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| He Excelled as a Detective, Until Prosecutors Stopped Believing Him | He Excelled as a Detective, Until Prosecutors Stopped Believing Him |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Detective Kevin Desormeau received a medal for valor, after a shootout in Queens. And he seemed to have a sixth sense for finding drugs and guns. In a decade on the force, he had made, by his own count, 350 arrests. | |
| He was regarded as courageous, cunning and tireless. His supervisors within the New York Police Department heaped on such praise that in their telling he sounded half comic-book hero. | |
| But prosecutors now say Detective Desormeau, 34, struggled with one aspect of police work: telling the truth. After relying on Detective Desormeau’s word in hundreds of cases, prosecutors no longer believe him credible. In two cases, prosecutors have accused Detective Desormeau and his partner of making up crucial details when arresting people, even testifying about criminal activity that may never have occurred. They have said they are reviewing some of his old cases, though how many is not clear. | But prosecutors now say Detective Desormeau, 34, struggled with one aspect of police work: telling the truth. After relying on Detective Desormeau’s word in hundreds of cases, prosecutors no longer believe him credible. In two cases, prosecutors have accused Detective Desormeau and his partner of making up crucial details when arresting people, even testifying about criminal activity that may never have occurred. They have said they are reviewing some of his old cases, though how many is not clear. |
| The two detectives were indicted earlier this year, adding to the body of evidence that police perjury and half-truths remain a persistent problem for the New York Police Department. And as more arrests and confrontations are being recorded, evidence of police falsehoods is more apparent. | The two detectives were indicted earlier this year, adding to the body of evidence that police perjury and half-truths remain a persistent problem for the New York Police Department. And as more arrests and confrontations are being recorded, evidence of police falsehoods is more apparent. |
| The issue of false or misleading statements by the police has, on a national level, been intertwined with the issue of excessive force and the debate over whether police are too quick to shoot the people, particularly black men. | |
| In New York, the practice of routinely making up facts to justify a dubious arrest was entrenched enough that it got its own nickname more than 20 years ago — “testilying.” | |
| There is a long string of gun arrests over the years in which judges have cast doubt on the officers’ accounts. And troubling instances keep emerging. In recent years, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, a city agency that investigates police misconduct, has documented an increase in cases in which police officers give false statements. | There is a long string of gun arrests over the years in which judges have cast doubt on the officers’ accounts. And troubling instances keep emerging. In recent years, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, a city agency that investigates police misconduct, has documented an increase in cases in which police officers give false statements. |
| “There is lying going on on a regular basis,” said Richard D. Emery, who until last year was the chairman of the review board. While he credits the department with effective reforms regarding use-of-force and unconstitutional search and seizures, he said, “the one major lapse in the fantastic work of the N.Y.P.D. is not addressing police lying.” | “There is lying going on on a regular basis,” said Richard D. Emery, who until last year was the chairman of the review board. While he credits the department with effective reforms regarding use-of-force and unconstitutional search and seizures, he said, “the one major lapse in the fantastic work of the N.Y.P.D. is not addressing police lying.” |
| Lawrence Byrne, the department’s top legal official, disclosed in a recent panel discussion at the City Bar Association that 73 officers had “been fired or forced out of the department in the last five years for either perjury or making a false statement,” and that about twice that many officers had faced lesser penalties for false statements “in the last few years.” | Lawrence Byrne, the department’s top legal official, disclosed in a recent panel discussion at the City Bar Association that 73 officers had “been fired or forced out of the department in the last five years for either perjury or making a false statement,” and that about twice that many officers had faced lesser penalties for false statements “in the last few years.” |
| In an interview, Mr. Byrne said of the department and its 36,000 officers, “I don’t believe we have a widespread perjury problem.” | In an interview, Mr. Byrne said of the department and its 36,000 officers, “I don’t believe we have a widespread perjury problem.” |
| Mr. Byrne said he believed that perjury was no more or less common among police officers than anyone else. | Mr. Byrne said he believed that perjury was no more or less common among police officers than anyone else. |
| “I don’t believe — although nobody has done an empirical study — that the incidence of perjury among police officers is any higher or lower than the incidence of perjury among other categories of witnesses, which includes civilian witnesses, complainants, expert witnesses.” | “I don’t believe — although nobody has done an empirical study — that the incidence of perjury among police officers is any higher or lower than the incidence of perjury among other categories of witnesses, which includes civilian witnesses, complainants, expert witnesses.” |
