Barneys New York and the New York Police Department are Being Accused of Racial Profiling. Two Situations of Racial Profiling.

There were 2 separate incidents were 2 african americans are accusing the police department and Barneys New York of racial profiling. Sad that the world is still like this:

Trayon Christian, an african american college student from Queens saved up his money from a part time job to purchase a $350 Salvatore Ferragamo belt. He went to the store made the purchase but as he walked out he was approached by 2 undercover cops. Allegedly these two undercover cops were called on by a store clerk who believed the card used was fraudulent. They asked him “How a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt?” They also asked for ID and to see his debit card. They handcuff him and took him to the local precinct. Christian answered their questions and showed them his ID and card. But it was not enough. He was told that the ID was fake and the purchase was fraudulent. They also said that there was no way a young man like him can afford to purchase such an expensive belt. Christian who saved up money for the pricey accessory from his part-time job at college, said he returned the belt and never plans to shop at the Madison Avenue store again.

Example of the $350 Salvatore Ferragamo belt

Earlier this year in February, another african american was allegedly racially profiled. Her name is Kayla Phillips, she was stopped in a subway shortly after purchasing a $2500 purse from the store. Kayla went to Barneys to purchase a (If I had the money I would've bought it to) orange suede Celine bag.  Kayla waited until her income tax return came in to purchase the orange suede Celine bag. She says the incident didn't occur in the store it actually happened a couple of blocks away. She was bombarded by 4 police officers, 3 male and 1 female. She claims they were hostile, rude, and very aggressive. They demanded to see her ID and her debit car, while pushing her up against the wall and just jabbing her with questions. She was confused and didn't understand what was going on.

$2,500 Suede Celine Bag

Barneys New York has released a statement about the news and the Trayon Christian situation:

Post by Barneys New York.

Trayon Christian has a lawyer and is suing Barneys New York and the New York Police Department. Kayla Phillips also obtained a lawyer and planning on suing the New York Department.

















Here's the thing:

These incidents are separate from each other. Although they do have some similarities. The checking of the card, IDing the individuals, and having police officers corner them shortly after a purchase. In Trayon's case he was reported by the store clerk "allegedly" and the undercover cops jumped the gun and arrested the kid after making a racist statement like "How a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt?". In Kayla's case she made the purchase, left the store, went to the subway and was accosted by the cops. You can be assumed that a store clerk contacted the police, unless the cops watched Kayla make the purchase and leave the store. But who knows. We don't have all the facts all we have is the cops making assumptions because two young african american adults made expensive purchases in a store and they ASSUMED that these people don't have the money and obviously committed fraud.

Sad we live in a world where you can still be profiled on your social status and skin tone. I find that some of these people who live these lavish lifestyles can be con artists. You see it all the time on the ID network (Investigation Discovery).

There are reports that the Barneys New York store have been having issues with credit card fraud. And the New York police department is trying to break up this huge credit card fraud ring. They've been desperately trying to figure out the culprits behind it but have been unsuccessful. Despite all these reports and the police's efforts to reign in the this growing problem, they were still wrong for their assumption and their flat out racist attitude toward african american shoppers. Identity theft is running rampant, people are losing homes, their savings everything. Its a big problem but it still doesn't justify the actions of the store clerk or the police officers in either situation.

I hope that Barneys and the New York Police Department resolve these situations accordingly. I know they have cameras in that store. In Barneys case: Look at the tapes, check the call log for the store phone and see if a phone call was made to the police about a potential shopper committing fraud. Once thats done issue an apology and go over policies and enforce that you will not tolerate racial profiling or discrimination of any kind. In the case of the New York Police Department: You need to tighten up and reign in your police officers. They are NOT THE LAW and they are NOT ABOVE THE LAW! Understand that it is your job to uphold the law PERIOD. If these stories are true and these cops did this I hope that they are reprimanded.

Source: Huffingtonpost & NYDailyNews