Police Accountability Advocates Call for Disciplinary Charges and Firing of NYPD Officers Caught on Video Threatening New Yorker in Distress

Today, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), the largest and most diverse coalition of New Yorkers committed to increasing police accountability, called for disciplinary charges and firing of two NYPD officers who were recently caught on video using their patrol car’s megaphone to threaten, harass, and curse at a distressed pedestrian in Manhattan.

“These two police officers, Michael McPhee and Paul Chaves, should immediately be served with formal NYPD disciplinary charges and should be fired for their reckless and abusive behavior. They were caught on video cursing at and threatening violence against a New Yorker who was simply walking on the street and may have been in distress. We’re glad this horrific incident was filmed by a concerned New Yorker and shared on social media. It's a positive step that the officers were reportedly suspended but we should be clear that, in any other profession, they would already have been fired," said Carolyn Martinez-Class, a leader of Communities United for Police Reform (CPR).

"It's a further insult that, because of NY's police secrecy law, 50-a, the public will probably never learn whether these officers have engaged in past misconduct. The incident underscores that NYPD should not be responsible for social distancing enforcement and officers should not be first responders to New Yorkers in emotional distress. It’s time to end the NYPD’s harmful and illegitimate expansion into non-police matters, including those involving New Yorkers who need care, not policing,” said Martinez-Class of CPR.

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About Communities United for Police Reform

Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) is an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory policing practices in New York, and to build a lasting movement that promotes public safety and reduces reliance on policing. CPR runs coalitions of over 200 local, statewide and national organizations, bringing together a movement of community members, lawyers, researchers and activists to work for change. The partners in this campaign come from all 5 boroughs, from all walks of life and represent many of those most unfairly targeted by the NYPD.