Latino Justice, a national group with headquarters in Manhattan that defends the rights of Latinos, filed an initial complaint against the police in Suffolk County not long after Ecuadorean immigrant Marcelo Lucero was beaten to death on November 8th, 2008, in Patchogue.

A spokesman for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice confirmed that the agency is investigating the complaint together with the United States Attorney General. Suffolk County police officials were informed of the investigation on September 30th, said the spokesman.

In a public statement, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said that the policies and procedures of the department "demonstrate that we respond appropriately to racial hate crimes."

Seven teenagers pled innocent to having committed crimes of racial intolerance and other charges in the case of the attack on Lucero.

Authorities said the teenagers told them that attacking Latinos was a normal activity. The teenagers are accused of attacks that took place a year ago.