Video available below.

A short documentary recently released by FiveThirtyEight as part of their Signals series highlights some of the injustices faced by police who go against the grain to expose misconduct.

“Crime By The Numbers,” a short documentary directed by Don Argott for FiveThirtyEight and ESPN Films’ Signals series, tells the story of Adrian Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft, as a New York Police Department officer, blew the whistle on the NYPD’s abuse and misuse of CompStat, a system to track crime trends in New York City.

The documentary also touches on how advanced data analytics can be used to violate privacy rights.

Video available below:

One day after settling a $5.9 million wrongful death case with New York City, the family of Eric Garner will use a press conference on Tuesday to renew calls to criminally charge the police officer who put him in a fatal chokehold last July.

A grand jury in December declined to indict the white officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who placed the 43-year-old black man in the chokehold, a maneuver banned by the New York City Police Department. A video that a bystander took of the incident sparked protests across the country over police treatment of minority groups.

Nearly one year after Garner’s death on New York’s Staten Island borough, his widow, Esaw Garner, and mother, Gwen Carr, will attend a press conference in New York alongside civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton.

“No federal charges have been filed against the officer who killed Mr. Garner, and the settlement with the city does not establish justice,” the family and Sharpton said in a statement.

The NYPD and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Garner, a father of six, was accused of illegally selling cigarettes on a sidewalk when Pantaleo put him in the chokehold from behind and brought him down with the help of other officers. Garner complained repeatedly that he could not breathe.

Raw video of the incident is available below:

The city medical examiner ruled Garner’s death a homicide, with health problems, including asthma and obesity, as contributing factors.

New York City agreed to pay Garner’s family $5.9 million to resolve the claim over his death, city officials said on Monday.

A separate settlement was reached with the hospital that employed emergency medical technicians who responded to the scene and did not aid Garner. Terms of that agreement have not been released.

Garner’s family had filed a claim in October seeking $75 million in damages.

Tuesday’s press conference is the first of a number of events leading up to the anniversary of Garner’s death on Friday.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio will speak at a service at the Mount Sinai United Christian Church in Staten Island on Tuesday to mark the anniversary. The list of attendees includes New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who beforehand is slated to visit the nearby NYPD 120th Precinct, home to the officers involved in the incident.

A rally is planned on Saturday outside a federal courthouse in Brooklyn calling for justice for Garner.

This report appeared on Reuters, with additional reporting by Sebastien Malo and editing by Lisa Von Ahn

The NYPD and city lawyers are engaging in a “stunning pattern” of evidence destruction in a high-stakes class-action case alleging cops have issued 850,000 bogus summonses due to a quota system, new documents charge.

Attorneys for the city have failed to turn over even one email from the files of former Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly or former Chief of Department Joseph Esposito regarding summons activity over the last eight years, attorney Elinor Sutton writes in new filings in Manhattan Federal Court seeking sanctions against the city.

“It is simply not tenable that Commissioner Kelly and Chief Esposito did not — in the entire period of 2007 through the present — write or receive emails using terms” related to the word “summons,” Sutton writes.

The city was unable to find any communications about summonses in the files of three other former members of NYPD brass, as well.

But that’s not the only example of missing evidence, Sutton says.

Police Lt. Stevelle Brown, who is alleged to have implemented a quota in Queens’ 105th Precinct, has destroyed text messages in which he denied a cop time off for failing to meet goals for traffic summonses, Sutton charges.

She also points to an exchange from an officer identified only as Sgt. Carty, who sternly admonished a cop for failing to issue enough seatbelt summonses.

Click to enlarge

Capt. Andrew Benjamin was lamented in emails about the lack of arrests among his top overtime earners. Some communications still exist showing cops discussing the a quota for summonses, but not many.

“We missed seat belt number by 30 last week unacceptable. if need be u guys will go with me 2 traffic stat 2 explain why u missed,” the text reads.

Lastly, Sutton has introduced emails from Capt. Andrew Benjamin, who laments the lack of arrests among his top overtime earners in the Bronx Task Force division.

“This has to stop it is ridiculous to have 50 + hours with only one arrest,” Benjamin wrote.

Sutton said lawyers obtained the three exchanges through whistleblowers or by other means. The city has been unable to obtain its own copies of the messages. That’s proof, Sutton writes, that the communications have been improperly destroyed.

“The spoliation of this evidence clearly demonstrates Defendants’ bad-faith, grossly negligent, or at least, negligent destruction of relevant documents,” Sutton writes.

“The (evidence) production confirms what plaintiffs feared but defendants have repeatedly denied: Defendants have destroyed evidence that is unquestionably relevant to this matter.”

