Ex-Capt. Adams Seeks Senate Seat
Favored, But Not By Cops

By REUVEN BLAU

Former NYPD Capt. Eric Adams dreamed of becoming a politician ever since he visited Washington D.C. during an elementary school graduation trip.

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane AN OUTSIDER EVEN WHEN INSIDE: Former Police Capt. Eric Adams, the co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, says that he isn't surprised that the police unions haven't publicly supported his bid for the State Senate's 20th District, given his frequent role as an in-house critic of the Police Department. He stressed that he 'loved' working for the NYPD, adding, 'Out of that passion, it was my desire to make sure that it was clean.'

"All the other kids were just playing around," he said, sitting in a metal chair in his Crown Heights, Brooklyn campaign basement headquarters last week.

Unreal to Them

On the bus back from the trip, Mr. Adams said he announced to his classmates that one day he'd become a legislator. "All the kids laughed," he recalled. "A kid from South Jamaica doesn't become an elected official."

But that may change, based on the wide array of endorsements and community support for his campaign for the State Senate's 20th District. Mr. Adams, who retired from the NYPD last April after a high-profile 21-year career, is looking to succeed Carl Andrews, who is one of four Democratic candidates vying for the seat of U.S. Rep. Major Owens in the 11th Congressional District.

Mr. Adams, the co-founder of the civil rights group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, is being challenged by two little-known candidates: Guillermo E. Philpotts and Anthony Alexis, who served as legislative director for former City Councilwoman Tracy Boyland.

'Odds-On Favorite'

With broad labor and political backing and a substantial war chest, Mr. Adams is the clear front-runner. "He certainly has a higher profile than any of his adversaries," said George Arzt, a former New York Post City Hall bureau chief and Press Secretary to Mayor Koch who is now a political consultant. "He remains the odds-on favorite. Whoever heard of the other two?"

Mr. Adams has been endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union Local 1199, and SEIU Local 32BJ, which represents building service workers.

But that hasn't stopped him from campaigning at subway stops during rush hour each morning and afternoon. "I enjoy people, so it's a lot of fun getting out," he said. "To stop someone at 7:30 in the morning before they have their first cup of coffee - you have to have a lot of guts."

He's also constantly meeting with various religious leaders and neighborhood groups. "My days were always 12-hour days," he noted, referring to his work as the executive officer of the 6th Precinct in Greenwich Village. "I was always meeting with people, so there is no real change."

'A Natural Transition'

The move from police supervisor to political candidate was a seamless switch, he continued. "Much of my adult life has been constituent service," he noted. "Finding needs of people and responding to those needs, so this has been a natural transition."

The 20th Senate District in central Brooklyn is one of the most diverse areas in the city and includes Crown Heights, Flatbush, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, and Prospect Heights.

"Each area has its own issues," Mr. Adams pointed out.

In 1995, Mr. Adams and other African-American officers founded 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, which is an offshoot of the Guardians' Association. Many black officers believed that group was too closely tied to city management and moved to create a new organization, Mr. Adams said.

As spokesman of the new group, Mr. Adams was a frequent critic of the NYPD's policies. He has regularly urged the department to hire and promote additional minority officers and to stop alleged racial profiling practices. In addition, he's held "What to Do When Stopped by the Police" workshops, which instruct youths in how to safely navigate encounters with police.

Shunned by Unions

Many officers, however, have reacted angrily regarding his views, and none of the police unions have formally endorsed Mr. Adams. "I understand the complexities of being a union leader," Mr. Adams commented, stressing that he was not upset with the unions' decision to stay out of the race. "It's difficult for people to realize how pro-law-enforcement I was."

He said that he "loved" working for the NYPD, adding, "Out of that passion it was my desire to make sure that it was clean, and sometimes that could be perceived as being anti-."

Mr. Adams publicly criticized officers allegedly involved in the Abner Louima incident in 1997 for not speaking up. Mr. Louima, a Haitian immigrant, was brutalized by an officer with a stick in the 70th Precinct stationhouse bathroom after a brawl outside a Brooklyn nightclub.

"Many people didn't understand what we were trying to do," he remarked, referring to the group's pointed condemnation at the time. The organization, he added, was trying "to make sure that the good cops were never hurt by the bad cops."

