An Eyewitness News investigation talks to a police officer who reveals the pressure they are under to make quotas.
When Officer Adil Polanco dreamed of becoming a cop, it was out of a desire to help people not, he says, to harass them.
“I’m not going to keep arresting innocent people, I’m not going to keep searching people for no reason, I’m not going to keep writing people for no reason, I’m tired of this,” said Adil Polanco, an NYPD Officer.
Officer Polanco says One Police Plaza’s obsession with keeping crime stats down has gotten out of control. He claims Precinct Commanders relentlessly pressure cops on the street to make more arrests, and give out more summonses, all to show headquarters they have a tight grip on their neighborhoods.
“Our primary job is not to help anybody, our primary job is not to assist anybody, our primary job is to get those numbers and come back with them?” said Officer Polanco.
Eyewitness News asked, “Why do it?”
“They have to meet a quota. One arrest and twenty summonses,” said Officer Polanco.
An audio recording exclusively obtained by Eyewitness News seems to back up Officer Polanco’s assertion of a quota., The 41st Precinct Patrol Supervisor appears to step up the pressure to write more and more summonses:
“Next week, 25 &1, 35 & 1, and until you decide to quit this job to go to work at a Pizza Hut , this is what you’re going to be doing till then. Do you understand?” asked the patrol officer.
“He’s being clear, the only choice that we have is to do it,” said Officer Polanco.
Eyewitness News asked, “Are you telling me they’re stopping people for no reason, is that what you’re saying?”
“We are stopping kids walking upstairs to their house, stopping kids going to the store, young adults. In order to keep the quota,” answered Officer Polanco.
“At the end of the night you have to come back with something. You have to write somebody, you have to arrest somebody, even if the crime is not committed, the number’s there. So our choice is to come up with the number,” said Officer Polanco.
One Police Plaza declined our requests to interview the 41st precinct commander. But, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said, “Police Officers like others who receive compensation are provided productivity goals and they are expected to work.”
Officer Polanco says if they are just goals, why are officers who fail to make them, re-assigned to different shifts or relocated far from home.
It’s the consequences of not making the numbers or quotas, he says, that forces officers to give out bogus summonses.
“I cannot be more honest than I’ve been. There’s no reason for me to lie, there’s no reason for me to get into the trouble I am, cause I just could’ve kept quiet and made the money,” said Officer Polanco.
(FULL STORY: http://abclocal.go.com/)
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7 Responses
Well, the message hasn’t gotten out to the 71st precinct in Crown Heights because THEY let these thugs go, even when they’re caught red-handed, as long as they are Black. On the other hand, they arrest Shomrim guys for nothing. And everyone knows WHO gets traffic tickets. My friend was pulled over a few weeks ago for talking on her cell. She wasn’t & her cell records prove it. It didn’t matter to the cop & when she objected he threatened to arrest her…with her special-needs child in the car.
They all have traffic quotas, but I’m not sure about arrests.
When will the public say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”. NYC’s gov’t has declared war against its citizens. They have gone after individuals as well as large companies. They have hurt every family, and there is no one who can honestly claim they haven’t been affected in some way. We have become complacent and believe there is nothing we can do to change it. We have re-elected the same people that got us into this mess.
Its time to find independent people who will challenge the beaurocricy. We need people that aren’t intimidated by the mayor. We need people to document the harrasment and publicize it, so people will act up against the govt. We need people willing to go to court to fight the corruption. Of course we are all too busy struggling to survive, that we just bury our head in the sand and move forward.
In BoroPark/Kensington/Bensonhurst we have watched how politicians have bullied any independent politician leaving us to choose between two politically interconnected individuals. Nachmen Caller – the independent voice was pushed out of the race. I wish he were to come out publicly about how he was pushed around.
ny100k, one of the reasons why this is happening is because the people have resigned ourselves to one party rule. Even the Republicans throw up their hands and assume that the Jews will only vote for Democrats. Nachman Caller could still get back into the race if he changes party affiliation to Republican. And most importantly, a conservative Republican.
It was a matter of time before this came back to Simcha Felders old seat 🙂
He has a ‘migo’…”cause I just could’ve kept quiet and made the money”.
I guess we gotta believe him, I can’t believe I live in this town…
Flatbush Bubby: This is a non partison special election and the deadline for petitions has passed. I understand that there is a Republican cndidate in the race named Jonathan Judge.
I know about Jonathan Judge. I want to see if he has the endorsement of the conservative party because here in New York the Republican Party is sometimes worse than the Democrats. But, I didn’t know that the date for filings had passed.