Civil rights advocates say a recent incident in which a high-ranking black New York police official was ordered out of his car by a white officer points out continuing racial problems in the NYPD.

New York Sen. Eric Adams, civil-rights attorney Norman Siegel and members of 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement held a news conference to discuss the street stop of a black motorist who turned out to be one of the highest-ranking commanders in the NYPD.


Chief Douglas Zeigler, the head of the NYPD's Community Affairs Bureau and the highest uniformed black officer on the force, was off duty and sitting in his department-issued SUV on a Queens street on May 2 when two white police officers approached the vehicle and confronted him.

A department spokesman confirmed a report in the Daily News that one of the officers tried to wrest open Zeigler's door, even after the three-star chief had identified himself.

The officer, Michael Granahan, was stripped of his gun and badge Friday pending a departmental investigation.

"He dealt with the chief in a discourteous manner, which is unacceptable," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

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