Creative Destruction
31st October 2013, 06:39
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/30/macys-barneys-quotas-guards/3318115/
Each guard had a quota of five arrests per week, with categories of shoppers assigned codes such as "10-90" for black males and "10-91" for black females, lawyer Farak Usar said.
Usar represents a New York City woman of Middle Eastern descent who claims in a 2011 lawsuit that she was wrongly targeted and arrested while shopping at Macy's. The security guard, Brenda Howard, is named in the suit. She could not be reached. Usar says his client, Ayla Gursoy, has applied to New York State Supreme Court for class action status so that the suit would represent other minority shoppers.
...
Regarding the coding system for identifying shoppers, the retailer said what is known as the "10 Code System" is common and standard in the industry.
"The 10 code system is widely used by law enforcement and the military. It is an abbreviated form of communication that is solely used over radio," the statement red. "Ten codes are designed to prevent confusion or misunderstanding, and convey important information when identifying a person over radio communication. In no way do they imply targeting or categorizing of individuals." My note: the "10 code system" does not have racial references in them. (http://spiffy.ci.uiuc.edu/~kline/Stuff/ten-codes.html)
The developments are the latest in a string that have unfolded over the last several days as four black New York City shoppers individually stepped forward to claim they were wrongly stopped by police after making legitimate purchases at New York City department stores. Two of the allegations involve Macy's and two involve Barneys New York. One of the accusers is actor Rob Brown of the movie Finding Forrester and the HBO series Treme, who says he was kept in a Macy's holding cell and questioned after making a legitimate purchase.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/macy-security-arrest-quota-race-code-system-suit-article-1.1501037#ixzz2jFpAj3ku
In a partial deposition provided by her attorney, store detective Brenda Howard acknowledged five “arrests” per week was the target for security workers, according to the suit. Howard couldn’t be reached Tuesday. The attorney did not provide the full deposition.
Each guard had a quota of five arrests per week, with categories of shoppers assigned codes such as "10-90" for black males and "10-91" for black females, lawyer Farak Usar said.
Usar represents a New York City woman of Middle Eastern descent who claims in a 2011 lawsuit that she was wrongly targeted and arrested while shopping at Macy's. The security guard, Brenda Howard, is named in the suit. She could not be reached. Usar says his client, Ayla Gursoy, has applied to New York State Supreme Court for class action status so that the suit would represent other minority shoppers.
...
Regarding the coding system for identifying shoppers, the retailer said what is known as the "10 Code System" is common and standard in the industry.
"The 10 code system is widely used by law enforcement and the military. It is an abbreviated form of communication that is solely used over radio," the statement red. "Ten codes are designed to prevent confusion or misunderstanding, and convey important information when identifying a person over radio communication. In no way do they imply targeting or categorizing of individuals." My note: the "10 code system" does not have racial references in them. (http://spiffy.ci.uiuc.edu/~kline/Stuff/ten-codes.html)
The developments are the latest in a string that have unfolded over the last several days as four black New York City shoppers individually stepped forward to claim they were wrongly stopped by police after making legitimate purchases at New York City department stores. Two of the allegations involve Macy's and two involve Barneys New York. One of the accusers is actor Rob Brown of the movie Finding Forrester and the HBO series Treme, who says he was kept in a Macy's holding cell and questioned after making a legitimate purchase.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/macy-security-arrest-quota-race-code-system-suit-article-1.1501037#ixzz2jFpAj3ku
In a partial deposition provided by her attorney, store detective Brenda Howard acknowledged five “arrests” per week was the target for security workers, according to the suit. Howard couldn’t be reached Tuesday. The attorney did not provide the full deposition.