American and Spanish decent males. When we didn't comply right away the officer actually pulled his gun out on me. We were all handcuffed and brought to Central Booking.

The things these cops in New York do is ridiculous, they're running amok like the Joker in the Dark Knight. I felt assaulted and disrespected. I knew none of these guys. Like I said I was coming visiting a friend. Unfortunately you know we can't live, all my friends don't live on the upper eastside or in the Trump Towers. I can't control where my friends live. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I couldn't even get in touch with her to go knock on her door to let her know what was happening so that she could explain to them, "you know he just left my apartment." Everybody there had something on them but me and I was still arrested. They all had weed on them and they got it from the officers that were selling it upstairs. It was a sting operation that they do in that area. They get people all day long, all day long. I had nothing on me. Thats why the case was dismissed. I was terrified, I was terrified.

Gregory

"Girls are strange. Crazy."

This is a court case where um I went to jail for um a domestic violence case. Me and my girl we was was living you know together and um we was getting into a lot of you know bad things you know. The first two, it was a three year relationship, the first two years you know were going good and then the last year which was 2007 was you know was going down. We was into you know, I not ashamed to say it you know, "we was into cocaine, you know sniffing." That right there didn't end out good you know, um I regret it because you know, she would do a lot of things for money and that would take away her you know, I know it would take away her, I know it would take away her pride and you know we wouldn't keep up with our hygiene and whatever and so at the end of everything you know I had a fight with her brother which resulted me getting locked up for thirty days, that was in 2007. About um August then um when I came home, cause we used to rent a room, when I came home everything in the room you know was gone, so I found out she took everything you know she just you know left and my stuff was at my godmother house so you know I was a little depressed I didn't have nothing cause she did my clothes wrong, she did my clothes dirty and it really like you know messed me up so um.

She used to play with my feelings, she used to come back and forth saying, "everything would be all right" and I would believe that, so I thought um awhile of her playing with me saying, "everything would be all right" and then her you know like growing more farther away. I decided to like get myself together work, you know, try to go to school and get myself together. Dated new people and she didn't like that, cause when she back and we chilled, you know I broke the whole story down to her and we was like in a remote area you know my friend house but she left me for the day and you know... I had told her the situation so immediately you know she slapped me and I told her, "like you know I'm out, like I don't gotta put up with this, I'm good, I'm good, I don't ever want to see you again." So then, it was four o'clock in the morning at that time and I had to be at work at five. So um there was ten dollars of hers on the dresser, you know her keys, everything she took out of her pockets she put on the dresser and I say,"yo, I gotta go, so um I'm leaving." So I took the ten dollars off the dresser and said, "yo I'm gonna use this for the cab, because if I take the train I'm not gonna have time, I only have two dollars to my name." She didn't say no, she didn't say yes. So she said," you leave right now, I'm gonna cut my hair whatever" and she literally like cuts her hair, little by little and I'm just looking at her and I'm like you know that doesn't do me, that doesn't keep me, you know that doesn't keep me here, that doesn't you know make me, that doesn't make me see anything. You know what I'm saying, so you're not say nothing. I left and when I came back I found out that she said that, "oh I had taken her money, she's stuck down here, no place to go and that I put my hands on her."

