Former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Marcus Jackson violated more than the women he’s accused of sexually assaulting during traffic stops. His alleged actions with Hispanic women have ripped the trust of the Latino community in Charlotte when it comes to dealing with law enforcement.
Jackson allegedly sexually assaulted eight women while he was on duty. He is currently in jail on charges of sexual battery, kidnapping, extortion, second-degree sex offense, indecent exposure, and felonious restraint. Other details of Jackson’s actions, according to reports on WBTV, include:
• A December 28 traffic stop where two women say he fondled them;
• And a December 29 traffic stop of a Hispanic couple where the male passenger tried to intervene while the victim was allegedly being assaulted by Jackson and the male passenger was charged and nearly deported. Charges against the man were later dropped.
“This is an extremely important issue for the community,” said Councilwoman Susan Burgess, one of the members of the city council who voted to see Jackson’s personnel file. City council didn’t get a chance to look at the file because the motion was voted down two weeks ago. “It is imperative that citizens have trust in the police department,” she said.
But in the Hispanic community, that trust isn’t there, said Jess George, interim director of the Latin American Coalition.
“There is no question that relations between the law enforcement here locally and the immigrant community have always been strained relations. The alleged actions of Marcus Jackson have put a greater burden on an already challenged relationship,” George said. “As soon as this came out, several Hispanic newspapers published front-page stories about how this police officer was preying on Hispanic women. We’ve had calls here from community members who are really concerned about … ways that the immigrant community can build bridges and build some unity with the police department to repair the damage that has been done.”
Mi Gente is one of the local Spanish-language newspaper that took the lead in telling this story. Reporter Patricia Ortiz encouraged victims to come forward. “I just told them that if they had complained to us, they had to do the same with the police. And I told them they did not have to worry because the laws here are protecting crime victims, regardless of immigration status. I think that convinced them,” she said in an e-mail to Creative Loafing.
CL attempted to speak with Chief Rodney Monroe, but he was reportedly out of the office at a city council retreat; however, CMPD Detective Danny Hernandez, who works as a liaison between the department and the Latino community, said that CMPD is actively working to explain what happened and what the rights of victims are.
“What we’ve done is talked to the community through their media — the radio and print media — about the incident that happened and what procedures are being taking against him,” said Hernandez, who also hosts a weekly radio show on Spanish-speaking stations to inform immigrants of their rights. “We’ve explained to the community that anytime they feel that something is not going right that they can contact any officer or call me directly.”
“We tell them that as long as you’re the victim of a crime, we don’t ask about your immigration status,” he said, which experts say is one of the reasons why Latinos don’t report crimes against them.
But, according to George, more needs to be done to assure the community that they are being protected.
“We know about Marcus Jackson now and his alleged actions. But what don’t we know about?” asked George. “CMPD is just making the case that Marcus Jackson is one bad apple. He took advantage of people of color and immigrants and this reveals the underlying disproportion insecurity that people of color and immigrants face in daily life. And it underscores why CMPD needs to step out and take real action around building trust.”
George said she wants to see CMPD make more strides to show that they are listening to the concerns of the immigrant community.
“I know they take this seriously; however, I do think time is of the essence and taking a step at looking externally to reaching out to the vulnerable immigrant community and extending an olive branch, offering to listen and connect in a meaningful way,” she said. “It’s one thing to issue statements about the things that they are doing internally — and I know that they are working to respond by adjusting internal controls. But it is very critical that they send the message that they are accessible and open to community feedback.”
How?
Ortiz wants to see uniform policies dealing with racial profiling in the city. “This situation has been made not only in Charlotte but around the country, where other police departments are taking measures to fix the relationship with immigrants, partly broken by the anti-immigrant environment and programs such as the 287g [the Immigration and Nationality Act that lets the federal government work with local law enforcement to carry out immigration enforcement actions] that have encouraged some officers to abuse immigrants — because they allegedly think they are all illegal and are not going to report crimes and abuse,” she said. “The Jackson case is an exception, which could encourage others to denounce.”
Since Jackson’s personnel file wasn’t released, George said the police department will have to work for more transparency so Hispanics see that the department is serious about protecting the immigrant community.
Burgess, on the other hand, believes that things should be public, unless there is a compelling reason for it not to be.
“The compelling reason in this case could very well be that the release of information could have jeopardized a trial,” she said. (Currently there is a civil suit filed against the city and CMPD as a result of the Jackson incident. According to Jan. 23 article in The Charlotte Observer, a couple who claims Jackson abused them is seeking compensation.)
George said the victims who came forward were brave because there’s a lot of fear associated with speaking out against crime in the immigrant community. That’s why she hopes that the police will offer a public forum.
“I think approaching this with a little humility, saying we recognize that there have been challenges in the way in which this had been an egregious violation of trust in the immigrant community and, we as a police department want to listen. We are opening our doors and opening our minds to what the immigrant community has to say to us.”
“This case is sadly bringing to light that there is the realization that people in power — whether it’s a police officer or a business owner or an employer — have these people in a position where they can exploit them,” said George. “And it’s amazing that we live in a city where this is happening on a regular basis.”
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2010.
