"One of the guys was already busted up cause he was in there for fighting the cops…"

My tag is Slim. Friday night I was in Harlem, at 103rd street station, um on the 6 line. I swiped somebody on, they gave me the two dollars. The cops ran up on me, they were gonna let me go, but it ended up I had seven warrants out for my arrest going back two years so they had to bring me in. Brought me in to Union Square, transit police, I sat there for about an hour and a half. They brought me to central bookings, I got to central bookings maybe about twelve thirty Friday night. Um, there was about fourteen people already in there when I got there. Later on that night two people from Ukraine that came through, one of the guys was already busted up cause he was in there for fighting the cops, so the cops beat him up beat him down already. Ended up, he had ended up calling me the N word, I don't want to say it out loud. So the CO give me the green light cause he disrespected me, CO was like, "I don't care what you do", so I was went in there, beat him down. I went to upper cut him and I ain't come all the way up so I hit him in the mouth, messed up my nose and I cracked out his teeth. He ended up going to the hospital. Next day saw the judge, the judge wasn't sure, the judge wasn't sure he wanted to let me go because he wasn't sure I would come back to court because of the seven warrants I had. Lucky I had a good lawyer. He talked to the DA, DA guy dig. DA decided to drop it down to a violation. That's pretty much it. Um the judge, the judge done told me, he says do the community service and I better have my boy in court in December, so I did it.

Tyshien

"I had an empty bag that was in my pants for months..."

Basically what happened was I was hanging out with my friend. He decided to drink a beer on the street. So two uncover cops pulled up in a taxi cab. They searched all of us. I had an empty little baggie that had some Xanax powder on it. I got arrested for that. I was in jail for thirty six hours. I was charged with possession of crack cocaine and possession of an open container. Both of which were totally false. I had no open container and I wasn't in possession of crack. I never got read my rights or anything like that you know.

Xanax is like Valium. It's an anti-aniexty medication. It can be used as a recreational drug and all that. You can mellow out on it. If you take the amount you're supposed to take then you can be a functioning you know normal person but if you uh, you know you can take enough to kill yourself, you can take enough to just nod out. I mean personally I don't do it, I'm not a pill addict or anything. I had an empty bag that was in my pants for months, I mean it went through the laundry and all that. I have no reason to lie to you. That's what happened to me. I got a false drug charge more or less. In my opinion I got screwed, I got railroaded by the NYPD.

Matteo

"They still have my girlfriend in custody. I'm very tired."

Me and three friends of mine were driving from Long Island, Smithtown and um going to Washington Heights picking up some weed, marijuana, two and a half pounds. On the way back across the Triborough Bridge I was pulled over for not having my headlights on. They looked at us, one black dude, two white kids, started messing around with us asking us questions and stuff like that. One of my friends kinda like folded in, they asked us, "if we had anything illegal in the car". We were like, we were like sure. He said sure, ahh we have a bowel. Bowel is what you use to smoke marijuana out of and shit. So he handed him the bowel. The officer just wanted you know to just see if we did have something in fact. So he ended up taking us all out of the car, searching the vehicle, found two and a half pounds of marijuana. Arrested us. In the long run I copped out to a one to three.

Then last night I was coming back form Buffalo State, me and my girlfriend. She was driving because I was tired and all that. We got pulled over at the Triborough Bridge. What happened was we didn't have cash, I had my credit card, she had her credit card, stuff like that and that was the first time I was crossing over the Triborough and stuff like that. We went through, we told we told the police officer you know we didn't have the cash, we had debit cards and credit cards and stuff. He was like "all right we'll bill you". They asked her for her license and registration. She gave them the license and stuff like that. The license, her license is apparently suspended. Me and her both didn't know that. So they arrested her. They wouldn't let me drive the car back. I have a valid New York state license. They wouldn't let me drive it back. They made me walk across the bridge in the pouring rain last night, the Triborough Bridge. The Manhattan section takes you to one twenty fifth street. I had to walk all the way across the goddam bridge to one twenty fifth street and Lexington avenue. This was like eleven thirty at night. I live in Smithtown on Long Island. I had to take the train to Penn Station, wait till five forty seven in the morning to catch the next train going out to Smithtown and did that and the now I came back cause they still have my girlfriend in custody. I'm very tired.

Michael

"In my life I've been locked up about thirty eight times."

I was standing with a buddy of mine on Second. Avenue and Fifty First Street and uh two undercover cops in a car came up behind us, said they seen a bag hanging out of my pocket, ok and in that bag was maybe a joint and a half of marijuana. That was what I was arrested for, me and my friend. For a joint and a half of marijuana. Now this has been going on, this case has been going on since May because I wouldn't cop out, I haven't copped out for nothing.

