Secret NYPD Files: Officers Can Lie And Brutally Beat People — And Still Keep Their Jobs
Internal NYPD files show that hundreds of officers who committed the most serious offenses — from lying to grand juries to physically attacking innocent people — got to keep their jobs, their pensions, and their tremendous power over New Yorkers' lives. — www.buzzfeed.com/...
Buzzfeed plans to create a database based on the files and make the information widely accessible. New York is one of three states (California and Delaware are the others) with a law that specifically prevents the release of police misconduct records. Kendall Taggart and Mike Hayes, the two Buzzfeed reports who worked on the story related the various subterfuges the NYPD has utilized to keep police misconduct proceedings hidden and out of the view of defendants and their attorneys who might have been implicated by officers who had been disciplined. In some cases, officers who were found guilty of lying to grand juries continue to be on the beat.
Many of the officers lied, cheated, stole, or assaulted New York City residents. At least fifty employees lied on official reports, under oath, or during an internal affairs investigation. Thirty-eight were found guilty by a police tribunal of excessive force, getting into a fight, or firing their gun unnecessarily. Fifty-seven were guilty of driving under the influence. Seventy-one were guilty of ticket-fixing. One officer, Jarrett Dill, threatened to kill someone. Another, Roberson Tunis, sexually harassed and inappropriately touched a fellow officer. Some were guilty of lesser offenses, like mouthing off to a supervisor.
At least two dozen of these employees worked in schools. Andrew Bailey was found guilty of touching a female student on the thigh and kissing her on the cheek while she was sitting in his car. In a school parking lot, while he was supposed to be on duty, Lester Robinson kissed a woman, removed his shirt, and began to remove his pants. And Juan Garcia, while off duty, illegally sold prescription medication to an undercover officer.
In every instance, the police commissioner, who has final authority in disciplinary decisions, assigned these officers to “dismissal probation,” a penalty with few practical consequences. The officer continues to do their job at their usual salary. They may get less overtime and won’t be promoted during that period, which usually lasts a year. When the year is over, so is the probation.
There isn’t much more to say except that everyone should read the article which was based on documents handed over to Buzzfeed by a whistle-blower. Buzzfeed’s reporters corroborated the documents through dozens of interviews with individuals named in the documents, many of whom refused to discuss them.
Other outlets are covering the story, including:
— @subirgrewal