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What happened: A monitor appointed by a federal court found New York City police forces unfairly stopping and searching for New Yorkers. The NYPD report on the Community Response Team repeats a recent Propopublica investigation that found units defended by Mayor Eric Adams riding on abuse.
The federal monitor, which was first created early in the Adams administration, focuses on so-called quality of life issues such as illegal motorcycles, but its officers recently discovered that they would “stop, flip, search for unconstitutional.”
What they said: In a sample of body-covered camera footage, the monitors found that 41% of stops, searches and frisks by CRT officers were illegal, a much higher percentage than other NYPD units. Additionally, officers need to document such suspensions, while departments publish them as public data, while reports find that executives often did not.
As previously reported by Propublica, its behavior dates back at least to 2023. This is when an officer discovered during a NYPD audit that he accidentally stopped the New Yorker and failed to record the incident. Shortly after the audit, the mayor took him to Instagram. “I got along with the team,” he wrote, showing a photo of him wearing CRT’s signature khaki pants.
Federal Monitors had other impressive findings. For example, they discovered that “97% of individuals stopped, died, and were searched were black or Hispanic men.”
We also found that, as Propublica previously reported, NYPD was not easy about CRT using the monitor itself. Department officials initially told Monitor that CRT was an already finished “pilot program,” but only knew that the monitor would later stay here and actually expand.
Background: A survey in March detailed a wide range of troubling behaviours by CRT officers wary of NYPD leaders. In the fall of 2022, department lawyers and others warned that teams posted on social media would highlight CRT videos showing problematic behavior. Other incidents included the driver, another commander who pushed a pedestrian into the car window, and the CRT commander who punched a third party who ultimately killed him.
For the past two years, New Yorkers have filed at least 200 complaints alleging inappropriate use by CRT members, according to records from the Private Complaint Review Board. Another NYPD team with similar sizes and mandates received about half of the complaints.
Adams’ connection to CRT was very close, a former official said the mayor was given personal access to the live feed of the unit’s body decoration camera. This year, he chose to turn Kazu Daughtry, one of the team’s leaders, into the vice mayor of Public Security.
Why it matters: The NYPD federal monitor was created decades ago after the court determined that the department was engaged in a widespread unconstitutional suspension and frisk. With an ingenious ruling, court oversight – the establishment of the Monitor office – has imposed oversight of the nation’s largest police station. The monitor files periodically progress reports.
Monitor’s latest report has been submitted to judge Judge Analisa Torres. He has the power to oversee cases and impose corrections. But whatever Torres does, the Monitor’s findings reveal that the issues identified by the court several years ago are still ongoing.
Former NYPD chief Matthew Pontillo, who wrote the CRT’s 2023 audit, said the team’s actions could actually be worse than what is described in the monitor’s reports, noting that recent investigations rely on physical camera footage to examine executives’ actions. In his own review, Pontillo discovered that CRT officials often turn on cameras and have not acquired the incident completely.
Lawmakers and civil rights advocates are calling for CRT to be dissolved.
Answer: The mayor’s office refused to answer Propublica’s questions and instead suggested contacting the NYPD. The department has not answered our questions.
Adams has previously defended CRT. Asked about the units this spring at a mayoral press conference, Adams said, “CRT is here. I support all the units, and those who are not responsible unless they stand up and do the work they are supposed to do.”
The NYPD also defended CRT’s work and promoted the confiscation of illegal motorcycle and ATV units.
How Eric Adams Backed the Secret NYPD Unit Riding Abusive
He detailed the embrace of the NYPD unit that was abused by Mayor Adams. Now lawmakers and supporters are demanding change.
