NAACP leader: Grand jury decisions foster mistrust

The NAACP's regional director in the Hudson Valley and Westchester says the lack of trust between the African-American community and judicial system is very real. Wilbur Aldridge's statements on News

News 12 Staff

Dec 13, 2014, 8:04 AM

Updated 3,648 days ago

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The NAACP's regional director in the Hudson Valley and Westchester says the lack of trust between the African-American community and judicial system is very real.
Wilbur Aldridge's statements on News 12 Newsmakers were prompted by the decision of two grand juries not to indict white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men in Ferguson and Staten Island.
Aldridge says he believes that if the suspects were white men, the outcomes would have been different.
New York State Police veteran and former state Assemblyman Bob Castelli disagrees. "My belief is had these been white suspects the outcomes would have been exactly the same," said Castelli.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is planning to introduce reforms next year that may include special prosecutors for cases against police. Aldridge welcomes the idea, saying the system is flawed because currently, the district attorney determines the evidence that is presented to the grand jury.
"It would be very difficult for any DA to prosecute a police officer and then go back to work two days later and say, 'Everything is under the bridge now,'" Aldridge told News 12.
Meanwhile, the federal government is investigating the Eric Garner case to determine if civil rights charges are warranted.
A national march on Washington tomorrow will push for new reforms within police departments.
Newsmakers can be seen on News 12 starting at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.