Investigators are grilling two dozen officers at a Brooklyn stationhouse to discover whether cops ignored or downgraded crimes to improve the precinct’s statistics, sources said.
The stepped-up pressure came after the Daily News reported that one of the 81st Precinct’s own cops had complained about the practices.
After Officer Adrian Schoolcraft blew the whistle last year, the NYPD’s Quality Assurance Division – which is charged with protecting the integrity of crime stats – began reviewing 1,400 crime reports at the precinct.
Now, investigators are calling in officers of different ranks for formal hearings – and they can be fired if they lie.
Sources said about two dozen officers are being questioned with more to follow, including the precinct’s commander, Deputy Inspector Steven Mauriello.
“I’m confident the truth will come out,” Mauriello told a crowd gathered at a community meeting in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Wednesday.
“I know my character,” Mauriello later told The News. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
He has called the allegations “atrocious.”
Neither the NYPD, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association or the union representing Mauriello would comment.
Andrew Quinn, a lawyer for the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said three of his union’s members have been questioned and told they are not facing departmental charges.
The News revealed Schoolcraft’s allegations on Feb. 2 – along with stories from five crime victims who said that cops in the precinct either refused to take their complaints or downgraded clear felonies, such as a mugging, to a misdemeanor.
Schoolcraft was suspended in October after being accused of leaving work early and then tussling with cops who came to his Queens house to press him for answers on why he went AWOL.
He then spent six days in the psychiatric ward of Jamaica Hospital.
Schoolcraft, who is still suspended, has hired a lawyer and plans to file a lawsuit against the NYPD.
He has already filed a notice of claim – a signal to the city he intends to sue – contending the NYPD violated his civil rights by forcing him into the psych ward.
Schoolcraft says the NYPD has sought to destroy his reputation and character because he contacted investigators with his concerns.
(Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/)
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One Response
I believe Schoolcraft. I would like to see Andrew Cuomo get involved with the investigation but he may be reluctant to do so for fear of losing political support of the PBA. Oh, well….