February 25, 1999
Web posted at: 7:57 p.m. EST (0057 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Civil rights leaders Thursday demanded a White House summit on race-related police brutality, after what they call apparent excessive force by police in New York and California.

Amidou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, was shot 19 times by New York police February 4 as he stood in the doorway of his apartment building in the Bronx. Police fired 41 bullets at Diallo.

In Riverside, California, a black teen-ager died December 28 in a hail of police gunfire as she sat in her locked car in a gas station.

All the officers in both cases were white, except for one Hispanic in Riverside.

Kweisi Mfume, head of the NAACP, demanded quick action by President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno against police departments that demonstrate a pattern of bias against minorities.

He asked for a process "whereby federal law enforcement dollars will be withheld from police departments who have an unusually high number of police brutality complaints, or where there is a significant number of unresolved or pending complaints of brutality or excessive force."

A February 24 letter from Clinton to National Urban League President Hugh Price did not mention a White House summit but said the attorney general had been asked to consider his recommendations.

"There is a real perception that there are two sets of rules in this country when it comes to police action," said Rep. Danny Davis, D-Illinois. "One for African Americans, Latinos and other minorities and another for whites and the rest of society. If there is to be one America, then this racial divide must stop."

Some civil rights activists say the Justice Department has been too slow to respond.

"There are some bad police officers like there are bad people in every walk of life," Reno said at her weekly news briefing. "When we see officers cross the line and tarnish the reputation and violate the laws, it's important that we take action when the jurisdiction of the federal government is invoked."

The Justice Department says it investigates several hundred allegations of criminal police misconduct at any given time. Since 1993, Justice claims to have prosecuted more than 300 law enforcement officers for misconduct and obtained more than 200 convictions. Last year, 74 law enforcement officers were charged with federal civil rights violations, the most in any year.

Still, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said laws have been enacted that marginalize the lives of minorities. Jackson said blacks often receive five-year mandatory prison sentences for possession of small amounts of crack cocaine while whites often receive lesser sentences for possession of large amounts of powder cocaine. He said that pattern sends a signal that unequal treatment of minorities is acceptable.

"The problem is not one of rogue cops," said Ira Glasser of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The problem is a problem of rogue leadership. The problem is a problem of immoral leadership. We have heard a lot about public morality and moral leadership in the last year. But very little of it focuses on the immoral conduct we're complaining about today."

Jackson pleaded with police for fairness. "We want the laws already on the books enforced," he said. "Just enforce the law. Just play the game by one set of rules. No, all police are not guilty. But those who honor the blue code of silence in fact are guilty."

Producer Brad Wright contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.