The president of the community group Cops N Kids Long Island is planning to file a lawsuit against Suffolk County Police for physical and verbal abuse.
Cindy O’Pharrow said she was at a graduation party in Dix Hills two weeks ago when a young man was shot. At the request of the man’s family, O’Pharrow tried to ride with him in the ambulance to the hospital. Instead, she said a Suffolk police officer yanked her from the ambulance and a police lieutenant verbally insulted her with profanity.
“I don't believe, had I been a white woman and especially if that was a white young man on that stretcher, I definitely would not have been treated the same way. I would have been treated with more respect,” O'Pharrow said.
O’Pharrow is asking for an independent investigation by an outside agency and a financial judgment. She is married to an NYPD detective and has been with Cops N Kids since 2017. She said the mission of Cops N Kids, to foster better relationships between police and youths, will not change.
Suffolk Police also announced an internal affairs investigation into the incident.
