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| NYPD stop-and-frisk memo revealed in civil rights court battle | |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| Attorneys challenging the New York City police department's controversial stop-and-frisk practices say an internal NYPD memo amounts to an admission that the program is deeply flawed. | Attorneys challenging the New York City police department's controversial stop-and-frisk practices say an internal NYPD memo amounts to an admission that the program is deeply flawed. |
| The memo, which the NYPD attempted to enter into evidence in a civil suit on Wednesday, was sent to commanding officers earlier this month and requires all police officers making a stop to give detailed reasons for their actions. | The memo, which the NYPD attempted to enter into evidence in a civil suit on Wednesday, was sent to commanding officers earlier this month and requires all police officers making a stop to give detailed reasons for their actions. |
| One of the plaintiffs in the case, the Center for Constitutional Rights, objected to the memo being recorded. Darius Charney, an attorney with the CCR, said city lawyers had only made the document available on Tuesday night. | One of the plaintiffs in the case, the Center for Constitutional Rights, objected to the memo being recorded. Darius Charney, an attorney with the CCR, said city lawyers had only made the document available on Tuesday night. |
| "The memo literally says what we've been asking for for 10 years," Charney told reporters outside the courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. "Now as we prepare to go to trial this memo magically appears." | "The memo literally says what we've been asking for for 10 years," Charney told reporters outside the courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. "Now as we prepare to go to trial this memo magically appears." |
| The bench trial, which began last week, is the result of a class-action lawsuit seeking to prove the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy violated the constitutional rights of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers on a widespread and systemic basis. | |
| Under mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, New York police officers have stopped about 4.4 million people over the last decade, nearly nine out of 10 of whom were released without an arrest or a summons and roughly 86% were African American or Latino. | Under mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, New York police officers have stopped about 4.4 million people over the last decade, nearly nine out of 10 of whom were released without an arrest or a summons and roughly 86% were African American or Latino. |
| Charney challenged three documents on Wednesday including a memo signed by NYPD chief of patrol, James P Hall and addressed to "Commanding Officer, all Patrol Boroughs". | Charney challenged three documents on Wednesday including a memo signed by NYPD chief of patrol, James P Hall and addressed to "Commanding Officer, all Patrol Boroughs". |
| Dated 5 March 2013, the memo sets out to standardize all paperwork relating to stops. It makes it mandatory for officers filling out UF250s – the forms that officers must complete after a stop – to include a narrative description. | Dated 5 March 2013, the memo sets out to standardize all paperwork relating to stops. It makes it mandatory for officers filling out UF250s – the forms that officers must complete after a stop – to include a narrative description. |
| According to Charney, CCR has been demanding the NYPD issue such a mandate for several years, and made it known in a brief laying out the plaintiffs' request for remedy on 4 March, a day before Hall released the memo. | According to Charney, CCR has been demanding the NYPD issue such a mandate for several years, and made it known in a brief laying out the plaintiffs' request for remedy on 4 March, a day before Hall released the memo. |
| Johnathan Moore, a co-counsel in the suit, described the memo as a "startling admission". He said outside court: "That's an admission that they've been doing it wrong all these years," Moore said. | Johnathan Moore, a co-counsel in the suit, described the memo as a "startling admission". He said outside court: "That's an admission that they've been doing it wrong all these years," Moore said. |
| Judge Shira Scheindlin declined the city's request to enter the memo into evidence Wednesday, but said she would consider doing so if a witness who was involved in its creation was called to the stand. Hall is expected to testify as a witness for the city in coming weeks, raising the likelihood that the memo will be addressed. | Judge Shira Scheindlin declined the city's request to enter the memo into evidence Wednesday, but said she would consider doing so if a witness who was involved in its creation was called to the stand. Hall is expected to testify as a witness for the city in coming weeks, raising the likelihood that the memo will be addressed. |
| Charney told reporters that in previous cases, post-litigation changes to a practices and policies being challenged in court are generally given little weight. He added that the NYPD has a practice of attempting to bat down legitimate challenges by disseminating memos and paperwork that often do not translate into reform. He suggested the memo is the department's attempt to prove it can handle its perceived problems internally. Part of the remedy CCR seeks in the suit is a court-appointed monitor for the police department. | Charney told reporters that in previous cases, post-litigation changes to a practices and policies being challenged in court are generally given little weight. He added that the NYPD has a practice of attempting to bat down legitimate challenges by disseminating memos and paperwork that often do not translate into reform. He suggested the memo is the department's attempt to prove it can handle its perceived problems internally. Part of the remedy CCR seeks in the suit is a court-appointed monitor for the police department. |