To make matters worse, the NYPD has an on-the-books policy of shredding reams of documents potentially relevant to the case, Sutton’s 15-page letter charges.

“Defendants have shredded, and are continuing to shred, hard-copy documents” from CompStat meetings where crime statistics are analyzed by NYPD brass, court documents claim, citing testimony from a lieutenant who managed the CompStat unit of the Office of the Chief of Department.

Monthly activity reports in which supervisors provide written feedback on individual officers’ “enforcement activity” are also being destroyed, Sutton alleges.

As if that’s not enough, city lawyers didn’t advise the NYPD to preserve communications related to summonses until 2013 — three years after the suit was filed, Sutton says.

“Our justice system depends on the exchange of relevant evidence,” Sutton told the Daily News in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the city Law Department declined to comment.

NYPD Chief of Department Joseph Esposito

The city was unable to find any communications about summonses from four former NYPD leaders, including Chief of Department Joseph Esposito.

The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.

In a response filed last week, city attorney Qiana Smith-Williams said the alleged evidence destruction was “short on meritorious claims” and that the sides had not yet “exhausted the possibility of a settlement.”

A trial on the case before Judge Robert Sweet is expected sometime early next year.

If the plaintiffs prevail in the case, the NYPD could possibly have to overhaul the way it issues summonses.

The class includes anyone who has been issued a criminal court summons beginning in May 2007 that was tossed by a judge because it was legally insufficient — meaning the officer’s description of the alleged offense did not articulate probable cause.

An April study by John Jay College-College of Criminal Justice found that 18% of summonses between 2003 and 2013 were dismissed due to legal insufficiency.

The city is accused of destroying evidence that showed police issued bogus summonses to meet a quota. City lawyers have argued that many of the summonses were justified though they were tossed.

“By and large, the summonses in question were dismissed because there was not enough detail concerning the alleged offense,” Smith-Williams said.

The lead plaintiff is Sharif Stinson, who in 2010 was slapped with summonses for trespassing and disorderly conduct after leaving his aunt’s Bronx apartment. Both summonses were dismissed by a judge for legal insufficiency.

The case is being closely watched as a sequel of sorts to the stop-and-frisk cases that resulted in major reforms to the NYPD and the installation of a federal monitor to oversee the department.

The dispute in the case comes after City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s call for more low-level offenders to be issued summonses instead of arrested. She also seeks the decriminalization of a slew of quality-of-life offenses.

She argues the move will lead to fewer young people being sent to jail.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said in May that he’s open to a compromise that will divert “more quality-of-life offenders from the criminal process,” such as by issuing warnings or violations under the civil administrative code instead of the criminal code.

Written by Stephen Brown with Caitlin Nolan for NY Daily News

h/t Christopher Sadowski

NEW YORK — Rank-and-file cops are fuming over several “police reform” measures City Council members plan to review this week, including bills that would force cops to get suspects’ consent for searches, imprison police for using chokeholds, and require cops to give out the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s phone number.

“These pieces of legislation have been proposed by individuals who have neither the expertise nor the experience to establish policy in the dangerous business of fighting crime,” PBA President Patrick Lynch said in a statement Sunday.

“Policing policies must be left to the police management who understand the intricacies and difficulties of complex legal issues and the appropriate use of crime-fighting tactics.”
The nine council bills up for review at Monday’s Council Public Safety Committee meeting include:

Requiring that uniformed cops provide their full name, rank and precinct, as well as the CCRB number, during any traffic stop or property search.

A measure that would allow police to use “injurious physical force” only “as is proportionally necessary,” but that does not define how proportionality will be determined.
Making the NYPD report the precincts of the 200 cops with the most CCRB complaints filed against them.

Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens), who sponsored three of the nine bills, said he welcomes Lynch’s input, but declined to say whether he sought it when drafting the proposals.
The public hearing comes a week after Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito agreed to hire almost 1,300 new uniformed police officers by June 2016.

Written by Michael Gartland for the New York Post

NEW YORK — New York City is set to hire nearly 1,300 new police officers as part of its $78.5 billion budget agreement, honoring — and even exceeding — a proposal put forth by the City Council over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s initial objections.

The new officers, who were announced amid a headline-grabbing surge in crime in certain neighborhoods, will cost the city $170 million. The costs will be offset by $70 million in savings, largely by creating a cap on department overtime. About 300 of the new officers will be assigned to counterterrorism.

The hires were first reported by The Associated Press. They will join a force of about 35,000 uniformed officers, the nation’s largest.

“It is the right thing to do,” said de Blasio. “Through a lot of work, we came to a plan that allows us to strengthen our police force while encouraging deepening of reform and finding key reforms on the fiscal front.”

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio

The deal was made public and sealed with a handshake and hug between de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, both Democrats, at City Hall late Monday.

