Patience, unity preached during probe

While Queens District Attorney Richard Brown preaches patience as his team conducts its investigation into the police shooting that killed Sean Bell and wounded his two friends, southeast Queens's community leaders are vowing to monitor the investigation to ensure justice.
&#8220Justice demands unvarnished answers,” said Congressmember Gregory Meeks. &#8220If this is yet another case of the excessive use of force then the police officers involved must be held accountable to the fullest extent allowed by law.”
Although Meeks dismissed pleas for an independent prosecutor, he called for the dismissal of Anthony Izzo, head of the New York Police Department's (NYPD) Organized Crime Control Bureau who is in charge of the undercover unit involved in the shooting, at a morning meeting on Monday, December 11 with nearly 100 community and clergy leaders present.
That same day, published accounts surrounding the NYPD's preliminary report on the November 25 shooting outside Kalua Cabaret in Jamaica gave no indication of a fourth man or anyone with a gun; a fact City Councilmember Leroy Comrie said the community already knew.
&#8220There is no way a fourth person could have survived a 50 shot barrage,” Comrie said. &#8220It's just another attempt to shape the case in the police's favor.”
Comrie said the community would persist in asking D.A. Brown to call on the police to stop targeting potential witnesses in the case by raiding their houses and using intimidation tactics.
While leaders continue to implore the community to remain calm and let the D.A.'s investigation take its course, they are also showing a unified front and organizing services geared towards young people in order to help them deal with the incident.
&#8220[We are going to] reach out to young people who are still grieving and still have questions about police conduct that they want answered,” said Reverend Dr. Henrietta Fullard, president of Clergy United for Community Empowerment. &#8220While we were able to plan strategies for what should happen next, it is important that all of us support the same plan, the same objective, and have the same goals because there is strength in unity.”
Currently, there is no timetable for how long the investigation will take, but D.A. Brown continues to emphasize that he wants to make sure he gets it right instead of rushing to judgment.
During the shooting, five NYPD officers fired a total 50 shots killing Sean Bell, 23, and seriously injuring his two friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. Both Guzman and Benefield have been released from the hospital.