| In the case of Detective Desormeau, the charges brought against him by two separate district attorneys depict a police officer willing to tell whatever story fit the moment. In Manhattan, he is accused of providing a false account of what occurred in order to justify an illegal search that led to a gun; in Queens, he is accused of lying about having observed drug deals. | |
| He and his partner, Detective Sasha Neve, both 34, have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Manhattan and Queens; both remain on the force, though they have been moved off the streets into positions that keep them away from the public, the police said. | He and his partner, Detective Sasha Neve, both 34, have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Manhattan and Queens; both remain on the force, though they have been moved off the streets into positions that keep them away from the public, the police said. |
| In one episode in Brooklyn — which was investigated by the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, but is not the subject of any prosecution — Detective Desormeau’s motive appears to have been to get out of a bad situation that he and another officer had set in motion. Cellphone footage from that episode captures Detective Desormeau and another detective as they stood over a man sprawled on the street. They can be heard shaping a narrative of what occurred. | In one episode in Brooklyn — which was investigated by the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, but is not the subject of any prosecution — Detective Desormeau’s motive appears to have been to get out of a bad situation that he and another officer had set in motion. Cellphone footage from that episode captures Detective Desormeau and another detective as they stood over a man sprawled on the street. They can be heard shaping a narrative of what occurred. |
| “I got a strange dude who jumped on my vehicle,” one says. A few moments later, the detective suggests the man is mentally ill. “You take your meds today, sir?” he asks. | “I got a strange dude who jumped on my vehicle,” one says. A few moments later, the detective suggests the man is mentally ill. “You take your meds today, sir?” he asks. |
| A few moments later, the other detective validates the story. “He jumped on the car.” | A few moments later, the other detective validates the story. “He jumped on the car.” |
| One detective could be heard chuckling. | One detective could be heard chuckling. |
| Video from a nearby surveillance camera told a different story. The man had been walking home when the detectives emerged from their unmarked car, and started searching him, focusing on the area around the man’s waist and his thighs. They later would claim they saw him holding a “suspicious bulge” in his pocket — maybe a gun? Finding nothing, the officers got in their car and prepared to drive away. | Video from a nearby surveillance camera told a different story. The man had been walking home when the detectives emerged from their unmarked car, and started searching him, focusing on the area around the man’s waist and his thighs. They later would claim they saw him holding a “suspicious bulge” in his pocket — maybe a gun? Finding nothing, the officers got in their car and prepared to drive away. |
| The man stepped in front of the detectives’ car to photograph the license plate. The detectives tried to pull around him, but the man blocked them again. The detectives pulled forward, the car hitting the man, who crumpled onto the hood and then fell backward onto the street. | The man stepped in front of the detectives’ car to photograph the license plate. The detectives tried to pull around him, but the man blocked them again. The detectives pulled forward, the car hitting the man, who crumpled onto the hood and then fell backward onto the street. |
| “He jumped on the car,” the detectives insisted. There are further embellishments: the car was in reverse when the man jumped onto it. | “He jumped on the car,” the detectives insisted. There are further embellishments: the car was in reverse when the man jumped onto it. |
| Such falsehoods, even if they never travel beyond a city block, play their part in eroding the credibility of the police. On cellphone videos taken of the scene, relatives and neighbors of the man gathered around, listening to the detectives repeat their version — the police version — of what transpired. One bystander disdainfully asked, “You enjoy your job?” | Such falsehoods, even if they never travel beyond a city block, play their part in eroding the credibility of the police. On cellphone videos taken of the scene, relatives and neighbors of the man gathered around, listening to the detectives repeat their version — the police version — of what transpired. One bystander disdainfully asked, “You enjoy your job?” |
| That episode occurred in August 2015, on a block in East New York, one of Brooklyn’s toughest neighborhoods. Detective Desormeau had recently transferred there from Jamaica, Queens, five miles to the east. His sergeants there had regarded him as a gift to policing, according to his performance evaluations, which were described to The New York Times by someone who had reviewed them. He possessed “superior judgment.” He embodied “the most aggressive style of police work,” one wrote. Another called him a “primordial asset.” | That episode occurred in August 2015, on a block in East New York, one of Brooklyn’s toughest neighborhoods. Detective Desormeau had recently transferred there from Jamaica, Queens, five miles to the east. His sergeants there had regarded him as a gift to policing, according to his performance evaluations, which were described to The New York Times by someone who had reviewed them. He possessed “superior judgment.” He embodied “the most aggressive style of police work,” one wrote. Another called him a “primordial asset.” |