I have no problem with doing this. My life will be, you know way better. I remember cause it was a long time ago, but like right after that, I started like getting myself together, she was still calling me after you know like she still wanted to see me or whatever and the legal aids, they didn't... they... I had an order of protection, I had an order of protection and um, um right after that, right after she did that, um in February, in February right, she had came back to New York again and then meanwhile I'm in the order of protection and I still let her know that I'm dating somebody, you know she still comes back, you know, shes like, "listen, I've changed you know, like... I don't do what I used to do." She used to prostitute, you know like cause when was doing that stuff you know on drugs. She said, "like I don't do that no more, I'm good, you know things could work out." So I tried it for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, got into an argument again. Little small argument, say "I'm out again." She does something again. She goes to the precinct and says, that I put up a fight with her, that this guy's no good whatever." So they call me in again. Meanwhile I got proof again, she came around my area, she's right in front of my building when the incident happened, you know telling me to come downstairs, whatever. This time when I went to jail, I went to jail for a week, she was supposed to come the next week to like the um grand jury whatever, she didn't come because she knew that we know what she was doing and then, then they dismissed that one. I stopped picking up her calls. I even stopped picking up like incoming calls, calls that came in private. I stopped picking up those. My trial was Monday and the judge looked at me and it was like, "how old is he? He's twenty one." We don't want to see this guy lose trial cause my lawyer was, "like she can come cry in front of the stand and say you did anything" and I can be doing three to fifteen. So the judge is like, "the best thing I can give you is because I know you don't want a felony on your record is that we'll put a temporary felony on your record, you stay out of trouble for a year and eight months, then we'll take that felony off and that will be that and you don't have to worry about nothing no more" That's it. Girls are strange. Crazy.

Jerome

"I realized I was being arrested just for sleeping on the couch"

I live in Brooklyn, New York. I came to court this afternoon because I had to come here to sign up for community service, a non-violent crime for trespassing that I had done, so, I'm just trying to get it over with. That's about it. Yeah. I was in Midtown on 32nd St. in between 5th and Broadway, and it was like around 7 o'clock in the morning, I was waiting for the internet café to open up, they open up at 8 o'clock. So, I went inside a hotel to sit on a couch 'cause I didn't want to stand outside, 'cause I was getting a little tired, so sitting on the couch made me a little extra little tired 'cause I was...I kinda tired from the sun outside, so I sat down on the couch and fell asleep. I woke up, like, 20 minutes later and I realized the police was in front of me with handcuffs, know what I'm sayin'? Telling me I was trespassing and I was getting arrested for this. The La Quinta Hotel. I stayed there the night before, recently before I got locked up, yeah, yeah. It's a spot that everybody goes to, $3.00-an-hour for the internet, know what I'm sayin'? Playing video games and all on the computer. I told the police I was kinda tired, they said they couldn't do anything about it, they just came there to do their job. And that's about it. Nobody in the hotel called them, honestly, I think, like, it was a guest...or probably a guest downstairs, you know what I'm saying? Got a little, like, strung out that somebody was sleeping in the hotel, 'cause the manager knows me, whatever, but, like, he had no control over them locking me up 'cause they still took me, anyway.

They said I can't sleep in the hotel, I said "I just passed out for a little bit, I'm sorry officer, I'll leave right now," he said "only way you're leaving now is in cuffs." Know what I'm sayin'? He told me, give me my name, my I.D., I gave them my I.D., I realized — then I realized...he said "turn around," know what I'm sayin'? I realized I was being arrested just for sleeping on the couch for 20...like, not even 20 minutes. No. Three days' community service, know what I mean? I was in jail for, like, 24 hours, like, almost a little over 24 hours, a little bit, I think. I kinda felt better on the sofa than I did feel in jail. 'Cause I don't have like a violent history, I don't have no crime, I don't have no record, period. Honestly, I should've stayed at home, it would've been more comfortable.

Jamali

"She said I slapped her. Which I didn't."

Um, my girl, my girlfriend, my previous girlfriend already suspected me having relationship with someone else, never coulda came, never coulda came at me with evidence and proof. Um threatened me to go to court to have visitation rights, that was the only way I could see my son. She made so difficult for me and she put me through court, made false allegations upon domestic violence abuse on her. When the judge and the DA um took upon to be on my side and dismiss the case cause they saw it was false allegation, false allegation cause of jealousy. So I feel like there's a lot people, there's a lot of people in my situation that's even in prison, that's even in prison now because of domestic violence that's domestic violence is not all the time from a male. It also come, domestic violence come from a female as well. The law don't want to see that, they don't want to face the fact, they just want to see that the male figure is dominated and stronger so therefore he's the abuse one in the relationship, you understand?

