Results tagged “nypd”

A day after federal investigators announced that there is "insufficient evidence" to pursue a civil rights case against the officers who shot and killed Sean Bell, relatives of the 23-year-old said they are after the officers' badges. "Myself and my family are going to do everything possible to see that these police officers are fired," said Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre-Bell. "There is a history of black men being killed by police officers, and something needs to be done ... We're hoping to eventually meet with President Obama, and that he'll do something, because this is a national problem." more ›

After a study and testimonies suggested this month that NYPD stats are all but made up, a cop-friendly civic group says the force needs to win back the public's trust. The Citizens Crime Commission commended the NYPD for its "terrific work" but urged it to release internal audits that they hope will prove CompStat departments aren't staffed with fiction writers. "There is no doubt that crime is way, way down," said Richard Aborn, president of the group. "But why have this cloud hanging over the department?" more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Thieves stole a Greyhound bus from a West Side maintenance facility and have been spotted driving the vehicle around the city. After heisting the empty coach from a lot at the corner of 12th Avenue and West 30th Street on Feb. 14, the vehicle was reportedly spotted heading towards LaGuardia airport today, a police source said. more ›

Police stopped and questioned more New Yorkers last year than ever before, and 87 percent of those stopped were black or Latino. The NYPD used the controversial policing technique to question 575,304 people in 2009—an uptick of 8 percent from the short-lived 2008 record of 531,159, according to the Daily News. more ›

Rev. Al Sharpton said today that federal prosecutors will not pursue a civil rights case against the police officers who shot and killed Sean Bell in a barrage of 50 bullets outside a strip club on the day of his wedding. According to 1010WINS, after reviewing the shooting, federal attorneys decided against pressing charges. Though the police officers involved in the incident were acquitted of manslaughter charges in 2008, friends and family of Bell—who recently had a street renamed in his honor—urged authorities to take the cops to court for violating the 23-year-old's civil rights. But Sharpton said Bell's family has been informed that there will be no federal case. more ›

Because fighting crime is a dirty job, beat cops and school safety officers are now being equipped with cute little bottles of liquid-sanitizer that clip onto their belts. "A police precinct is like a petri dish, with all the cops coming from the street with every bacteria," said a cop in lower Manhattan. The carrying cases (which look suspiciously like Sigg bottles) are stamped with “NYPD” in blue and can be refilled at precincts. A memo says it’s the commanding officers’ job to "ensure an adequate supply of sanitizer is maintained to refill." According to the Post, it also warned cops not to hook the hand sanitizer onto their firearm trigger guards, radio antennas and expandable batons. It’s good news for preventing sickness (swine flu in particular), but bad news for back pain: even with the “optional” hand sanitizer bottle, the average police belt—which contains handcuffs, keys, radio, bullets, pistol, pepper spray, flashlight and baton—weighs 16 pounds. more ›

Better watch your gym socks! Across the city at least 41 thieves have been cleaning out health club lockers, where security cameras dare not film. Over the holidays there was a marked increase in gym locker break-ins, after which the NYPD released a poster bearing the faces of the suspected thieves. At least one of them has a gym membership (others buy day passes with stolen credit cards), and they’re expert lock-pickers, reports the NY Post. One woman who was caught demonstrated her ability to break open ten lockers in three minutes. Hardest hit have been NYC’s Equinox and NYSC franchises. In addition to cash and cards, "they go for high-end items like Rolexes, and they work all over town," a police source said. more ›

Yesterday morning cops cuffed a serial thief who’s suspected in seven bank robberies—two committed just minutes before his arrest. Most amazing was that a policeman recognized Robert Krieg—who was calmly sipping coffee when he was confronted—despite the blonde wig he wore during his stick-ups (most of the papers skirt the question of the wig, but it seems as though he wasn’t wearing it when he was nabbed at Penn Station). "He fit the description," said sharp-eyed Captain Edward Winski. more ›

City Council passed legislation creating a specific crime classification for gang initiations—but opponents say the new bill could put innocent kids behind bars and lead them toward gangs. Gotham Gazette reports that the bill establishes a misdemeanor offense for gang initiations that prosecutors can use as an additional charge against suspects. Prosecutors don't need to demonstrate that someone was hurt in an initiation to use the new law, meaning they won't need a victim's testimony to prove a crime occurred. Critics say that's a loophole that could allow police to arrest innocent people with little evidence. Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) disagrees: "You can't pull anyone off the corner with this law ... That's ridiculous." more ›