| But on the streets, some people knew him only by a nickname, “Training Day,” after the film about a corrupt cop played by Denzel Washington, said Robert Perreira, himself once arrested by Detective Desormeau’s unit. | But on the streets, some people knew him only by a nickname, “Training Day,” after the film about a corrupt cop played by Denzel Washington, said Robert Perreira, himself once arrested by Detective Desormeau’s unit. |
| Before being transferred to Brooklyn, Detective Desormeau was part of the Queens Gang Squad, a plainclothes unit assigned to get guns off the street. He often worked with Detective Neve. In interviews, several people who encountered the two detectives said that of the two, Detective Desormeau had the higher profile. He struck people as more outgoing and he was the one with the skill for cultivating informants. That in turn gave him control over the cases they pursued and also meant that he was the one whom those arrested tended to remember most vividly. His pitch was blunt: He would pay them thousands of dollars to give up the names of people who had guns, according to one woman he tried to enlist. | Before being transferred to Brooklyn, Detective Desormeau was part of the Queens Gang Squad, a plainclothes unit assigned to get guns off the street. He often worked with Detective Neve. In interviews, several people who encountered the two detectives said that of the two, Detective Desormeau had the higher profile. He struck people as more outgoing and he was the one with the skill for cultivating informants. That in turn gave him control over the cases they pursued and also meant that he was the one whom those arrested tended to remember most vividly. His pitch was blunt: He would pay them thousands of dollars to give up the names of people who had guns, according to one woman he tried to enlist. |
| Detectives are sometimes reluctant to disclose an informant’s existence to a prosecutor or judge, concerned the informant’s identity could be compromised. That instinct may be what landed Detective Desormeau in trouble with prosecutors. | Detectives are sometimes reluctant to disclose an informant’s existence to a prosecutor or judge, concerned the informant’s identity could be compromised. That instinct may be what landed Detective Desormeau in trouble with prosecutors. |
| Through an informant, Detective Desormeau heard of a gun kept at an apartment in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan, far from where he usually worked, according to the version of events that prosecutors have pieced together. Instead of bringing the informant to a judge to request a search warrant, Detectives Desormeau and Neve are accused of barging into the apartment on Nov. 6, 2014. They found the gun. | Through an informant, Detective Desormeau heard of a gun kept at an apartment in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan, far from where he usually worked, according to the version of events that prosecutors have pieced together. Instead of bringing the informant to a judge to request a search warrant, Detectives Desormeau and Neve are accused of barging into the apartment on Nov. 6, 2014. They found the gun. |
| The detectives provided an account of the search whose details the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., described as fabricated “seemingly out of thin air.” The detectives claimed they were flagged down by a man who said his neighbor had just threatened him with a gun. When the detectives knocked on the neighbor’s door, the neighbor emerged with the gun visible in his waistband. | The detectives provided an account of the search whose details the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., described as fabricated “seemingly out of thin air.” The detectives claimed they were flagged down by a man who said his neighbor had just threatened him with a gun. When the detectives knocked on the neighbor’s door, the neighbor emerged with the gun visible in his waistband. |
| That story came under scrutiny as prosecutors learned more about the supposed witness, who the detectives said had flagged them down. Detectives Desormeau and Neve described him as a stranger who had approached them out of the blue. But prosecutors in Manhattan learned that their counterparts in Queens were under the impression that same man was an informant for Detective Desormeau who helped with gun cases, according to an internal memorandum filed by an assistant district attorney in Manhattan that was read to The New York Times. | That story came under scrutiny as prosecutors learned more about the supposed witness, who the detectives said had flagged them down. Detectives Desormeau and Neve described him as a stranger who had approached them out of the blue. But prosecutors in Manhattan learned that their counterparts in Queens were under the impression that same man was an informant for Detective Desormeau who helped with gun cases, according to an internal memorandum filed by an assistant district attorney in Manhattan that was read to The New York Times. |
| Later the Manhattan district attorney’s office discovered surveillance video and text messages that further undermined the detectives’ account, according to the memorandum . | Later the Manhattan district attorney’s office discovered surveillance video and text messages that further undermined the detectives’ account, according to the memorandum . |