She said that I verbally assaulted her, which I did. I spit at her, which I did. She said I slapped her. Which I didn't. It was and it was it was simply because she had a feeling that I was, that I had a woman and females are like that, they can't be with you. Nobody can be with you. You understand what I'm saying? They know that domestic violence right now in this state is priority number one and they, any female in this world knows that just by saying domestic violence they have the guy in the palm of their hands.

Jose

"I stole from every store you can name…"

My story is, it's kinda hard to get a job now days, so I went searching for a job down in SoHo and then the jobs wasn't necessary here so I had to steal, so I went to every store stole. I stole from every store you can name, Urban Outfitters, Levi store, every store. I got caught, eventually. But the whole situation is I that got caught, but the people in the store didn't want to let me go for the other clothes that I stole from the other stores. But the cops said, "it's all right, it's all right, I can have my clothes, just not from the store." The cops left me there and came back, but when he thought I came they hit me and my jaw was wired. Now it's a lawsuit. See you later.

Donta

"It seems unlikely I'll ever get my phone back."

I'm still trying to get my phone. I'm back here for like the fifth time trying to get my phone. It's really ridiculous. They're giving me the run around. All the numbers that I have gotten so far have been dead ends or no one's answering. Or just defecating on me actually. It seems unlikely I'll ever get my phone back. Like they want to keep it, they're using my daytime minutes, I don't know what's happening right now, I really don't. They've had it now for like a month, a whole month. I estimate my phone bill will probably be in the thousands, or late hundreds, something like that, not a hundred dollars, something like that. Maybe I'll have some new contacts if I ever get it back.

Timothy

"Security asked me, why I stole the bag I had on my back?"

The other day I guess it was Friday, no Saturday afternoon. I was out in Manhattan. I was carrying my backpack which I usually carry all the time. I keep my normal things in there, I usually keep a pad, my phone. You know your normal things you would keep in a bag. I walked into K-Mart to go do some shopping and uh Long Island Railroad. And I think that's under, by Penn Station, underneath Penn Station there. As I walked in everything was, everything was fine, I was looking, everything. I actually actually bought an item. I bought a, I bought a, I think I bought a pair of sunglasses if I'm not, not mistaken. As I was walking out the door I was stopped by security. Security asked me, why I stole the bag I had on my back? The bag is mine, I told them over and over. They didn't hear me. They brought me inside and I was then arrested for shoplifting. They called in the NYPD, who came in and they arrested me. They brought me down into uh the 35th. precinct. Booked me. Put me in a cell there. They then um transported me down here to county court or central booking whatever you would like to call it. And I'm in here ever since, I guess that would have been Sunday morning and I've been here ever since. I've just been released. It's Monday morning and all my charges were dismissed, every one of them, everyone of them. Nobody was able to pinpoint these charges on me. So now I'm going to go see a lawyer and I'm going to see if I can sue K-Mart for having this happen to me. I've lost work. I should be at work today. I lost my whole weekend. I lost my dignity, okay. I'm not a criminal.

Robert

"It's like a dog make a pee on the wall. I'm animal."

I'm from Paris , France. i'm here because I write graffiti on the wall. I was with a few friends in the streets, walked down to Astor Place. Like in France I make graffiti, when the Police come and push me in the wall. I wrote just two name. They took me to the 8th. street precinct. I was three or four hours in jail with twenty man. I got a nickname, "Fresh Fish", from this jail. Now I want to come back to France.

My graffiti, just a tag, hispanic writing. Graffiti is a part of my life. I start when i was a kid. Its like a spirit, it's my life. I'm a student in graffiti design. Writing on the wall is like I was here, I was in New York, I was in Paris, I was in Amsterdam. It's like a dog make a pee on the wall. I'm animal.

Esteban

"Everyone is basically just sitting on the floor packed in there you're like sardines, it's a nightmare."

