Name: Diego Bey

Social Justice Group: 2018-2019, Race & Policing

Date of Fieldwork: January 8, 2019

Name of Organization: Police Reform Organization Project

Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Robert Gangi Head of PROP

Type of Fieldwork: Direct Action

What I did:

we took a trip to the new york county criminal court with Robert Gangi to observe some cases held in the court.

What I learned:

I learned that the issue of race and policing goes deeper than just the police it also affects courts and the prison system. for example how in many cases the judge will side with police officers over the convicted person even if there is a lot of evidence against them or how the prison system is set up so that people who go to prison are set up to go back. this also taught me that not just police system is flawed the whole criminal system that is flawed.

What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:

through this fieldwork, I learned that you don’t have to take large scale direct action you can do something to make a change just by yourself. for example, Robert Gangi goes and just sits in on court cases to make sure the judge makes fair punishments. he also records the convicted person’s race, gender, the crime they’re in for, and whether they are freed or not. this taught me that even though the thing he is doing is pretty small it is important because without his sit-ins judges would feel freer to decide on prejudice and unfair charges.