NEW YORK—In the wake of highly publicized police brutality cases here in New York, the Congressional Black Caucus held its second of five nationwide hearings on the issue June 21.

The hearings were prompted by the increased number of police misconduct and brutality cases around the country, including the death of a suspect while in police custody in Kentucky and the probes into racial profiling and in-house state trooper discrimination in New Jersey.

Among the many activists, politicians and citizens addressing the panel were Kadiadou Diallo, who’s unarmed son Amadou, was shot to death by four officers who fired 41 shots at him Feb. 4 as he stood in the vestibule of his Bronx apartment.

"Such behaviors are not in the American spirit or character of God," said Ms. Diallo. "How can such a terrible thing happen to such a warm and loving son with so much promise in his future?" she asked.

One city official said he believes racism by police officers is a systemic problem and revealed how he became aware of it.

City Comptroller Alan Hevesi recently spoke with two deputy comptrollers-one Black, one white.

The Black deputy revealed that he is routinely stopped and searched by police officers while in his car.

The white deputy had a very different experience on a traffic stop. According to the man, a white N.J. state trooper said the only reason for the stop was that the car with tinted windows left him unable to discern if its driver was Black or white, said Mr. Hevesi. The white deputy comptroller was not searched and was allowed to go, he added.

Declining invitations to address the panel were Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir. Their absence was met with criticism from politicians and activists.

"I think it sends a message of arrogance," said former Mayor David Dinkins. "They can do as they wish. It doesn’t matter what people think and people are disturbed by their refusal to address this very serious problem."

The mayor and police commissioner submitted testimony given to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission investigating the same matter here May 26.

The mayor said his views were well documented and there was nothing new to add. "There’s nothing new I would impart and there were other things I had to do," the mayor said, during his June 21 daily press conference.

"I did not come here today to talk about me," said Abner Louima, who was beaten and sodomized by officers in a police stationhouse in August 1997, in remarks to end the day-long hearing.

"I came here today to ask you to use your powers to do what is necessary to put an end to police brutality in the city so that what happened to me will not happen to my son or anyone else’s son," Mr. Louima said. His case led to massive protests and helped blow the lid off charges of police brutality in the city.

Other speakers included the Rev. Al Sharpton and Mr. Dinkins. They both called for the overhaul of the Civilian Complaint Review Board and a special prosecutor to review cases charging police brutality. They also demanded that the police department reflect the racial make-up of the city or, they say, federal funding should be withheld.