The lovely NYPD brought me here today. Just came to finish up, my community service. Six days. I paid $95.00 after originally arrested for the charge of graffiti. I was basically at a bar down there at Bowery I uh was hanging outside and uh I just met this guy outside and we were talking about, just talking, shooting shit. I said, "like lets go outside for a smoke." I go out there and he like goes too, goes to catch, like climbs up on this thing, next thing I know I see this large like Puerto Rican guy dressed in all fatigues, army fatigues running full speed up the street at us. And I'm like what's going on, I think I'm about to be robbed or killed or something. You know? Next thing I know he pushes me out of the way goes to grab the guy and I'm like, "whoa whoa" trying to break it up like thinking this guys gonna beat his ass or something maybe it's some gang thing, I dunno what's going on. Next thing you know, swarm from all directions, they're throwing me in the car, never once identifying themselves as Police, never showed a badge. I was almost halfway relieved when it was the Police and not just a gang of guys gonna beat me down in the street. But uh, yeah took me down no questions asked right away and I got charged with a charge even though I technically wasn't doing anything as far as I'm concerned.

I was not. I was just there and basically I just got charged with obstruction of justice and they charged me with graffiti, cause they say I interfered and got in the way and hurt the officers little finger, his pinky was hurt and sprained and the poor guy had to uh, exactly this poor guy is like three times my size, like I supposedly hurt his delicate pinky. Next thing you know I'm whisked away for four days in the courthouse and they hold me down there and you know it was not a pleasant experience, I'll tell you that.

In the Tombs for four days. It was a nightmare. It's all cheese sandwiches and if you tell them you know you tell them you're a vegetarian, vegan, you don't eat cheese you know they're like well take it off. You know that's their solution. You get that two times a day and then you get a thing of frosted flakes in the morning which you know of course you gotta eat dry if you don't drink milk.

I was going crazy. You try to drift in and out of sleep. You lose track of time. You hear the same conversations over and over and that's the worst part of like the jailhouse lawyers, everyone's giving you this real great advice in quotations, you know everyone thinks they got the answer but they're in the same place as you. So you know you can't use any advice you hear in there. There's nothing to read. You read the same sign about your like, rights and to be quiet basically a hundred times, it's the only reading material. There's no reading. It's all cold floors and sleep deprivation basically. It's my gist of the whole matter.

Oh it's huge. It's really packed there for some reason. It was the weekend and they were just piling us in there. There was like no floor room even for everyone to lay down. Everyone is basically just sitting on the floor packed in there you're like sardines, it's a nightmare.

You have people you talk to but you, the conversations tend to be, go run in circles. Every time the new people come in they ask the same questions and then you get so tired of hearing the same conversations over and over basically. It's a cycle of the same questions, "when are we gonna go up front? You know let me see the judge, I've been here longer then you, so and so." Pretty much it.

To say the least no. But I've paid my dues to society and I'm rehabilitated. They really, they really turned me around. I have a new lease on life.

Stefan

"Don't you think you're spending a little too much."

I was recently released. I was sentenced to six months, five years probation for possession of cocaine. I was arrested on 119th Street in Harlem. I was dealing cocaine around the area I live. I was arrested January 5th. I walked into a building that was being raided. When I walked in I was tempted top buy marijuana, I had a large amount of drugs on me. So when I walked in they searched me and found everything on me. After that I was taken down to Central Booking, the Tombs, I spent two days there and then I was transfered to Rikers Island. Spent the next 4 1/2 months on Rikers. I saw the Judge, accepted a plea of 6/5 split and was just released.

I was into cocaine at the time because of the fact that it was a hard time, I couldn't find a job. i really don't have too much family, more or less on my own. I had to pay my rent. I was living somewhere I had just lost my job. So I had about maybe a few days to pay my rent. I knew you know people that sold drugs, told them could you help me out so I could pay my rent pay for my food. I started that. Thats how it started. I sold to people in the neighborhood um mainly just people in the neighborhood. I never really went outside. I wasn't on the block or nothing.

