Parents file civil rights complaint
By: Coutney Gross
Princeton Borough police, in connection with a series of racially biased robberies at the beginning of September, apprehended four Princeton High School students on Wednesday morning and charged them with complicity to robbery.
The black male teenagers two 14 and two 15 arrived at the police station at approximately 10:45 a.m. and their parents and relatives were not far behind. Irate relatives waiting for their children at the borough police station Wednesday morning called out obscenities at police officers, whom they accused of racial bias.
And just hours after their children had been charged, parents filed civil rights complaints against the borough Police Department, as well as the Princeton Regional School District, with the Princeton Human Services Commission a joint commission that provides civil rights assistance to residents of the borough and township.
Three of the teenagers are from the township, police said, and one is from the borough. Their names were not released due to their age.
Parents and relatives, who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution and to protect the identity of their children, said police had called their residences and workplaces Monday asking to question their children, who had allegedly witnessed robberies and beatings that occurred on Franklin Avenue on Sept. 8.
Parents said police had asked for their help in the investigation and told them their children were not in trouble.
All of the parents, both police and parents affirmed, did not comply with police requests for information. Parents told the Human Services Commission on Wednesday evening they did not respond for fear their children would be associated with or targeted by gang members who had reportedly carried out the robberies and beatings earlier this month.
After accumulating several witnesses’ accounts that put the four juveniles at the scene of the Sept. 8 incident, police went to Princeton High School on Wednesday, took the teens into custody and later charged them.
When parents received word from school officials of their children’s apprehension, they immediately went to the police station, they said. Initially, they said, police assured them their children were merely being questioned.
Parents told the Human Services Commission their children were fingerprinted, searched and held for over an hour prior to being charged.
"How do you go from being a potential witness to being charged with a crime?" a relative asked Wednesday.
"The Princeton community has changed over the years," the relative added. "Now everything is a gang issue."
Three people already charged with the racially motivated robberies in which Hispanic men were reportedly beaten and robbed by black assailants were all identified as gang members, police said. The juveniles, police emphasized, do not have a gang affiliation.
"We’re talking about student athletes, not gang members," a parent said Wednesday.
Borough Police Chief Anthony Federico said the department followed procedure when apprehending the juveniles. Police said they had enough probable cause to charge the juveniles, and Lt. Dennis McManimon said none of them were questioned Wednesday after their parents refused to allow it.
"As a result of our investigation, a number of juveniles were present at the scene of the robbery," Chief Federico said. He explained that state law requires eyewitnesses to such incidents to cooperate with law enforcement officials. "If you are present, you are obligated to try to stop it or to come forward," he said.
In response to the parents’ civil rights accusations, Chief Federico said if the juveniles were fingerprinted and searched, it was not because they were being questioned but because they were being charged. He added that police had documented racial slurs directed by the parents toward Caucasian police officers.
"I think it’s a frivolous charge," Chief Federico said of the parents’ accusations.
The parents told the Human Services Commission they were filing a complaint against the Princeton Regional School District because school officials did not contact them until after their children had been apprehended by police.
Lewis Goldstein, assistant superintendent for human resources, public information, and community relations, said the school district would have no comment at this time.
Human Services Commission Chairwoman Marjorie Smith said at Wednesday’s meeting that the school system had erred when it released the juveniles to police before notifying parents.
Some members of the commission said they should proceed with caution and should approach the school district and the Police Department openly.
Following the commission’s general meeting Wednesday evening, its civil rights committee went into closed session to discuss the incident.

