On 14 th April 1972, Phillip Cardillo, an NYPD cop was killed inside a Muslim mosque at Harlem. It is recorded that Cardillo and his partner had gone to respond to an emergency call number 10-13 ( Levitt, 2011 ). Call 10-13 is one of the police officer’s worst nightmares and is recognized as ‘officer in distress’ call. The caller identified himself as ‘Detective Thomas’ and he said that he was in the second floor of a building whose address turned out to be a mosque. The distress call, however, was later found out to be fake and misleading as upon arrival the tow officers were faced with a tragic and a dangerous scenario that eventually led to the death of one of them.
The two officers were the first to arrive at the scene and rushed into the mosque with the aim of rescuing the distressed officer. Immediately after their entry, the steel doors of the mosque slammed behind them and they themselves were trapped in. A group of 15 to 20 men came down the staircase of the mosque chanting, ‘Allahu Akbar!’ which translates into ‘God is greater’ ( Levitt, 2011 ). When the men got to the ground floor of the mosque, a terrible war begun and in this, Cardillo’s gun was taken away from him and was used to shoot him to death. After the shooting, a riot had begun outside the mosque. At this, Louis Farrakhan, the mosque leader, came down from his office on the third floor and protested against the police presence on the vicinity of the mosque.
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Racial segregation is one of the biggest blows to the morale of the police and it happened at this point whereby the black the white police officers were separated. The white cops were then taken away as the riot enraged and the reinforcements sent inside the mosque to rescue Cardillo were ordered out. Inside the mosque, the suspects of the murder were released and any evidence that would lead to them was erased. The scene was then abandoned as if nothing had happened in the first place.
The investigation about Cardillo’s murder was ineffective in that it was conducted only half-heartedly and gave absolutely no results. Additionally, the city’s mayor as well as the police commissioner distanced themselves from the case and also ensured that they were absent during Cardillo’s burial ( Levitt, 2011 ). One year after the murder, the public dissatisfaction led to an unrest that drove the arresting of the murder suspects but unfortunately they could not prosecuted because there was no evidence to prove them guilty of the allegations at hand. Since there was limited knowledge about the Blue Book that contained all the evidence and the related leads, the suspects were acquitted.
In 1980, a grand jury report criticized the department of defense for its failures in the investigation on Cardillo’s case. The report specifically pointed that the releasing of the suspects was the worst decision that was taken. The report indicated that the short term solution of the justice department in releasing the suspects so as to protect an enraged riot overrode long term concerns of the department to apprehend and convict criminals. 40 years later, the shooting at the Harlem mosque still haunts the NYPD but remains unresolved.
Racial segregation is evident in this murder case. Racial segregation is discrimination on the basis of the skin color . After the shooting that led to the death of Carillo, a riot arose outside the mosque, and it is recorded that at this point the white cops were not only separated from their Black American colleagues but they were also evacuated from the vicinity of the riots. This is clearly a case of discrimination against the people of color. If the evacuation was meant for the good of the police officers, all the officers, regardless of their skin color could have taken away from the scene.
Police officers are meant to maintain peace and stability where there is none, just like in this case, but at this time, instead of working together to bring down the unrest, some of them were taken away while the black ones were left alone to fight and calm down the rioting mob. Discrimination is not only discouraging but it is also known to kill the morale and the motivation of many police officers. While police officers are required to keep ensure that laws and the regulations of a land are maintained, in this case, their leaders went against the laws when they discriminated against the black ones and showed undue favor upon the white ones. It is paramount to have equal treatment for all but in this case, this aspect was clearly ignored and unequal treatment became the thriving factor.
Bad and unreliable leadership at this time is evident in this murder case. The murder of the officer was clearly an organized assassination. While there are still no evidence as to why the assassination could have been planned and so finely executed, it is clear that there must have been a reason for it. The initial call of distress from a non-existent officer that led to the emergency response of Cardillo and his partner just goes ahead to clarify that the unknown ‘officer’ was acting under some instructions.
Upon arrival at the scene and entry into the mosque, the doors were shut and then a gang fell specifically upon Cardillo and not on his colleague and this is a clear indication of the fact that Cardillo was a target for the assassination. The command to release to suspects that came from the police leadership is not only appalling but also an indication of bad and unreliable leadership on the part of the commanders of the police forces. Instead of sending more cops to save Cardillo, it is recorded that those who went in were commanded to leave the murder scene and means that there was either uncoordinated leadership or that the police force was working together with the assassins.
References
Levitt, L. (2011). Harlem Mosque Shooting: New Facts From the Old Chief. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/harlem-mosque-shooting-ne_b_841406
