NYPD Cops Out of Control
Cops in New York do what they want.
The NY Civil Liberties Union released a harshly critical study, Mission Failure, which says even the vaunted Civilian Complain Review Board rolls over and spreads them for the cops.
NYCLU
"I've seen the CCRB’s failure firsthand and up close. Civilian oversight is a formality at best," said Sheena Otto, a one-time veteran investigator at the CCRB. "We can do better, and the City certainly deserves better."
Joining members of the NYCLU staff at a news conference announcing the release of the report were Otto; representatives of Make the Road by Walking, a community advocacy organization in Brooklyn; and officials with three police organizations: the Guardians Association, the National Latino Officers Association and 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. All were highly critical of the CCRB’s failings and of the police department’s role in undermining the civilian oversight agency."
As an officer, when you walk into the average Black or Latino community, there is always animosity toward the police. The CCRB does nothing to address that," said Charles Billups, chair of the Grand Council of Guardians. "These communities are suffering from unnecessary police hostility, and the CCRB is just looking the other way."
"When a cop abuses his authority and disrespects or injures a civilian, it diminishes respect for all cops," added Marq Claxton, a founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. "The CCRB is not working. As a result, the people of this city have lost confidence in and respect for the police."
NewsdayDidn't have to reach all the way back to the guy who got 41 bullets pumped through him coming out of a night club.
The city's Civilian Complaint Review Board, which is empowered to investigate allegations of police misconduct, fully investigates fewer than 50 percent of complaints and finds police at fault in 5.2 out of every 100 cases, according to the report titled "Mission Failure: Civilian Review of Policing in New York City."
That is far below the 10 to 13 percent average found at similar boards across the United States, the report says.
"We know the department frustrates those complainants. They make it very hard to file [a complaint] and frequently toss them out," said the report's author, civil liberties union staff member Robert A. Perry.
"Even when cops are found guilty ... the punishment is shockingly lenient."
According to the report, allegations of undue force by officers are up 117 percent in the last six years, and abuse-of-authority complaints are up almost 200 percent.
But the number of cases in which officers face serious consequences for such violations is down dramatically. In 2000, 34.2 percent of officers found guilty were punished with loss of vacation time or a suspension; in 2006, that punishment was meted out only 5.2 percent of the time.
Verbal warnings from supervisors, however, have risen from 23 percent in 2000 to 73.8 percent last year.
In several dramatic examples given in the report, officers who had beaten, strip-searched, pepper-sprayed and falsely arrested innocent people were given verbal admonishments by supervisors. Those officers also could have faced criminal and civil suits. The officers were not named in the report.
"These cases summarize serious acts for which you or I would face serious criminal violations and possible incarceration," Perry said.
"It's absolutely clear that the punishment the PD hands down has been dramatically reduced. Recently we've seen them giving no punishment at all in a large number of our cases."
This was just there waiting. Another week, another case of NY Cops out of control:
NY Daily NewsIt takes six cops to arrest one guy on the toilet?
A disabled former Parks Department enforcement officer has filed a complaint against cops who he says snatched him off his toilet and dragged him out of his apartment.
Dominick Walters, 38, said he and his elderly mother feared for their lives when six city cops busted into their home on July 28 and arrested him.
"I was on the toilet, and they busted through the door," said Walters.
"My mother was screaming and trying to tell them that I am disabled, but they didn't listen," he continued. "One of the police officers karate-chopped me with his hand between my shoulder and neck. Then they beat my a-- from the top of the steps to the bottom."
Walters' attorney, Jayne Pickup, said her client was taken to St. Barnabas hospital on July 28 after he passed out in police custody.
She said one of his legs was swollen to twice its usual size, his arm was numb and he was in severe pain.
NYPD spokesman John Kelly referred all questions to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, where spokesman Andrew Case said his office is investigating the matter.
Walters was injured in the line of duty on July 25, 2003 when he was stabbed by a deranged man hiding in a Hudson River Park bathroom stall. He underwent three surgeries.
No. This was personal. They were teaching this guy a lesson about messing with the police, confident no one can touch them back.
In New York, keep your damn mouth shut and do what the cops tell you without back talk, but make certain you don't surrender your rights even if, especially if you're busted.
"To Protect and to Serve." And to kick the crap out of anyone in our way.
Sounds like a gang to me.
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