Police in New York City are regularly able to avoid getting fired for serious offenses while in uniform, an investigation has concluded.
The conduct of hundreds of officers appeared to have been overlooked despite behavior warranting a punishment that would usually see officers being fired according to Buzzfeed News.
For four years, between 2011 to 2015, at least 319 New York Police Department officers or employees managed to keep their jobs despite committing serious offenses on the job.
The offenses range from anything such as lying on official reports to stealing and even assaulting residents of the city.
More than 300 NYPD cops have reportedly kept their jobs despite fireable offenses
The internal files documenting such atrocious behavior by the NYPD were obtained by Buzzfeed.
Upon closer inspection the figures were even more shocking:
- At least 58 employees were found to have lied on official reports, under oath, or during internal investigations
- 38 were found guilty by a police tribunal of using excessive force while on duty
- 71 were found to have fixed tickets and dismissed charges as a favor
- 58 drove under the influence of an intoxicating substance
- At least one officer sexually harassed and inappropriately touched a fellow officer
- From 2011 to 2015, 777 cops got dismissal probation while 463 cops were fired or quit
There are numerous other cases where cops committed misconduct but kept their jobs:
- Officer Jarrett Dill threatened to kill someone
- Officer Roberson Tunis sexually harassed another officer
- Officer Raymond Marrero was found guilty of beating two men and lying about it.
- Juan Garcia, a school safety officer, illegally sold prescription medication to an undercover officer
In all the above cases, the officers still kept their jobs and are still working for the the force. Some of the other cases were for lesser offences.
In a number of cases cops committed misconduct but still kept their jobs
Despite the above offenses requiring officers to be sacked, on 319 occasions the police commissioner instead assigned the officers or employees to ‘dismissal probation’.
That punishment is the one of the lowest forms of discipline in the force and non-intrusive, with staff being allowed to continue to do their job on the same salary.
They may be offered fewer overtime hours and be passed over for promotions but the during probation usually lasts for just a year.
New York’s Finest were able to keep the damning files a secret using a law known as Civil Rights Law Section 50-a, which allows agencies in New York State to carry out some of the least transparent protocols in the country.
The law was passed in 1976 under the premise that a truly transparent system would allow ‘unverified and unsubstantiated’ allegations to surface, as well as ‘confidential information and privileged medical records’ about officers that could be used against them.
Fifty of the 319 cops and civilian workers lied on official reports, according to internal police files that were obtained by BuzzFeed News
Instead, the law is being used to cover up the low levels of discipline at the NYPD with employees repeatedly showing violence and disregard for basic rules that underpin a police force tasked with keeping America’s largest city safe.
In one case an officer who was accused of viciously beating an individual, arresting an individual under false pretenses, assaulting a third individual, and for fabricating evidence against another, received a punishment so light it was akin to a slap on the wrist.
Other incidents emerged of an NYPD officer throwing a man to the ground before being repeatedly punched in the head, while in another instance, an officer was accused of hitting a detained suspect in the head with a police baton, resulting in 12 staples and a hospital visit to close the wound.
In that particular case the officer ended up costing the department around $900,000 in settlement fees yet he still managed to keep his job and patrol the city streets.
The NYPD says every case is analysed differently and that there is a policy of not terminating officers unless it is deemed to be absolutely necessary.
When circumstances arise where an officer needs to be fired, a spokesman said, the commissioner and the department have done so.
Kevin Richardson, the deputy commissioner of the department’s internal prosecutor’s office, said when an officer shows remorse, the department would opt for ‘dismissal probation’ instead of firing ‘to make sure that this officer and other officers who are watching this realize this is not something that will be tolerated from the police department,’ he said.
All of the employees were given ‘dismissal probation,’ in which NYPD employees remain on the job but face termination if they commit further misconduct