MALIK strikes back against police brutality

PETER CASOLINO/NEW HAVEN REGISTER FIGHT BACK: Emma Jones, founder of the MALIK organization, has led a campaign to increase public awareness of police brutality.

On Wed., Apr. 14, New Haven resident Emma Jones will commemorate the two-year anniversary of the death of her son Malik with the members of MALIK, the organization she founded in his memory. The group, which was formed only two weeks after Malik Jones' death, has made major headway in the fight against police brutality.

Almost two years ago, Malik Jones was fatally shot by Robert Flodquist, a New Haven police officer. After a high-speed chase down Grand Avenue, Flodquist ordered Jones out of his car, and when Jones started backing up his vehicle, Flodquist thought he was trying to back into him and fired four shots.

Only a week after her son's death, Jones got together with members of other black advocacy groups to form an organization to combat police brutality and misconduct. The MALIK organization coordinates activities that promote public awareness and legislation concerning police injustice."The goal of the MALIK organization is to seek justice for Malik," Jones said. "We have converted it into a movement for the liberation of the oppressed with regard to police murder and police brutality within the criminal justice system."

Jones said she believes incidents of police brutality concern both the abuse of power and racial discrimination, especially since white officers make up a majority of the police force in both New Haven and East Haven. "There is a sprinkling of abuse by black officers, but there have been no incidents of murder committed by a black cop, as far as I can see," she said.

Angered by the fact that Flodquist was cleared of all charges four months after the incident, Jones' main goal for the organization is to seek the passage of the "Malik Law." The law would require the investigation of police shootings by officers from another department.

The most important part of the law, which has not yet been approved by the Connecticut legislature, would be the immediate grant of a grand jury investigation in cases involving police-perpetrated homicides. "Without strategies to hold police officers accountable for what they do, we can't get justice," Jones said. "Not one cop has been convicted in police shooting cases in the state of Connecticut."

A major accomplishment of the MALIK organization so far is the formation of a civilian review board to oversee police activities. But this board cannot be officially recognized by the city of New Haven until the city charter is revised by the Board of Aldermen in 2002.

Despite this limitation, the civilian review board has been actively pushing for monitoring devices in all New Haven Police Department (NHPD) vehicles and increased sensitivity training for all of its officers. "We are trying to mandate 40 hours of training for every incoming officer and 40 hours every two years for all current officers," Jones said. "This proposal is rooted in the belief that inexperience, especially with minorities, is one of the causes of police brutality."

Two weeks ago, members of MALIK sat in on hearings in Milford, Conn., against a white police officer who fatally shot an African-American suspect, Franklin Reed, to
show their support for the victim's family. The cop, Scott Smith, was indicted for murder. "This case gives us a
great opportunity to make a change," said Yusuf Shah, the media liaison for MALIK.

MALIK will take its efforts from the local to the national level on Sat., Apr. 3, when members of the group will travel to Washington, D.C., to join a national march protesting police brutality. "The protest will support the withholding of state funding in towns with police officers who have violated civil rights," Jones said. She believes this practice would force individual states to curb police brutality more actively.

The core of MALIK is composed of only about 50 members, but Jones said hundreds of people from throughout the tri-state area attend MALIK events to show support for the organization's mission. Nonetheless, Jones said that the group needs more members to continue its work. "All we have is a grieving mother who is in pain and who says, `I cannot sit aside and let my son's murder go in vain,'" she said.

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