'A Grass-Roots Campaign'

Sitting in his makeshift campaign headquarters near the old Ebbets Field, Mr. Adams is quick to point out his other labor endorsements and that he has raised more than $190,000, mainly from individual donors. In comparison, Mr. Alexis, his closest opponent, has raised roughly $27,000. "I have approximately 800 people who donated," Mr. Adams noted. "This is clearly a grass-roots campaign."

He's held multiple fund-raisers with eight or nine people, he said. "They all add up," he remarked. The funds have been used for mailings and to help pay for the help of a political consultant.

The former Captain has also spent time going door-to-door to introduce himself to people in the district. During one such visit, an elderly lady brought him an empty mayonnaise jar filled with coins. According to Mr. Adams, she told him that she began saving up money to donate to his future campaign when she saw him in the press during the Abner Louima incident.

"There was $32 inside that jar," he recalled, gazing upwards. "How do you not keep your eyes from watering up?"

Final Department Dust-Up

That exchange, he said, taught him that his outspokenness over the years had been appreciated. "There have been times during my 21 years where I wondered, 'Did anybody notice?''' he commented. "When you love a career as much as I love law enforcement and every day you were threatened [with losing it], you feel people don't take notice."

Just as he was set to retire, the NYPD charged Captain Adams with publicly criticizing the department's handling of a terrorist threat and divulging details of police deployment in the subways. The main components of the charges, which could have cost Mr. Adams his pension, were tossed after a headline-grabbing internal hearing.

Norman Siegel, Mr. Adams's attorney, contended during the three-day departmental trial that his client was merely exercising his First Amendment free speech rights when he appeared on a WCBS-TV program hosted by Marcia Kramer last Oct. 14.

He stressed that Mr. Adams was speaking on behalf of his civil rights group and therefore didn't need prior permission from the department.

NYPD's Restrictions

While the city doesn't have a comprehensive media policy for all its employees, the NYPD has stringent rules restricting officers from discussing job-related issues with the press. The department instructs its personnel to obtain permission from the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information's Office before speaking with journalists.

Mr. Adams suggested on the show that the city released information about a terrorism threat to divert media attention away from Mayor Bloomberg's decision during his re-election campaign to pass up a candidates' debate that same evening at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

During the subsequent interview with Mr. Kramer, Mr. Adams said that the NYPD waited over three days to deploy officers to safeguard subway stations. "They were given the information on Monday, and nothing was done until Thursday afternoon," Mr. Adams said.

NYPD attorneys defended the department's response to the threat and contended at the trial that hundreds of officers were deployed to guard potential targets. The city waited to publicize the threat until after Federal authorities finished pursuing all their leads overseas.

Supporters Threatened?

Mr. Adams charged that department supervisors retaliated and began "harassing" officers who have supported his campaign. The NYPD prohibits officers from holding political fund-raisers in their houses. But department supervisors, he alleged, began to question former colleagues who attended his fund-raisers.

"There was an attempt in the beginning to send chills to people who donated to my campaign," he argued, noting that if elected he would work to switch the arcane restriction. "But I didn't want to make a public issue of that because law-enforcement officers are my base."

NYPD spokesman Paul J. Browne responded: "Unless this is just another fanciful allegation, an aggrieved party should identify the purported bad conduct and make an official complaint."

If elected to the State Senate, Mr. Adams said he plans to concentrate on education and affordable housing and health care. He also will work on legislation to require gun owners to register their weapons each year. "People have to register their cars every year; why not their guns?" he asked, noting that his police experience has helped him understand the issue from a unique perspective. "Right now as it stands, John Gun Owner buys a gun, and we don't see that gun again."

Not Coasting

Despite the lack of a serious challenger, Mr. Adams is not letting up. "The campaign is not going to take anything for granted," asserted Evan Stavisky, a strategist for Mr. Adams's campaign. "He's somebody with a major citywide profile that's not typical for a first time candidate. That's to his credit, and will also be to the benefit of his constituents."

After his elementary school graduation trip, Mr. Adams said that he wrote on the back of his class photo that he wanted to become a law-enforcement officer and then a politician. "I know this may sound sort of corny, but I just hung that picture up," he said. "And it wasn't until a couple of months ago that I revisited the picture."

But now he's looking forward to after the election. "It's almost like a prizefighter," he remarked. "You shadow-box the bag, you jump rope, but you're ready to get into the ring now. You're looking forward to the announcer saying 'Let's get ready to rumble!'''