In the Media

NYC community groups to play formal role in hiring of NYPD precinct commanders: de Blasio

01/28/2021
New York Daily News

Community groups will now play a formal role in the selection of NYPD precinct commanders, Mayor de Blasio announced Thursday.

Police precinct community councils will be able to interview candidates who are being considered for the posts and review their performance after they’ve been hired under the plan.

Yet the council’s feedback is only advisory, and the police commissioner will have a final say over who’s chosen.

NYPD commissioner vows to alert public if he deviates from new disciplinary guidelines for rogue cops

01/26/2021
New York Daily News

When rogue police are punished by the NYPD, it will be by the book — and if it isn’t, the public is going to know why, the city’s top cop pledged Tuesday.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said he does not plan to deviate from the punishments laid out in the department’s new Disciplinary Matrix.

“When we have a set of rules, whether as a police officer or a police commissioner putting out discipline, when we are working on agreed upon rules, the expectation is that they are going to be followed,” Shea told NY1.

De Blasio Touts New NYPD Disciplinary Guidelines, but Critics Say It Lacks Legally Binding Power

01/21/2021
NY1

Since announcing it late last Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio has been calling attention to the NYPD's Disciplinary Matrix, a new document that outlines disciplinary action for officer misconduct.

Although no such guidance has previously been available, some working to increase NYPD transparency say the document lacks the binding power of the law.

NYPD’s new set of disciplinary guidelines for cops has big holes, critics say

01/21/2021
New York Daily News

The NYPD’s new and much-hyped disciplinary matrix will not change the fact that the police commissioner still has ultimate discretion over how punishments are meted out for cops’ misconduct, Mayor de Blasio revealed Thursday.

De Blasio spent much of the morning talking up a recent agreement between the NYPD and the Civilian Complaint Review Board on a set of new guidelines that lay out how cops will be disciplined for a variety of transgressions, including the use of chokeholds and providing false information.

Thirty people arrested and ten officers injured in violent clashes between Black Lives Matter protesters and NYPD outside City Hall at the end of a march to commemorate MLK day

01/19/2021
DailyMail

Riot police in New York City fought with protesters who marched across Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate Martin Luther King Day on Monday.

A Black Lives Matter demonstration began peacefully in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon to mark the annual commemoration.

Several hundred people then crossed into Manhattan.

As night fell, they were told to clear the area but some refused. CBS reported that 30 people were arrested, and ten police officers were injured including a captain struck on the head with a bottle.

NYPD Fights to Keep Eyes Off Discipline Records

After a federal judge dismissed most of their bid for a preliminary injunction blocking the release of records, NYPD and fire unions are appealing.
01/19/2021
Courthouse News

MANHATTAN (CN) — Former New York City Police Department officers and firefighters who say Mayor Bill de Blasio put them in harm’s way by unsealing discipline records advanced their claims to the Second Circuit on Tuesday. 

In June of last year, the state repealed a rule that limited public access, except by court order, to the personnel performance records of police officers, firefighters and correction officers. 

NYPD Releases New Disciplinary Guidelines, But Commissioner Still Has Final Say On Penalties

01/16/2021
Gothamist

The NYPD released a set of new guidelines for officers found guilty of misconduct, outlining penalties for violations like excessive use of force, making false statements, or racial profiling under a first-of-its-kind “disciplinary matrix” that takes effect immediately.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called the matrix a “living document” that could evolve. Shea said in a statement that the purpose of the matrix is to eliminate the “perception of favoritism or bias” that can undermine the department’s approach to meting out discipline.

NYPD Could Have Two Federal Monitors At The Same Time. But That Won't Bring Quick Reforms.

01/15/2021
Gothamist

The New York City Police Department could be the first in the country to be simultaneously overseen by two separate federal court monitors if state Attorney General Letitia James is successful in her lawsuit over how the agency handles large protests.

But experts warn that won’t be a panacea for everything critics say is wrong with the 36,000-officer force, which James argues is guilty of widespread brutality and violating the rights of protesters during Black Lives Matter demonstrations in summer 2020.

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