Officials Prepare for Bell Verdict Protests

Police and transportation officials today are braced for acts of civil disobedience, as protesters attempt to disrupt traffic and transit hubs following last month’s acquittal of three police detectives in the Sean Bell shooting.

“We will be in very close contact with the New York Police Department and their command center to reroute buses and redirect people as necessary,” said Jeremy Soffin, spokesman for Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Police are prepared to face several thousand protesters but don’t expect any violence, a police source said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he has been in extensive contact with protesters.

“I think it’s another example of people being able to protest in New York City, but rest assured that we will enforce the law and we will do everything we can to make sure we don’t violate anybody’s rights,” he said yesterday.

Queens State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Cooperman on April 25 acquitted the detectives in the shooting of Bell and his two friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield outside a Jamaica strip club Nov. 25, 2006.

After detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper were cleared, the Rev. Al Sharpton vowed to continue protests to push for a civil rights prosecution.

In an interview yesterday, Sharpton said that, besides a federal review and possible civil rights prosecution, he wants a state law enacted allowing a special prosecutor to investigate police shootings.

“The city hasn’t shown … the ability to reform itself,” he said. “We need federal intervention.”

Today, protesters will gather at six transit choke points for a “pray-in” before dispersing for marches that will most likely snarl traffic.

Yesterday, New York police commanders reviewed plans to deal with the meeting spots - 125th Street and Third Avenue; Park Avenue and 34th Street; 60th Street and Third Avenue; Varick and Houston streets; and at House of the Lord Pentecostal Church, 415 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn. The sixth location is Police Headquarters at One Police Plaza, where protesters will be guided to a penned-off area and Sharpton will be joined by Bell’s fiancee Nicole Paultre Bell, Guzman and Benefield.

Dozens of police officers, including some on horseback, will be nearby.

Rachel Noerdlinger, Sharpton’s spokeswoman, said the actions were part of a lead-up to a citywide “shutdown” at a future date. “We plan to do this throughout the spring,” she said.

Newsday writer Rocco Parascandola contributed to this story.