I'm selling drugs, it makes me very anti drugs actually the things I've seen from selling drugs the things people do for it. The way they degrade themselves sometimes and things it's just no. Not at all. Ive actually gave a few clients, try to tell them I think you stop you stop. I had um one client that used to spend $550 dollars a week on weed. And I would tell "Don't you think you're spending a little too much."

In my opinion drugs, selling drugs in my opinion is not a crime, in my opinion. Drugs are sold everyday pharmaceutical wise throughout the United States its just that you can't tax cocaine you can't tax heroin, you can't tax weed. And statistically speaking more people die from legal drugs cigarettes then they do from cocaine, crack and heroin. About 2,500 people a year die from heroin and about what a few thousand die from cigarettes every year. More people probably O.D. on Percasets and ADD medicine then hard core illegal drugs. I'm not doing a public service but in my opinion at the time I was doing more like an entrepreneurship, an opportunist, I saw a large market, decided to go for it, supplied their demand.

Jonathan

"This is the modern day slavery."

I'm at 100 Centre Street, courts. Today my case was dismissed, and I was trying to get my property back and returned, I was arrested for a charge that I didn't commit. I was pepper sprayed, dragged for half a block, and basically robbed by police. Now, I can't get my property back, they're telling me I have to go through all these nonsense channels to go get my property back and in reality my case was dismissed. So the charges that was brought against me, I should just be entitled to get back what is mines. But, they making me go through a whole bunch of stuff that I feel I shouldn't have to, if my case is dismissed.

They arrested me for robbery. No. Cause somebody just randomly ran in the street and said "he did it." Cause

I fit the description, but nobody never came to court and pressed charges against me. And I was telling them that I didn't do it, but they didn't believe me. Why? Because as a child, I made a few mistakes, and my bail, they held me for ransom. My wife came to court, told the judge and my lawyer that she had $1,000 to bail me out. The judge looked at me, looked at my wife, told her "ten-thousand." So I had to scrape up and get out on that.

I don't know, man, this is the modern day slavery. And they playing with people's futures. They just lockin' up anybody, and I feel anything that's black is not a criminal, and they really treat everything that's black as a criminal, which, in reality, they shouldn't. It shouldn't be just anybody could just walk up and get somebody locked up without the proper channels of evidence. No evidence. I was accused of having a weapon, when they found me I had no weapon. They said I had...I beat him with a bat. And it was none of that. He had no bruises, none of that, it was a whole bunch of stuff that was false accusations. And then I was suffered....I had to suffer, go through three days in the bullpens, and then get held on a ransom bail, and then released, and then I came to get my hat back, and $19 that was mines.

I'm suing, too. Suing. Mental anguish, loss of wages, pain and suffering, it's a whole bunch of stuff, man. They don't care about us, man. They say "in God they trust," they trust in the green dollar bill. If it ain't green, it ain't right for them. Straight up. I'm being robbed by the system right now, just to get my money back. They robbing me for $19, and a hat. And they robbed me for my time, and days that I spent in jail, that I didn't do nothing, but they ain't give me no "sorry," what they gonna say, "sorry?" They accused me of something that basically I'm being basically gonna be punished for for the rest of my life. It's gonna come up on my record. It say "sealed," but it don't be sealed.

James

"The thing about the sweeps, mostly mostly blacks get arrested."

I have to come to court mainly because I sold weed to an undercover cop and they gave me court dates to see the judge. I'm fulfilling the court dates so I won't get locked up. Nah... I'm innocent, I'm guilty, I'm guilty. I did sell the weed to undercover cops so I'm guilty, I pleaded guilty. I'm ok with that. It's a misdemeanor. I'm not worried about it. Once I keep going to court they're going to dismiss it. If they see I'm coming to court so they're going to dismiss it. As long as I don't sell no more weed to uncover cop, I'm good money. While I got this open case cause right now my case is still open. If I do something wrong I have a chance of going to jail for sixty, ninety days.