Additionally, the budget authorizes the hiring of 400 administrative aides to take over desk jobs currently filled by police officers. Those officers will then be freed up to be deployed on the street for increased community policing.

A year ago, de Blasio flatly denied Mark-Viverito’s call to hire 1,000 new officers, pointing to record low crime rates and suggesting that the resources would be better used elsewhere to fulfill the mayor’s vision of a liberal, activist government that would better the lives of the less fortunate.

For much of the past year, City Hall stuck to that script. But police Commissioner William Bratton began intermittently advocating for the new hires, Mark-Viverito continued to push the plan as a way to improve outreach in neighborhoods often suspicious of police and pockets of the city suffered a surge in shooting and homicides in recent weeks.

Though overall crime is down 6.7 percent from this time a year ago, shootings and murders are up. Murders have risen from 138 to 154, 11 percent, through Sunday, while shootings have gone up from 488 to 515.

A total of 1,297 new officers will be hired, the first major headcount increase in decades. Many political observers expected that a compromise would be reached and the city would hire fewer than the 1,000 officers requested by the council, in part due to eventual pension costs stemming from new hires.

But de Blasio said the surprise jump in hiring was not due to rising crime, rather to the overtime savings, though a hard cap on overtime was not yet set. The mayor particularly pegged it to Bratton’s ongoing efforts to revamp police department strategies; the commissioner is expected to announce several new initiatives later this week.

Some police critics were quick to upbraid the deal.

“It’s disappointing and perplexing that the city budget will increase the NYPD headcount when systemic problems with police accountability and culture that allow New Yorkers to be abused and killed have yet to be fixed,” said Monifa Bandele for the Communities United for Police Reform.

The entire Fiscal Year 2016 budget will go to a vote before the full council later this week. The vote is expected to largely be a formality.

The issue of policing has always been a delicate one for de Blasio, who dismissed criticisms that he caved to the council and public pressure.

He was elected on a campaign to improve relations between police and minorities, largely by curbing the overuse of stop and frisk, a tactic that allowed police to stop anyone deemed suspicious. Its critics, however, said it discriminated against black and Latino men.

With his push to reform the New York Police Department as a backdrop, de Blasio then faced an open revolt from the rank-and-file police union in the wake of the Eric Garner chokehold death. Though an uneasy truce took hold, the de Blasio team has been particularly wary of a rise in crime, knowing it could undermine the mayor’s agenda.

The budget deal was a clear win for Mark-Viverito, who has largely shaken off an early reputation that she would not challenge her ally de Blasio. Several of her other proposals were adopted, including the creation of a $1.4 million bail fund for those charged with low level offenses yet stuck in the city’s jails.

“It’s a budget that is going to make a difference for every neighborhood in our city,” said Mark_Viverito. “It’s a budget that defends the vulnerable who keep the economy on track and prioritizes public safety.”

The budget, up from $75 billion a year ago, also includes $39 million to keep city libraries open six days a week, nearly $12 million to bolster struggling schools and $17.9 million to begin phasing-in free breakfast at all city elementary schools, which would serve 339,000 students by Fiscal Year 2018.

Other new investments include $21 million for mental health programs, a pet project of First Lady Chirlane McCray, more money for programs benefiting powerless populations like the elderly, homeless and veterans and, in a sure winner, money to keep the city beaches open for a week past Labor Day.

Written by Jonathan Lemire, Associated Press

NEW YORK — The police officer now infamous for his role in the death of unarmed New York man Eric Garner has hired a 24-hour security detail to protect himself from the public.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo, 30, who last summer choked Eric Garner to death while arresting him for allegedly selling a single loose cigarette, is still employed by the NYPD, but has also hired his own bodyguards to watch over him all day long. The police department has even provided Pantaleo with its own redundant surveillance service while he is on the job, complete with panic button, according to the New York Daily News.

Less than one week ago, the New York Times reported that a witness in Pantaleo’s grand jury trial was reprimanded by prosecutors for describing Pantaleo’s actions — wrapping his arms around Garner’s neck while pressing his face against the ground and holding him there — as a “chokehold.” It was after this report that Pantaleo hired the security detail.

Pantaleo has come under legal scrutiny since he killed the unarmed man as well. A grand jury acquitted Pantaleo on criminal charges for killing Garner in December, which sparked waves of protests and demonstrations across the nation.

In order to quell some of the backlash, Pantaleo is trying to have his attorney step in to prevent his review by the Civilian Complaint Review Board from becoming public record. Another organization, The Legal Aid Society, is also suing to make Pantaleo’s disciplinary record public. Both NYPD internal affairs and a federal civil rights board are investigating Pantaleo’s role in the killing.