de Blasio & O’Neill Tout 2016 Statistics, but Continue Failing to Address Alleged & Substantiated Abuses, Misconduct, Racial Disparities, and Lack of Accountability & Transparency

Another month with dozens of incidents/examples of NYPD abuses, misconduct, racial disparities and failed accountability raise serious questions

As Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner O’Neill tout 2016 crime statistics, the continued incidents and examples of alleged and substantiated abuses, misconduct, racial disparities, and lack of accountability remain. The ongoing NYPD abuses from December, just like November and previous months, raise questions for de Blasio and O’Neill. They illuminate that the mayor and commissioner have taken no concrete action on accountability – and in some cases, only regressive endeavors to hide misconduct information – and continue failing to address racial and other inequities that perpetuate NYPD abuses and racial disparities in policing.

December 2 - New Data Show Outsized Police Role and Racial Disparities in School Discipline (NYCLU)

December 5 - NYPD Didn’t Do Its Job in Case of German Student Killed by L Train (DNAinfo)

December 5 - District Attorney Asks for Grand Jury in Police Killing of Deborah Danner (New York Times)

December 5 - NYPD Detective Caught on Camera Rolling Dice Stripped of Badge, Gun (NBC New York)

December 5 - de Blasio Seeks to Fix NYPD Race Relations ahead of Re-Election Bid (New York Post)

December 6 - Legal Aid Society Sues NYPD for Concealing Cop Discipline Records from Public (New York Daily News)

December 6 - NYPD Sergeant from Staten Island Arrested for Drunken Driving on Long Island (New York Daily News)

December 6 - Suit Challenges Secrecy on New York Police Disciplinary Records (New York Times)

December 7 - NYPD Spied on Black Lives Matter during Eric Garner Protests - But Won’t Release Any Info (New York Daily News)

December 7 - Brooklyn Grandma May End Up in Prison after Being Dragged Naked into Public Hallway by Cops (New York Daily News)

December 8 - ‘Drunk’ Cop Stripped of His Gun and Badge (New York Post)

December 8 - City & Cops Pay over $600K for NYPD Beating Caught on Camera (Gothamist)

December 12 - Release the Records Now Because the Cops Work for the Public (New York Daily News)

December 12 - Cop Caught on Camera Trashing Mayor de Blasio Docked Eight Vacation Days (New York Daily News)

December 13 - NYPD Officers Watch Gropers Attack Multiple Victims before Making Arrests (DNAinfo)

December 13 - Brooklyn Woman Who Says She was Wrongfully Arrested while Nearly Naked Acquitted of All Charges (NY1)

December 13 - Bronx Cop Docked Five Vacation Days for ‘Nearly Killing’ Handcuffed Teen (New York Daily News)

December 13 - Ex-Cop Claims NYPD Boss Abused Her, Forced Her into Unwanted Sexual Relationships, Sues for $100M (New York Daily News)

December 13 - How Broken Windows Policing Breaks NYC’s Immigrant Sanctuaries (The Village Voice)

December 14 - Bronx NYPD Deputy Inspector Says Subordinate He Allegedly Groped Came on to Him (New York Daily News)

December 15 - Homeless New Yorkers Say NYPD’s ‘Move Along’ Rule is Cruel and Illegal (The Village Voice)

December 15 - Deaf Woman Who Accused NYPD Cops of Wrongful Arrest, Denying Her Interpreter Gets $80G from City (New York Daily News)

December 15 - Judges, NYCLU Ask NYPD Why It Should Withhold Disciplinary Records (New York Daily News)

December 15 - Man Paralyzed after Police Push Him over Rail for Running From Them (DNAinfo)

December 16 - Pit Bull Owner Sues City, NYPD after Bronx Cop Shot Dog to Death (New York Daily News)

December 16 - Judge OKs Occupy Protester’s Suit against Ex-NYPD Bigwig (New York Post)

December 17 - NYPD Blasted over Refusal to Disclose ‘Predictive’ Data (New York Daily News)

December 18 - An Undercover Operation: NYC vs. NYPD Transparency (New York Daily News)

December 18 - Flash Bombs Used in NYPD Raid Left Me Traumatized (New York Post)

December 19 - Off-Duty NYPD Cop Busted for Stealing Soap, Toothbrushes from Newburgh Walmart (New York Daily News)

December 20 - Is the NYPD Resurrecting a Controversial Abandoned Wallet Sting? Operation (Gothamist)

December 21 - Activists Debate Going to Police after Alleged Bias Attack in Tribeca (Gothamist)

December 21 - Court: NYPD Tainted Lineup with Only One Dreadlocked Suspect (Newsday)

December 21 - The DA Allows NYPD Lawyers to Play Prosecutor in the Face of Rising Civil Suits (The Village Voice)

December 23 - NYPD Suspends Officer Who Posted Snapchat of Brooklyn Family in Handcuffs (ABC New York)

December 25 - Gov, Defy Gravity-Knife Injustice (New York Daily News)

December 26 - Complaint Board Softened Report on Police Use of Tasers (New York Times)

December 29 - Bill de Blasio’s Police Accountability Problem (Gotham Gazette)

December 31 - NYPD Investigating Video of Police Beating Man While Handcuffing Him (Gothamist)

3 QUESTIONS FOR DE BLASIO & O’NEILL:

1. You continue to tout progress in “bringing communities and police together” citing neighborhood policing, new trainings and reductions in the overall number of stops, but serious incidents of police abuses and brutality – and even police killings – continue in these communities, with dozens of examples every month. How do you explain the continuity of these ongoing abuses, what do you think is their root cause and what have you done to address them?
    
2. Last month it was revealed that the officer who almost killed 14-year-old Javier Payne in the Bronx was docked only 5 vacation days, while the officer who told a motorist that the mayor was to blame for his summons was docked 8 vacation days. How can you defend/explain this discipline in relation to these two very different transgressions as rational? Doesn’t this demonstrate exactly the problem of accountability within the NYPD that communities say are the core of what allows police abuses to continue against them? If you disagree, why not?
    
3. How can you claim that “neighborhood policing” represents any systemic change to address longtime systemic problems with the way in which some communities experience policing by the NYPD? Your NCOs represent a handful of officers in each precinct and right now only 1% of the entire NYPD. They may be helpful in developing relationships that gain intel but how can you actually expect such a small scale of officers to shift how communities experience policing when the vast majority of officers they see and interact with are not NCOs?

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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 policing practices based on cooperation and respect– not discriminatory targeting and harassment. CPR brings 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 unfairly targeted the most by the NYPD. CPR is fighting for reforms that will promote community safety while ensuring that the NYPD protects and serves all New Yorkers.