In the Media

As Law to Open Police Records Is Debated, Tribunal Denies Bid to Shield Info

06/08/2018
New York Law Journal

An administrative law judge said a controversial law allowing law enforcement agencies to keep disciplinary records secret, a law whose repeal is a current front-burner topic in the New York Legislature, can't be used to shroud any mention of the disciplinary matter.

The union representing New York City’s corrections officers is challenging a Manhattan judge’s refusal to keep under seal information about an officer’s write-up for ex

Ex-tennis star James Blake slams "dysfunctional" NYPD decision on cop who tackled him

06/08/2018
New York Daily News

Former pro tennis star James Blake on Friday slammed the NYPD’s decision to take just five vacation days from a cop who in 2015 mistook him for a criminal and tackled him on a Midtown sidewalk.

Blake called Police Commissioner James O’Neill’s ruling in Officer James Frascatore’s case “dysfunctional.”

Tennis pro James Blake criticizes NYPD disciplinary system

The NYPD officer who used excessive force against James Blake back in 2015 only lost 5 vacation days for the incident, prompting the tennis star to speak out.
06/08/2018
Metro New York

Former tennis pro James Blake has spoken out in response to the news that the NYPD officer who tackled him in 2015 received a penalty of five lost vacation days.

Officer James Frascatore lost five vacation days for his use of excessive force against Blake, the New York Daily Newsreported — half of the penalty recommended by the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), an independent NYPD oversight office.

Council Members Renew Call for Task Force on NYPD Response to Emotionally Disturbed Persons

04/10/2018
Gotham Gazette

In August of last year, shortly after NYPD officers shot to death an emotionally disturbed man in his apartment, City Council Member Jumaane Williams led an effort calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to set up a task force to conduct a wholesale review of the police department’s protocols in dealing with “emotionally disturbed persons,” or EDPs. Almost eight months later, with many in the city again reeling from the fatal shooting of an emotionally disturbed man at the hands of the NYPD, the mayor has continued to vacillate on the request.

NY Attorney General to Probe Police-Involved Shooting Death in Brooklyn

04/05/2018
Observer

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he will investigate a shooting in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn on Wednesday after a 34-year-old black man with mental health issues was shot by officers who mistook a metal shower head he was holding for a gun.

On Thursday, the NYPD released a 50-second video with transcript excerpts—but not the actual recordings—of the 911 calls associated with the shooting as well as surveillance videos. Neither the mayor’s office nor the NYPD responded to requests for comment about why the recordings were not included.

New bill bans cops from having sex with detainees

04/05/2018
Amsterdam News

New York State didn’t have a law that banned cops from having sex with those in custody. That all changed last week.

State legislators passed a bill prohibiting cops from having sex with people in custody, which closes a legal loophole that allowed police to avoid sexual-assault convictions. Cops would get around the possible convictions by claiming that the sex was consensual.

Bill S7708, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Lanza, states that someone in police custody doesn’t have the ability to consent to sex.

NYPD sex crimes chief donated thousands to Trump after video scandal on grabbing women ‘by the p---y'

04/03/2018
New York Daily News

Four days after President Trump was caught on tape boasting about grabbing women “by the p---y,” the high-profile head of the NYPD’s sex crimes division donated $500 to his campaign committee.

Deputy Chief Michael Osgood, commander of the Special Victims Division, went on to make 10 more contributions — a total of $2,810 over six weeks — to Trump’s campaign committees as the scandal over allegations that the candidate had groped multiple women intensified.

De Blasio, NYPD big see no problem with how cops address police misconduct

03/15/2018
New York Daily News

The NYPD’S second-in-command Thursday defended its disciplinary process for officers — and Mayor de Blasio agreed with that assessment.

One activist group, Communities United for Police Reform, said both are wrong.

The response was to a question about a Daily News report about police misconduct.

The first of the four-part series revealed disciplinary cases — some that highlight the contention that justice is meted out with disparities in punishment — and took a close look at how a top chief seemingly benefited from his rank to avoid a harsher penalty.

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