I can't see being locked up for such a BS of a charge. Now I'm fucking here for this. For this five already. In my life I've been locked up about thirty eight times. For bullshit, petty larceny was my thing. Because I was a junkie. Dope. I needed to support my dope habit.

Robert

"I think they stopped me because I'm in a black neighborhood…"

Well I was coming out of my building on One Forty Third and Seventh to go to the store. I had a little stomach pain. So I was going to go to get a Schwepps Ginger Ale and the police office stopped me and asked me for ID, I didn't have ID so he told me to turn around and put my hands behind my back. So when he told me that I ran from him and then they caught me in my building and they took me through to the precinct. Today my court date and they giving me community service. No ID. On the police report they said, "unreasonable noise" but when my lawyer told me my charge they said, "assault" because he had smashed his finger in the door. In the project door while he was chasing me he tried to catch the door and his finger got caught.

I was asking what they stopped me for and he told me to "shut up", so we start arguing a little bit and after a couple of words I just ran off and took off. Honestly I think they stopped me because I'm in a black neighborhood and its nothing else for them to do, it's their job. So I feel like that's why they stopped me for. They said I fit the description. I ain't really do nothing I was just coming to the store. I think this is happening because there's a lot of violence going on around my neighborhood, so they run up on people, they search people randomly like the detectives stop and they give people random searches that's walking on the street, randomly. I say it's more like trying to get some of the bad guys off the street. I don't really know what they be doing, I don't know. They pick on the lower class, that's how I really see it like the people that's lower class, they try to squeeze them, get information out of them. If they can't do it they try to penalize them because they know most people don't know their rights so they don't have enough money to get out of these situations.

Joseph

"They just body snatched me. They're body snatchers."

Verbally assaulted, harassment, retaliation all that stuff. They just body snatched me. They're body snatchers. Know what I mean. The cops. They just pulled me out of the cab and fucked me up and put me in jail. Freedom of speech. That's it. They were just there cuffed. I don't know. Just some perps, regular perps. I just got in the mix of a whole drug bust and now I'm out here. They pulled me out and fucked me up. Look at my knee.

Why me? Why they pulled me out of the fucking cab? No idea. Obstruction of justice, that's what it is. 168th. Street and Saint Nicholas. Fuck em all, fuck em all. All the cops, all the cops. A misdemeanor. I gotta come back. They gave me another court date. It's nothing. I'll be all right. The same old shit, different totally different, smell. You know. This is a day in the life man, of me and all the drama and all the bullshit. Me being harassed. Everyone copying me. Wanting to take my style. Taking it all and not give me the benefits of nothing. You know. That's not cool, not cool. If you respect somebody, you're supposed to give them respect. Why you respect people and they don't respect you. Know what I mean. It's just crazy man. This society is crazy man. They lock up all the wrong people and while all the other people are already... crooked cops are doing the worst, the worst worst worst things out here. Know what I mean. Its gotta stop. Its gotta stop.

Anthony

"I did feel kinda bad I had to take his stuff..."

I was arrested for a robbery in the second degree. I was broke, I was hungry and me and my friend robbed somebody. Walked up on somebody in the back of a street, robbed him. He was an average dude. Probably 30 years old, had a backpack on, polo shirt. Nobody else around. Just me and my man and he was walking down the street, just him. Late night like one o'clock at night. Hells Kitchen. Um, cell phone, like a buck fifty on him. He wasn't hurt, he wasn't injured in the situation, but I did feel kinda bad I had to take his stuff yeah. Pretty much. I mean I had no money on me, I was living on the streets so, you know what I mean, I had to eat. The jobs were off and on. It was hard for me to keep a job because I didn't have nowhere to stay. I was sleeping on the street. It's just hard. You gotta figure out when you're gonna eat next, not too many people just going to help you out. I not the kind of person just gonna walk up to someone and asked them for change. There wasn't too many options open to me at that immediate point.

Jeremy

"I was just unhappy my hair wasn't done and I didn't look pretty.."

They caught me with weed, some marijuana. They told me to go to the precinct, they won't take me to the bookings if I just gave it to them. Gave it to them, sat for three hours. Took my mugshot. I was just unhappy my hair wasn't done and I didn't look pretty for it. It was pretty fun. Then we left and I actually walked away, easy.

There was a hot chick there and I got her number. For a photo shoot. I was like, "hey you want to be a model?" She was like, "yeah."

I'm a photographer.

Erica