| "I think it means the police department really doesn't want federal oversight," Charney said. "This is not a police department that is interested in working with the community." | "I think it means the police department really doesn't want federal oversight," Charney said. "This is not a police department that is interested in working with the community." |
| "It's gamesmanship, pure and simple," he added. | "It's gamesmanship, pure and simple," he added. |
| On Wednesday Judge Scheindlin heard the testimony of NYPD officer Brian Dennis, who stopped one of the four plaintiffs in the suit, Devin Almonor, in March 2010. Almonor was 13 years old at the time. Last week Almonor testified that he was walking walking home in Harlem when he was stopped by two plainclothes officers in an unmarked car. He said the men leaned him over the vehicle, handcuffed him and put him in the back of their car. | On Wednesday Judge Scheindlin heard the testimony of NYPD officer Brian Dennis, who stopped one of the four plaintiffs in the suit, Devin Almonor, in March 2010. Almonor was 13 years old at the time. Last week Almonor testified that he was walking walking home in Harlem when he was stopped by two plainclothes officers in an unmarked car. He said the men leaned him over the vehicle, handcuffed him and put him in the back of their car. |
| "I'm a kid. I'm going home. Leave me alone," Dennis recalled Almonor saying. | "I'm a kid. I'm going home. Leave me alone," Dennis recalled Almonor saying. |
| The boy began to cry as he sat in the back of the car. Almonor told the court Dennis accused him of "crying like a little girl". | The boy began to cry as he sat in the back of the car. Almonor told the court Dennis accused him of "crying like a little girl". |
| Dennis admitted to Judge Scheindlin that he made the comment and in cross-examination said it was not appropriate. Almonor was ultimately released without a charge or a summons, though he was taken to the local precinct. | Dennis admitted to Judge Scheindlin that he made the comment and in cross-examination said it was not appropriate. Almonor was ultimately released without a charge or a summons, though he was taken to the local precinct. |
| The trial unfolding in Manhattan is expected to last over a month and include the testimony of up to 100 witnesses. In coming weeks, the city will present its side of the stop-and-frisk controversy. City attorneys will call to the witness stand three NYPD officers who, during three-month period in 2009, recorded the highest number of stop, question and frisk encounters in the city. | The trial unfolding in Manhattan is expected to last over a month and include the testimony of up to 100 witnesses. In coming weeks, the city will present its side of the stop-and-frisk controversy. City attorneys will call to the witness stand three NYPD officers who, during three-month period in 2009, recorded the highest number of stop, question and frisk encounters in the city. |
| On Wednesday, the New York Times published a story examining the officers' pretrial testimony. | On Wednesday, the New York Times published a story examining the officers' pretrial testimony. |
| Officers Michael Noboa, Kha Dang and Edgar Gonzalez all have belonged to an anti-crime unit in Brooklyn's 88th precinct and have averaged as many as 10 stops per week, significantly more than most NYPD officers. (For comparison, officer Pedro Serrano, a Bronx police officer who testified last week and accused the department of maintaining a rigid quota system, once recorded two stops in an entire year.) | Officers Michael Noboa, Kha Dang and Edgar Gonzalez all have belonged to an anti-crime unit in Brooklyn's 88th precinct and have averaged as many as 10 stops per week, significantly more than most NYPD officers. (For comparison, officer Pedro Serrano, a Bronx police officer who testified last week and accused the department of maintaining a rigid quota system, once recorded two stops in an entire year.) |
| Anti-crime officers wear plainclothes and perform more stops than uniformed officers. In 2011, the 88th precinct ranked 38th out the NYPD's 76 precincts in overall stops; 80.7% of those stops did not result in a summons or arrest. | Anti-crime officers wear plainclothes and perform more stops than uniformed officers. In 2011, the 88th precinct ranked 38th out the NYPD's 76 precincts in overall stops; 80.7% of those stops did not result in a summons or arrest. |
| In hundreds of pages of pretrial testimony, the officers described how observing behavior in communities led to their stops; individuals pretending to be beggars, eyeing or bushes where a weapon could be hidden, or peering into apartment windows. | In hundreds of pages of pretrial testimony, the officers described how observing behavior in communities led to their stops; individuals pretending to be beggars, eyeing or bushes where a weapon could be hidden, or peering into apartment windows. |
| The officers deny that their high numbers of stops were the result of racial profiling, addressing key allegation made by plaintiffs in the current trial. | The officers deny that their high numbers of stops were the result of racial profiling, addressing key allegation made by plaintiffs in the current trial. |
| "I know not to stop somebody for their race," Noboa said. "That's wrong. Morally wrong." | "I know not to stop somebody for their race," Noboa said. "That's wrong. Morally wrong." |
| When asked why so many of his stops did not result in an arrest, officer Dang told an attorney for the plaintiffs: "Hopefully the reason I'm not arresting them is because I'm preventing them from doing certain crimes." | When asked why so many of his stops did not result in an arrest, officer Dang told an attorney for the plaintiffs: "Hopefully the reason I'm not arresting them is because I'm preventing them from doing certain crimes." |