Alonzo, formerly an inmate in Durham county jail, is suing the Durham Police Department for actions they took against him in the summer of 2009. He was arrested on drug charges, but went to trial and was found acquitted January 14, 2010. He is suing the police department and the specific individuals involved in the case. In short: the cops showed up near to his sister’s house and they illegally entered the property, and harassed him and others who were there. Alonzo alleges officer Swartz and two others entered onto the private property of his sister, entering a fenced-in area, and harassed, threatened and intimidated him, his sister and another person. From there, with no warrant or probable cause, they conducted all manner of illegal searches, finding nothing, and stayed for several hours, all the while illegally detaining three people and searching their property and person illegally, including bodily cavities. They handcuffed them without charging them, forcing them to “stand, sit and squat while being humiliated” in front of neighbors.

This is the cops’ way of being. Some may say as a force they are not trained well and do not know the law. That well may be true and is worth pursuing to help individuals fight off charges, but it remains besides the point. As an institution, we may rather say, they have nothing to do with the safety of the people and they must be stopped.

From Alonzo’s suit: On July 12, 2009 at 5 pm (near) Fay St. in Durham police officers R.C. Swartz and two others unconstitutionally discriminated, harassed, assaulted, battered, humiliated, stopped, detained, frisked, searched, strip searched, body-cavity searched, arrested and imprisoned the plaintiff without probable cause, without reasonable suspicion, without plaintiff’s consent, without a warrant…in violation of the plaintiff’s natural, common law and state and federal constitutional and civil rights… “Plaintiff alleges that defendants threw Mr. T— down onto the floor and beat him because Mr. T—- did not respond fast enough to the defendants…” Further, the suit says, “Mr. Greene and Mr. T—- were given criminal citations for marijuana while plaintiff was also charged and imprisoned for felony possession of cocaine…for speaking out against the defendants’ unlawful intrusions...