They were doing a sweep. They call that um a spotlight sweep. Where as it's almost Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, all four five boroughs they had a spotlight sweep. Where all the criminals, actually where all the criminals go it was mass arrests, it was about maybe a thousand arrests, in Manhattan only, in Manhattan only. Its about six hundred, seven hundred arrests in a spotlight sweep. And then the thing about the sweeps, mostly mostly blacks get arrested. You know, for no crimes. Like putting their foot on the chair in the subway, maybe open container, you know a lot of them were in jail for a lot of bullshit. Where as you got people out selling hand grenades, guns and missiles, drugs, so far it's um heavy drugs like crack and cocaine. That's um, that's um, those controlled substance. Luckily I have marijuana. I sold marijuana. I don't mess with I don't mess with hard drugs.

Kevin

"She doesn't even remember any of this because she was so high."

What brought me to court was last time I got arrested last week, I went to court and they told me, I got arrested for drinking a beer in Tompkins Square park in the lower east side, but when they brought me to court they said I skipped three days of community service which I did and I previously agreed to spend fifteen days in jail if I missed the community service. I pleaded with the judge, and said, "my father died so I went to Maryland for a month and thats the only reason I skipped my community service." So she actually gave me a second chance at getting community service. So when I signed up for community service and they gave me the dates to appear I got drunk again and lost the paper work.

I also missed two day community service, from a previous crime which, let me think what it was stealing books from Barnes and Noble. What books? Umm I don't even remember. Actually, weird thing it wasn't me that stole the books, I was there with my wife. She had taken a few Xanax you know Xanax bars, like two milligrams Xanax they look like bars. I was up cruising the sci-fi section on the fourth floor and came down to the third floor and saw my wife laying on the ground passed out with a grocery bag full of books and I woke her up and said "Stephanie what are doing? Come on let's get out of here." and she's like, "No come on I gotta take these books." Before I woke her up I poured all of the books out of the bag and put them back on the shelf even though it was the wrong shelf I just stuffed them there. As she was walking with me and I was trying to get her out of the store she kept grabbing books off the shelf and was throwing in the bag over and over again. And I kept saying, "Stephanie stop this is ridiculous, everyone can see you, this is so stupid." But she was so high on Xanax she kept doing it, oh this is ridiculous and you know I couldn't grab the books out of the bag fast enough. And then by the time we got to the escalator two undercover cops or security guards there had grabbed both of us and said, "Come with me." So we both got charged with stealing the books. She doesn't even remember any of this because she was so high. I mean its not the kind of thing she would do sober. But pills kind of whack you out, obviously. So we both got charged with that. Instead of spending any jail time we just spent a couple of days in there and then they just gave us each two days of community service. That was actually when my dad died and we both went to Maryland for a month and that's why we didn't do those days.

Ian

"I just gotta clear my name.'

I went for a job interview and I got the job and then a week later they fired me talking about that I was arrested for Grand Larceny on January 3rd., 2002 and January 17th. 2002 in Manhattan. I've never been arrested in Manhattan. When I came down here I came down to figure out what's going, they're telling me this person has a couple of aliases. Now I have to go to One Police Plaza to get fingerprinted to prove this is not me.

They did a criminal background check and this popped up. When I went to the Bronx Community Criminal Court to ask why this is coming up they were telling me the person used a couple of aliases like Ramon Gonzalez, Roberto Diaz. He has no address but has my birthdate. He just used that. I don't know why, I don't know how either. I'm thinking it might be a guy who knows me and used my name and birthdate. But I can't figure out that until the file comes back six to eight weeks from today showing me a picture, showing me the fingerprint, right now I'm going to get fingerprinted just to prove it's not me. Because I have been arrested before and took fingerprints and this never came up. But I'd like to press charges, even if I know him. Its false identity. Cause he used the name Ramon Gonzalez which means he's just going using different. He just destroyed my life right now. I just lost a twenty two dollar an hour job. Whatever happens to him happens to him. I just gotta clear my name.

Roberto