A Bronx detective has become the newest poster child for crime statistic fraud over allegations that he ignored and attempted to downplay a brutal armed robbery attempt that left a college student with a broken jaw. Tatjana Sevilla, 22, fought off a gun-toting crook who tried to force his way into her family's Castle Hill home, but the perp struck her in the face and fractured her jaw. Despite the severity of her injuries and the fact the culprit was armed, Detective Rene Narvaez allegedly classified the crime as a minor infraction—and refused to look at surveillance footage that could have helped the investigation. more ›

Investigators questioning a man thought to be involved in a deadly Upper East Side jewelry store robbery recovered a bulletproof vest and a safe containing stolen jewelry in the Washington Heights resident's apartment. Police have not charged the "person of interest," but according to the Post they've "spent nearly 24 hours quizzing him at the 19th Precinct station house about the $1.2 million heist" that resulted in the death of 71-year-old employee Henry Menahem. more ›

The Internal Affairs bureau has arrested a 29-year-old Brooklyn cop amidst accusations that he repeatedly had sex with a minor for the past five years, starting when she was 10 years old. According to initial reports, the girl is related to off-duty officer Jacques Mackenson, who was arrested just after midnight today. He was to be arraigned in state court in Brooklyn on rape, sex abuse and other charges. The sex crimes allegedly began in 2005 and continued until last spring, after the girl turned 15, investigators tell the Associated Press. (NY1 reports that the abuse started three years ago when she was 12.) Mackenson reportedly joined the NYPD in 2008, and was assigned to a housing project patrol. He's now suspended without pay. more ›

Investigators are questioning a "person of interest" in a Madison Avenue jewelry store robbery that left an elderly employee dead. Though they aren't calling the man a suspect in the fatal Jan. 28 hold-up, the Washington Heights resident was brought to the 19th Precinct after pieces of jewelry stolen from the R.S. Durant shop were discovered in his possession. more ›

A Brooklyn jury awarded a woman who was groped by a police officer when she was 17 a total of $915,000. The panel ruled that the city must pay $750,000, while former Officer Andrew Johnson—who purportedly barged into Ronessa Hollingsworth's residence, flashed a gun, and forced himself her—must pay $165,000. more ›

About a year ago, off-duty MTA worker Robert Taylor was handcuffed and locked in a holding cell after photographing an incoming train at the Freeman Street station in the Bronx. An officer allegedly told him photography isn't allowed, even though what he was doing was perfectly legal (MTA rules read, "Photography, filming or video recording in any facility or conveyance is permitted"). He refused to delete the photos he took, and was consequently charged with unauthorized photography, unreasonable voice/disorderly conduct and impeding traffic. more ›

These aerial photos of billowing smoke, collapsing buildings and scattering debris were released recently for the first time. They're from the archives of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, originally collected as part of the investigation of the 9/11 attacks. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, ABC received nine burned CDs containing 2,779 pictures; many had been taken from police helicopters and had never before been seen by the public. Twelve, including the ones shown here, are posted to its website. more ›

As tired as you probably are of hearing about Michael Mineo's buttocks, imagine how the jury feels. In court yesterday, they were treated to a graphic close-up photo of his behind, which the Times says "did little to clear up several mysteries." The image was presented during testimony from a colorectal expert called by lawyers representing three NYPD officers accused of participating in the sodomy of Michael Mineo in a Brooklyn subway station during his arrest in 2008. more ›

Believe it or not, Mayor Bloomberg is insisting that the NYPD's crime statistics are accurate—well, most of the time. "There's always going to be some fudging of the numbers, but it is tiny," the mayor said. "I have an enormous amount of confidence in the data." He also suggested that a study by two criminologists, which showed police precincts routinely fudge their data, may have been biased. According to Bloomberg, it was "paid for by one of the unions, so you've got to start wondering whether it was an independent study." more ›

Poor Bernard Kerik shouldn't have to spend much time in prison because of his "extraordinary public service," and his "extraordinary and meteoric rise from truly humble origins wrought with hardship," his defense lawyers argue. On the other hand, prosecutors submitted a long memo to the judge yesterday that highlighted Kerik's "egotism and hubris", and dredged up an extraordinarily petulant letter the former NYPD commissioner sent in 1999 to his buddy Larry Ray (himself a former NYPD commissioner) which makes Kerik look like a crass, money-grubbing whiner. more ›

Thieves rammed an ATM machine with a U-Haul van in an attempted robbery early this morning. It's unclear if they were able to grab any cash after they toppled an ATM near the corner of 112th Street and 3rd Avenue—though it appears they left the machine in pretty bad shape, based on this MyFoxNY photo. The thieves then drove off in the rented vehicle, but police were able to stop the van and apprehend one suspect in Soundview in the Bronx. According to police scanner reports, a second suspect, described as wearing all black, "fled on foot towards the Bruckner Expressway." more ›