| The episode led prosecutors to charge Detective Desormeau and his partner. | The episode led prosecutors to charge Detective Desormeau and his partner. |
| By then, the Queens district attorney’s office had begun to re-examine the two detectives’ account in a drug case, a review that led to the second perjury indictment against the officers. In that episode, Detective Desormeau claimed to have watched a man deal drugs near a restaurant in Jamaica, Queens. Detective Desormeau testified that he stopped the man outside the restaurant, searched him and found a bag of crack cocaine tucked behind his waistband. | By then, the Queens district attorney’s office had begun to re-examine the two detectives’ account in a drug case, a review that led to the second perjury indictment against the officers. In that episode, Detective Desormeau claimed to have watched a man deal drugs near a restaurant in Jamaica, Queens. Detective Desormeau testified that he stopped the man outside the restaurant, searched him and found a bag of crack cocaine tucked behind his waistband. |
| But surveillance footage captured the initial search. There is little indication that drugs were discovered. And footage shows the man inside the restaurant playing pool, not outside, as the drug deals were said to have been occurring. | But surveillance footage captured the initial search. There is little indication that drugs were discovered. And footage shows the man inside the restaurant playing pool, not outside, as the drug deals were said to have been occurring. |
| In interviews with The Times, three other people who have been arrested by Detectives Desormeau or Neve — or in their presence — claimed evidence was planted on them or that their property was stolen. But they have little proof, beyond their insistence. | In interviews with The Times, three other people who have been arrested by Detectives Desormeau or Neve — or in their presence — claimed evidence was planted on them or that their property was stolen. But they have little proof, beyond their insistence. |
| “Those cops planted drugs,” one of the three, Anthony Lopez, a Queens basketball coach, said. He told prosecutors at the Queens district attorney’s office the same thing, but his claims of innocence grated on them, he recalled. | “Those cops planted drugs,” one of the three, Anthony Lopez, a Queens basketball coach, said. He told prosecutors at the Queens district attorney’s office the same thing, but his claims of innocence grated on them, he recalled. |
| Eventually, however, their tone toward Mr. Lopez softened slightly. A basketball coach for the city schools, Mr. Lopez had no criminal record, he said, beyond a teenage marijuana arrest when Detectives Desormeau and Neve searched his apartment in 2014. They also claimed to have found cocaine and heroin in Mr. Lopez’s refrigerator, a charge that Mr. Lopez vehemently denied. They found a disassembled pistol and shotgun, which Mr. Lopez said he had reluctantly accepted from a relative who had discovered them after her child had been incarcerated. He said he had planned to start a “gun buyback program,” and had discussed it with a police officer he knew. | Eventually, however, their tone toward Mr. Lopez softened slightly. A basketball coach for the city schools, Mr. Lopez had no criminal record, he said, beyond a teenage marijuana arrest when Detectives Desormeau and Neve searched his apartment in 2014. They also claimed to have found cocaine and heroin in Mr. Lopez’s refrigerator, a charge that Mr. Lopez vehemently denied. They found a disassembled pistol and shotgun, which Mr. Lopez said he had reluctantly accepted from a relative who had discovered them after her child had been incarcerated. He said he had planned to start a “gun buyback program,” and had discussed it with a police officer he knew. |
| In the end, the Queens district attorney dropped the drug charges, offering Mr. Lopez a deal that involved pleading to misdemeanor gun charges, with no jail time. He took it. | In the end, the Queens district attorney dropped the drug charges, offering Mr. Lopez a deal that involved pleading to misdemeanor gun charges, with no jail time. He took it. |
| He recalled a prosecutor telling him he was lucky to get the deal. | He recalled a prosecutor telling him he was lucky to get the deal. |
| “I got lucky?” asked Mr. Lopez, who is suing the city. “What about the truth?” | “I got lucky?” asked Mr. Lopez, who is suing the city. “What about the truth?” |
| Asked whether the Queens district attorney’s office was re-examining cases involving Detective Desormeau, Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for the office, said, “We are reviewing a number of cases where we believe such review is appropriate.” | Asked whether the Queens district attorney’s office was re-examining cases involving Detective Desormeau, Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for the office, said, “We are reviewing a number of cases where we believe such review is appropriate.” |
| Detective Desormeau and his lawyer declined to comment. | Detective Desormeau and his lawyer declined to comment. |
| Detective Neve’s lawyer, James Moschella, said, “These are very defensible cases and Detective Neve looks forward to the entire story coming out, at the end of which we are confident she’ll be found not guilty.” | Detective Neve’s lawyer, James Moschella, said, “These are very defensible cases and Detective Neve looks forward to the entire story coming out, at the end of which we are confident she’ll be found not guilty.” |