NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Disciplinary issues within the New York City Police Department are reaching a critical point in the third year of Mayor Eric Adam’s tough-on-crime administration.
Data from the city’s independent police watchdog agency revealed that complaints have hit their highest since 2012, while stop-and-frisk encounters and instances of impunity among rank-and-file officers are rising.
Additionally, The Guardian reports there’s been a problem with instances of NYPD officers wearing morale patches on bulletproof vests continuing possible white supremacist imagery.
New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) received complaints against several officers for wearing skull patches, which resembled the logo of the comic book superhero the Punisher, while on duty.
The Guardian highlighted a passage from a 2020 CCRB case-closing report that noted that the Punisher symbol has been adopted by several groups including “the US military, white supremacists and law enforcement.”
Between 2017 and 2021, the logo was seen on clothing and weapons at white supremacy rallies, according to the report, which sustained misconduct allegations against three officers for wearing such patches.
Due to budget cuts, CCRB has stopped “investigating whole categories of complaints if they are isolated incidents, including failure of officers to provide their name and shield number, threats by a member of service, discourtesy, refusal to process a civilian complaint, property seizures, forced hospitalizations or untruthfulness.”
However, as of June 1, 2,355 complaints were made against NYPD personnel, according to CCRB data. It’s the highest number since 2012 when 2,374 complaints were lodged against officers.
A letter from a court monitor overseeing a 2013 settlement agreement stated that NYPD officers were inaccurately documenting stop-and-frisk encounters and faced no accountability.
The letter criticized the Adams administration’s rebranding of aggressive anti-crime units as “neighborhood safety teams” and “precinct safety teams,” which had previously led to a rise in stop-and-frisk incidents under the Bloomberg administration, disproportionately affecting Black and Latino New Yorkers.