As an immigrant and former member of the New York Police Department (NYPD), Associate Zaur (Zee) Gajiev offers a unique perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing civil unrest in the United States.

During his life, Zee has experienced everything good about the ‘American dream’, but he’s also seen the negative side of a society blighted by historic inequality and police brutality.

He says: “I was born into poverty in Azerbaijan and my early life was extremely tough, with no real hope for the future.

“The only reason my family got to move to the United States was sheer luck. We entered a state-wide Green Card lottery and somehow won, even though the odds of success were several-thousand-to-one.

“Even then, everyone told us it was just a money-making scam and was too good to be true but, within a year, we found ourselves in New York City, starting a new life.

“That’s why I owe a debt of gratitude to the United States, because it offered us a clean start and transformed our lives.”

The police force in Azerbaijan is notorious for corruption and brutality, so Zee was understandably suspicious of their American equivalent.

He says: “The area of Brooklyn I grew up in was poor and marginalized, with a large proportion of immigrants.

“We lived in fear of crime and gang violence and, when I was 14, I had the terrifying experience of having a gun pointed in my face.

“Remarkably, I didn’t consider calling the police because, back in Azerbaijan, we learned to fear the police as much as the criminals. There was a similar situation in New York following decades of excessive force and police brutality and, for that reason, we viewed the police as an occupying force whose mission was to keep us in line, not to protect us.”

Determined to make a difference, Zee was one of several people from his background who signed up to become an auxiliary police officer in the NYPD after he finished college.

The role saw him providing back-up to full-time officers and involved completing an 18-week training course.

He says: “The job of an auxiliary police officer is much the same as a regular officer, with the full uniform and bullet-proof vests. I did around three patrols a week and was authorized to make arrests and keep the peace, among other things.”

Zee did the role between 2010 and 2012 and was determined to help mend the relationship and mistrust between local people and police.

He says: “One of the things I loved most was getting to talk to fellow immigrants in Russian and to explain that the police force is here to protect them, not abuse them.

“I hope I played a small part in improving community relations and building trust as part of the major outreach program the NYPD was running at the time.

“But more needs to be done. We need to re-evaluate the role of policing in society and to re-imagine public safety in a way that invests in communities and neighborhoods, rather than incarcerating them.

“Due to a lack of resources in other institutions, police are increasingly expected to deal with social problems such as mental health, homelessness, substance abuse, even school discipline, often with a lack of training and a poor understanding of the disadvantaged communities they’re operating in.”

Zee’s time as a police officer inspired him to further explore his passion for law and, after completing a J.D. at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, he clerked for judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

He joined the Firm in 2017 and is a Commercial Litigation Associate in our Los Angeles office where he’s currently working on a major pro bono case against the City of Ferguson, Missouri.

Zee says: “We’re representing the people of Ferguson in a class action alleging that the City engaged in discriminative policing and used its police force, jails and local courts to generate profits through the routine arrest and imprisonment of poor, primarily African American, residents in violation of their constitutional rights.

“The killing of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson was one of the original cases that gave national recognition to the Black Lives Matter movement. It prompted the Department of Justice’s investigation into Ferguson’s prolonged and widespread civil rights abuses against its Black citizens, committed at every level of Ferguson’s law enforcement system.

“The Ferguson case is a good example of how normalized systemic racism becomes when it’s allowed to continue. It proves how the law enforcement system in the United States is often prejudiced against the poor and people of color – an issue that’s again in the spotlight after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.”

Zee is passionate about the role the legal profession must play in bringing meaningful change, not just to the legal system in the United States, but in changing perceptions in society.

He says: “One of the problems is that justice is often accessible only to the wealthy and privileged. We have failed to recognize the importance of access to justice for not just some, but for all. We need to bring lasting change to a legal and social system where it’s far more likely you’ll end up in jail if you’re Black or come from the wrong background.

“That requires changing the laws that punish people for being poor and disadvantaged. Marginalized communities need resources, not just safety. They need investments in institutions such as quality schools, arts and athletics programs, addiction treatment facilities, domestic violence support, affordable housing, and access to mental health care to deal with the trauma, abuse and insidious effects of living in chronically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

“Nobody is born angry or violent. These are symptoms of underlying suffering, neglect, and heartbreak. And we need to learn how to listen if we want to make any meaningful difference.”

Zee’s experiences in the NYPD have taught him lessons that he can apply to his career with White & Case.

He says: “Working as a police officer taught me how to diffuse volatile situations, negotiate and keep calm under intense pressure.

“It also helped me see things from a different perspective and to understand procedure, which is something that will really help when we seek testimony from police officers on the Ferguson case.”

Zee is incredibly grateful for the opportunities immigrating to the United States has given him and his family and is determined to contribute to positive change through his work at White & Case.

He says: “I wake up every morning and remind myself that, if it weren’t for the luck of winning a lottery, I wouldn’t be here in sunny California.

“The fact that so many of my friends have died or ended up in jail is heart-breaking and shows how different things could have been for me. My family still lives in Brooklyn and I get over to see them as often as possible.

“My parents had to overcome so many challenges and have made many sacrifices for me, which has taught me never to take anything for granted. They deserve the credit for my accomplishments and are the reason I’m driven by a passion to make a lasting difference.”