nytimes.com
A series of scandals and crimes — very few of them uncovered by the New York Police Department — should leave no doubt that New York needs a strong, independent agency to investigate serious complaints about the city’s police.
Over all, New York’s 35,000 police officers have done a good job in recent years of protecting the city from crime and terrorism. But several corruption cases and a federal lawsuit alleging racial bias in the department’s stop-and-frisk policies have raised disturbing doubts about the management of the department and its ability to root out its own problems.
The list of recent corruption cases includes: seven narcotics investigators convicted of planting drugs on people; three officers convicted of robbing a perfume warehouse; and eight current and former officers charged with smuggling guns and other items into the state.
The department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for investigating complaints about police conduct, failed to uncover any of these problems. They were brought to light by a local district attorney, the F.B.I. and, in one case, a New Jersey police department.
Meanwhile, more than 50,000 people were arrested last year for possession of marijuana, and critics charged that many of the arrests were the result of unfair police tactics. Only then did Commissioner Raymond Kelly issue a directive ordering police to change their practices.
Internal Affairs did uncover a ticket-fixing ring. The investigation resulted in the arrest of 16 officers, but it was almost compromised by the bureau’s leaks to those being investigated. Further doubts about the department were raised after the police union organized a demonstration to protest these indictments and officers were heard shouting slurs at welfare recipients at a nearby office.
Almost 20 years ago, a commission investigating corruption in the New York City police force recommended the creation of a “permanent independent oversight body” to oversee and investigate police and their Internal Affairs operations. Instead, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani created the Commission to Combat Police Corruption, which is supposed to oversee internal police investigations but has no power to demand documents or testimony.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly need to put more force behind the commission. It needs subpoena powers and the full authority to oversee the Internal Affairs Bureau as well as the broader department. Its work must also be as transparent as possible. Right now there is no way of judging whether the recent scandals and other complaints are the exception or a sign of far deeper problems in the department.
Police Department spokesman Paul Browne has argued against the need for new oversight. He said that the Internal Affairs Bureau has been expanded in recent years and that it has often helped with investigations started elsewhere. That is not good enough. New Yorkers need to have confidence that any problems with the police are fully and fairly investigated. A truly independent agency, with real powers, is the only way to ensure that.
The list of recent corruption cases includes: seven narcotics investigators convicted of planting drugs on people; three officers convicted of robbing a perfume warehouse; and eight current and former officers charged with smuggling guns and other items into the state.
The department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for investigating complaints about police conduct, failed to uncover any of these problems. They were brought to light by a local district attorney, the F.B.I. and, in one case, a New Jersey police department.
Meanwhile, more than 50,000 people were arrested last year for possession of marijuana, and critics charged that many of the arrests were the result of unfair police tactics. Only then did Commissioner Raymond Kelly issue a directive ordering police to change their practices.
Internal Affairs did uncover a ticket-fixing ring. The investigation resulted in the arrest of 16 officers, but it was almost compromised by the bureau’s leaks to those being investigated. Further doubts about the department were raised after the police union organized a demonstration to protest these indictments and officers were heard shouting slurs at welfare recipients at a nearby office.
Almost 20 years ago, a commission investigating corruption in the New York City police force recommended the creation of a “permanent independent oversight body” to oversee and investigate police and their Internal Affairs operations. Instead, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani created the Commission to Combat Police Corruption, which is supposed to oversee internal police investigations but has no power to demand documents or testimony.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly need to put more force behind the commission. It needs subpoena powers and the full authority to oversee the Internal Affairs Bureau as well as the broader department. Its work must also be as transparent as possible. Right now there is no way of judging whether the recent scandals and other complaints are the exception or a sign of far deeper problems in the department.
Police Department spokesman Paul Browne has argued against the need for new oversight. He said that the Internal Affairs Bureau has been expanded in recent years and that it has often helped with investigations started elsewhere. That is not good enough. New Yorkers need to have confidence that any problems with the police are fully and fairly investigated. A truly independent agency, with real powers, is the only way to ensure that.