At a press conference on Sunday the president of the NY State Federation of Taxi Drivers demanded to know what had become of missing cabbie Victor Ovalles, only to find out he was in jail for pulling a knife on another driver. "I should have checked with the police before asking for help," admitted Fernando Mateo. Ovalles had been behind bars for nearly a month, according to the Daily News, but hadn't told his family. What's more, since he lacked a taxi license and had a criminal record, he shouldn't have been driving a cab to begin with. His family says police were unhelpful in their quest to find their missing relative. "They didn't get us any answers," said the jailed driver's brother. "We were surprised when we heard he was arrested. But we're glad he's okay." more ›

Judging from comments on our site and a NY Times reaction piece, New Yorkers didn't seem much surprised by "shocking" new allegations that NYPD crime statistics are fudged, cooked and patched. And yet many still think the city is safe and getting safer; regardless of the stats, the Times finds quite a few people who trust the force to serve and protect. “The N.Y.P.D. lays their lives on the line for us every day,” said a senior minister at the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church in Harlem. “But they’re human. Mistakes are made. I know that people pad books. They pad books in the banking system. I’ve even known ministers to pad books in the church. It just needs to be investigated.” more ›

Days after a Brooklyn cop and a Queens politician accused the police of cooking its crime statistics, a survey of more than one hundred retired NYPD higher-ups showed that cops—who are under constant pressure to produce happy-looking stats—have routinely fabricated or manipulated their data, since the crime analysis system was put into place in 1995. And the statistics they produce are the very same that Bloomberg quotes when he says the city is safe, and getting safer every year. “Those people in the CompStat era felt enormous pressure to downgrade index crime, which determines the crime rate, and at the same time they felt less pressure to maintain the integrity of the crime statistics,” said John A. Eterno, one of the researchers and a former NYPD captain. more ›

Maybe you’ve seen this PSA around in the subway—well its turns out NYPD doesn’t know which one is real either. Early this morning Bushwick cops fired two round at a 61-year-old BB gunman, whose weapon they mistook for a real firearm. Should have turned it in for cash. more ›

A note left by Gigi Jordan—the socialite mom who allegedly killed her 8-year-old son in a murder-suicide attempt—suggests child pornography and sexual abuse played a role in the rich woman's desperate act. "I hope Jude is in a better place," wrote the Belgian multi-millionaire, going on to suggest that her autistic son was the victim of rape. more ›

The chef at a Staten Island steakhouse known for being a police hangout has been arrested for selling cocaine to an undercover detective. Thomas "TJ" Gleason, 34, a chef at Ruddy & Dean—which is located just one block from the 120 Precinct and the state Supreme Court building—was hit with felony drug dealing charges after purportedly selling $100 of coke at the bar. more ›

For years the NYPD has tried to send a clear message to the NYC student body that there is zero tolerance for defacing DOE property; in 2007 cops made an example of 13-year-old Chelsea Fraser by dragging her out in handcuffs after she wrote "okay" on a desk at her Dyker Heights school. It's NOT okay, Chelsea, but these punks just won't learn. On Monday 12-year-old Alexa Gonzalez was "doodling" her little heart out on her desk in Junior High School 190 in Forest Hills when she got busted, handcuffed, and escorted to the police precinct across the street, where she was detained for several hours. more ›

A court has ruled against a police officer who claims he was wrongfully fired from the NYPD after he unknowingly ate marijuana-laced meatballs. A state appeals court upheld the dismissal of Anthony Chiofalo, a 22-year veteran of the NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force, who says he only failed a random drug test because his wife had laced his meatballs with weed in an attempt to get him fired so he wouldn't be killed at work. more ›

A 24-year-old woman says she was handcuffed and thrown into a police holding cell when she tried to use a valid gift card at a NoHo Best Buy. Llona Klaver wanted to buy a DVD player with American Express gift cards she received from her father and brother, but she claims a cashier told her one wasn't valid because it didn't have raised numbers, while another was deemed unacceptable because it was connected to a different person's credit card. Then the cashier accused her of credit card fraud. more ›

Despite telling police he set fire to a toilet paper roll near the entrance of the building where five died Saturday, at his arraignment today Daniel Ignacio pleaded not guilty. His lawyer Danielle Eaddy told the AP she doesn't believe statements he made to police will prove an intention to start the fire and that there were problems with how cops obtained his statement. She even suggested that Ignacio acted heroically, adding that he helped save the life of a two-year-old boy by handing him from a window. "He confessed to the arson," a police source told the Post. "He didn't indicate any rational motive." At a prayer service Rev. Erick Salgado relayed an apology from Ignacio to his congretation: "Sorry. It was not intentional. He did not mean to kill nobody," Salgado said. more ›