Summit Academy founder condemns Halloween arrests

Natasha Campbell, the founder of Red Hook’s charter school, Summit Academy, spoke eloquently about the consequences of a well-publicized incident on Halloween that involved some local children. After a cellphone robbery allegedly took place in Carroll Gardens, five local teenagers were arrested and taken to the 76th Precinct. While two were immediately released, three of them, the youngest being 12, were handcuffed to desks while their parents were contacted.

“The whole police incident happened on Court Street near the movie theater,” Campbell said. “They were not even at the park when they were picked up. They were picked up because the police were looking for a group of teenagers. They were a group of teenagers.”

“I know that based on the arrests they were not arrested for robbery,” Campbell said. “My natural inclination is to believe that the evidence does not point to them being the persons that stole the cell phone. Other than that, I could not tell you all the intricacies of the police report because I don’t know that I’m privy to that.”

“My concern was that while I am a supporter of law enforcement protecting and serving, I also am very clear that we need to be conscious of the way we approach communities of color,” Campbell said. “It is not the same as it is in communities that are not of color.”

Shortly after the news about the incident on Court Street, there was a meeting of community members, business owners, and people who were concerned because some of the kids were from the Red Hook community. 

It was discovered a few days after the community meeting that some Summit children were involved. That augmented Campbell’s concern and her hope of finding a resolution, and she pointed out that Summit Academy actively tries to make sure the kids understand, respect and honor the police. 

There are a few steps they take and advice that they give for how to interact. 

“We do things like the back of their ID cards say if you are stopped by an officer politely tell them you are exercising your right to remain silent,” Campbell said. “If you are brought in and they say they are going to arrest you politely indicate you would like to have your advocate (parent) called.”

“We give them clear directions about how to interact with police officers, so they are not presumed to be loud or a danger to officers because the reality is what we see daily is officers who are potentially in fear for their lives and hurting people of color,” Campbell said.

In this instance, Campbell now thinks it is difficult to continue to send the message of how to interact with police officers based on how inappropriate the officers acted. 

“Everything from going up the wrong way on Court Street, to jumping out of an unmarked car and then wondering why children are running,” Campbell said about what happened near the movie theater. “I would run and I’m a grown woman. I don’t know what your intentions are for me so for my safety I’m going to run. Also, having weapons pulled on kids.” 

The police said one of the children who was in the group on Court Street fit the description for the cell phone robbery, but he was obviously smaller than the individual they were looking for. Campbell was told by multiple people that they were looking for someone who was five-foot-seven or taller, but the child was only five feet.

“Did they meet the description or were they a group of children of color who that made them fit the description?” Campbell said. “That is where there is a challenge for me because I live in Park Slope and that is not how white children are approached.” 

She has observed white kids smoking weed who, spotted by police, get off with a light verbal warning. On the other hand, in this situation, the children were treated like common criminals. 

During the Halloween incident, the kids were not arrested for stealing, but there was another charge that was unclear and that officers weren’t able to describe. The official charge turned out to be “obstructing governmental administration.”

 “My concern is how are we coming into communities of color, how are we approaching children, how are we investigating, and are we going in with preconceived notions about who those children are?” Campbell said. 

Campbell believes that this incident has had an impact on parents and children in the community for obvious reasons. 

“As a parent, you do not want to let your child out of your sight now because you do not know when they’ll ‘fit the description,’” Campbell said. “Unfortunately, in the climate we live in, a lot of the time the description is simply that you are black.” 

Summit’s founder pointed out that not every officer is bad, but that it is not the civilians’ job to figure out who the good ones are and who the racist ones are. She pointed out that it’s necessary to eliminate all things that keep officers from seeing all citizens as citizens. 

“The department has to acknowledge that there are challenges with race relations,” Campbell said. “It does not stipulate to protect and serve some; you are supposed to protect and serve all.”

At a recent meeting of the Red Hook Civic Association, at which Campbell made her feelings known, 76th Precinct Commanding Officer Megan O’Malley spent a large portion of the meeting defending the actions of her officers.

Nathan Weiser