As Law to Open Police Records Is Debated, Tribunal Denies Bid to Shield Info
06/08/2018
New York Law Journal
In the Media
4 Years After Eric Garner’s Death, Secrecy Law on Police Discipline Remains Unchanged
06/03/2018
New York Times
The legal battle over a New York City police officer’s disciplinary records after the chokehold death of Eric Garner in 2014 cast an obscure statute into the spotlight.
Review of NYPD policies leads to reforms based on stop-and-frisk lawsuit
05/16/2018
New York Daily News
A retired judge tasked with reviewing NYPD policies in the wake of a federal stop-and-frisk lawsuit has laid out a series of police reforms in a sweeping report Tuesday.
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.
Mother of Eric Garner, activists call for change to how NYPD disciplines officers
03/09/2018
Metro New York
Advocates, elected officials and New Yorkers who say they’ve been harmed by the NYPD want to change the way officers are disciplined for their behavior while in uniform.
A recent Buzzfeed News investigation revealed that hundreds of NYPD officers kept their jobs after committing serious offenses like lying to grand juries, stealing or assaulting city residents.
Activists crush NYPD over Buzzfeed report
03/09/2018
Amsterdam News
City Hall and the New York Police Department are feeling the heat after a recent Buzzfeed report on the disciplinary action taken against abusive officers.
According to Buzzfeed, between 2011 and 2015, at least 300 NYPD officers who committed offenses such as assaulting civilians, falsifying records and stealing kept their jobs. The website developed its story going through internal NYPD files, phone calls, court records and interviews with prosecutors and officers.