#NYPD:
The office created to beef up oversight of New York’s Finest has open investigations into just seven of the 150 complaints it received last year — and farmed out many to the NYPD’s own investigators.
The numbers were released Tuesday in the Office of the Inspector General’s report on its activities for 2014.
The OIG said 85 of the complaints were referred to the Internal Affairs Bureau because they did not concern “systemic issues” in the department, which the office was created by the City Council to oversee.
Complaints were made about wrongful arrests and convictions, officers not taking complaint reports, policing issues in minority communities, improper use of force and other issues.
The OIG — which has a staff of 23 investigators, lawyers and civil-rights and community advocates — looked at 57 cases itself, but dismissed all but the seven, which it would not detail.
And despite the small number of open cases, the office plans to nearly double its staffing in the months ahead, to 43.
The OIG also touted its January report — the only other it has released since its creation — that trashed exPolice Commissioner Ray Kelly’s record on disciplining cops over chokeholds.
And Inspector General Philip K. Eure praised the $3.1 million office’s performance, despite the measly number of cases.
“In less than 12 months, OIG-NYPD has grown from an idea into an integral part of the larger discussion on police accountability in New York City,” he said.
But critics from both ends of the ideological spectrum questioned the performance.
“The high percentage of cases being referred to IAB, given its historic failure to adequately investigate and discipline officers . . . raises questions and concerns,” said Joo-Hyun Kang, director of Communities United for Police Reform, which pushed for creation of the OIG.
Ed Mullins, head of the NYPD sergeants union, called the OIG a waste of money.
“We’re spending millions of dollars for an agency to pick and choose seven cases, and they’re merely duplicating the work already being conducted by the NYPD,” he said. “What a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Additional reporting by Shawn Cohen
The office created to beef up oversight of New York’s Finest has open investigations into just seven of the 150 complaints it received last year — and farmed out many to the NYPD’s own investigators.
The numbers were released Tuesday in the Office of the Inspector General’s report on its activities for 2014.
The OIG said 85 of the complaints were referred to the Internal Affairs Bureau because they did not concern “systemic issues” in the department, which the office was created by the City Council to oversee.
Complaints were made about wrongful arrests and convictions, officers not taking complaint reports, policing issues in minority communities, improper use of force and other issues.
The OIG — which has a staff of 23 investigators, lawyers and civil-rights and community advocates — looked at 57 cases itself, but dismissed all but the seven, which it would not detail.
And despite the small number of open cases, the office plans to nearly double its staffing in the months ahead, to 43.
The OIG also touted its January report — the only other it has released since its creation — that trashed exPolice Commissioner Ray Kelly’s record on disciplining cops over chokeholds.
And Inspector General Philip K. Eure praised the $3.1 million office’s performance, despite the measly number of cases.
“In less than 12 months, OIG-NYPD has grown from an idea into an integral part of the larger discussion on police accountability in New York City,” he said.
But critics from both ends of the ideological spectrum questioned the performance.
“The high percentage of cases being referred to IAB, given its historic failure to adequately investigate and discipline officers . . . raises questions and concerns,” said Joo-Hyun Kang, director of Communities United for Police Reform, which pushed for creation of the OIG.
Ed Mullins, head of the NYPD sergeants union, called the OIG a waste of money.
“We’re spending millions of dollars for an agency to pick and choose seven cases, and they’re merely duplicating the work already being conducted by the NYPD,” he said. “What a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Additional reporting by Shawn Cohen