Graham Rayman
blogs.villagevoice.com
A Brooklyn jury yesterday ruled that ticketing and arrest quotas, long denied by the NYPD, do exist, and left a woman in cuffs after trying to stop her son's arrest.
In a lawsuit filed by Bedford-Stuyvesant resident Carolyn Bryant, the jury found that the NYPD had a "custom and policy" on arrest numbers which violated her constitutional rights, the New York Post and Daily News reported this morning.
The jury's finding dovetails with the findings of the Village Voice series, "The NYPD Tapes," which showed how the pressure for arrests and summonses led to quotas which in turn led to alleged violations of civil rights in Bed-Stuy's 81st Precinct. The series relied on secret tapes made by Police Officer Adrian Schoolcraft, who was assigned to the 81st Precinct at the time.
Key testimony in the case came from Capt. Alex Perez, who told jurors that indeed arrest quotas were key in judging cops' productivity.
Bryant claimed she suffered injuries to her knee and neck in the 2006 incident involving the arrest of her son. The jury also ruled that Bryant's arrest was within the rules, but the decision led to a settlement which will pay Bryant $75,000.
The case could set a kind of precedent that will lead to other lawsuits on similar grounds. A separate class action lawsuit is following the same theory, as the Voice has previously reported.
Despite the jury verdict, a city lawyer told reporters, the NYPD "does not use quotas."
