On November 25, undercover NYPD officers fired 50 shots at unarmed 23-year-old Sean Bell and two of his friends-Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman- outside a club in Queens, killing Bell on the night before his wedding. Teens in the Get and Give Afterschool program were asked what they thought the incident said about relations between the community and police:

"The shooting of Sean Bell says that the police-or some policemen-take advantage of their power, and that is not good to the community, because the people we think are going to protect us are going to do bad things to us. Who will we trust in a problem? I feel that the police need to be more careful before they start shooting."- Fenikel Cornielle

"The Sean Bell shooting tells me that the police officers were being unfair because there was never a reason to shoot at him 50 times. The community must not feel safe living there, because of the unfair shooting. I wouldn't feel safe personally."- Victoria McBride.

"The Sean Bell shooting says that the relationship with the police and the community in New York City is not good. Police are shooting people for not doing anything."
-Jean Carlos Suárez.

"The situation with Sean Bell tells me that the police are not careful with their job. It also tells me that police  like to take advantage of their job and the things they can do. I thought it was wrong what the police did to Sean Bell. They took a husband and a father away from a wife and kids. Basically, he made another incomplete family, a single mother, with kids that have to grow up without knowing their father." - Anais Humphrey

"The Sean Bell shooting says a lot of things. It means that the police are not that careful of the things they do. The cops also need to have more communication with the people in the neighborhood. The cops need to be more careful with the weapons they have." -Hassler S.