BUFFALO, N.Y. -- For roughly a decade now the Buffalo Police Department has enforced a Zero Tolerance, Broken Windows policy according to researchers from the University at Buffalo and Cornell law schools.
"What this policy represents is kind of a blanket unconstitutional designation of suspicion based on race," UB professor Anjana Malhotra said.
A study claims since 2006 police have systematically conducted search and seizures in minority neighborhoods, intensifying the policy in 2012. In that time, activists said it’s become significantly more likely a person arrested is Black or Latino and less likely that person is White.
"It is essential that the Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, that the mayor of Buffalo, Byron Brown, Commissioner [Dan] Derenda and everyone involved in this situation, take this matter seriously," activist John Washington said.
The Attorney General's Office is already investigating the deaths of two young men of color while under Buffalo police custody. On the steps of City Hall Tuesday, advocates called for a comprehensive AG investigation of the department's activity based on the study.
"The way that folks are treated through these checkpoints is degrading and humiliating and there's no one watching," Malhotra said.
At the same time, the group also announced a federal civil rights lawsuit. They said police retaliated against Buffalo woman Dorethea Franklin, writing her numerous tickets after she complained about checkpoints in a Spectrum News report.
"You feel violated. You feel violated. You feel like you can't trust the police. You can't trust anything that they say because you feel like everything they do is a lie," the complainant Dorethea Franklin said.
In response to the lawsuit the city said while it has not seen the claim, any allegation of discrimination is completely false.
It's just a week until the mayoral primary, but the coalition says the election has nothing to do with the timing.
"This is absolutely not political. It's a long-time come. It's a long-time coming," Malhotra said.
Lastly, activists are calling for the Common Council to create an accountability board independent of the mayor's office.