City Council Wants ‘NYPD to File Millions of Reports’ on Everything, Including Small Encounters
Nothing good ever comes out of more bureaucracy.
Yes, New York City Council, forcing the NYPD to engage in more paperwork will make them more responsible and solve more crimes.
Doesn’t the city have bigger fish to fry? I guess not because the City Council wants to micromanage everything the NYPD does:
The City Council is preparing to pass a sweeping package of bills that would force the NYPD to file millions of reports on even the most minor encounters with New Yorkers, The Post has learned.
The measures also would mandate cops speedily turn over officers’ body-worn camera recordings to state investigators, and that the department disclose more information about traffic stops and internal operations.
Members of the Council’s Democratic Majority Conference discussed the list of seven proposals impacting the NYPD on June 28, and the bills could be approved at the next public safety committee meeting, and then by the full body.
“New York City’s current policies on access to body worn camera footage have unfortunately fallen short of prioritizing public transparency,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said at a public hearing about the bills earlier this year.
Nothing good ever comes out of more bureaucracy. When you hear officers on shows like Law & Order, The Wire, Rizzoli & Isles, etc, complain about paperwork, I’m starting to think it’s not acting. Those they consult probably complained about all the bureaucracy that gets in the way of doing their job.
Bill Intro. 586-A would force the officers to report on everything, including “low-level ‘police-civilian investigative encounters.'” Not kidding:
One bill pushed by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams — Intro. 586-A — would require officers to file a report on all low-level “police-civilian investigative encounters.” These are instances where the person the police officer is engaging is not considered a suspect or being stopped, questioned and frisked.
Currently, the NYPD is only required to issue reports on “Level III” or “reasonable suspicion” stops where an officer has the legal authority to detain someone and prevent them from leaving.
The legislation would expand that to require reporting on all levels of police stops and encounters, organized by police precinct.
Cops would have to include racial or demographic information, factors leading to the investigative encounter and whether the encounter resulted in any enforcement action or use-of-force incident.
Michael Clarke, the NYPD director of legislative affairs, went off on the city council. He told The New York Post that in 2022, officers had 3.2 million “Level 1” encounters. He even said the number is an “undercount” since “some interactions involving one case would be lumped together.”
Then there’s 585-A, which “would require the department to turn over body-cam footage to the Inspector General for the NYPD within 10 days of receiving a request, unless disclosure is prohibited by law.”
Clarke wants to know why the City Council pushed this bill:
If footage is withheld the department must provide a written explanation to the Department of Investigation, citing specific laws, such as confidentiality, that would violate disclosure.
Clarke questioned the necessity of the bill, saying the NYPD has a close working relationship with DOI investigators and turns over footage on request, as long as it complies with the law.
“The intent of this bill is to presumably make videos available for public inspection. Allowing members of the public to inspect videos of individuals, possibly having one of the worst moments of their lives, is highly problematic and should be discouraged,” he said.
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Comments
I see two direct outcomes – first with more time required per interaction, the officer will simply not be able to do as much in any given shift. Second, with so much paperwork emerging from any given interaction, there will be an increased incentive to ignore issues where intervention is warranted, or should at least be investigated to see if intervention is warranted.
City counsel members: “We work in secret reading millions of reports. You’ll never find us, but victim, bystander or passerby, if your number’s up… we’ll find you.”
I really enjoyed that tv show.
Me too.
More revelation of what it eventually looks like when only Democrats try to govern themselves and then keep everybody happy..
The main point her is to create more reports that can be misconstrued and used as evidence to prove that either and officer or the whole department is racist when defending a criminal. End of story.
I would say it is also to give “cause” for termination.
In days not weeks after this rolls out the reports will become rote crap with zero content. Then if they want to fire a certain officer they will just focus on his reports which will be lacking. No different from the other officers reports but lacking.
With anything Democrats propose, selective enforcement is a given.
These bills are designed to intimidate the NYPD from doing its job-namely enforcing law and order and maintaining the quality of life
Dazzle them with paperwork so they won’t have time for the Democrats Street thugs
You mean “Shackle them with paperwork”, right?
With SO many criminals out there — there are not enough police to arrest, holding cells to hold, jailers to watch, judges to set bond, not enough courts, prosecutors, judges or defense attorneys to try their cases, then for the few convicted we don’t have the prisons or guards for to serve their sentences. This is the situation NOW so what is the point of burying the police under more mountains of paperwork?
This is merely to punish the police. What is the long-term outcome when there is simply no law nor order? When the city council hates their city’s police and shuts them down?
Re: The legislation would expand that to require reporting on all levels of police stops and encounters, organized by police precinct.
So, if I ask a NYC policeman h0w to get Times Square, the policeman has to write up a report?
“Arrested pedestrian on suspicion of public intoxication. Pedestrian was too disoriented to use phone to determine direction to well-known location.”
And if you ask him how to get to Carnegie Hall, he not only has to write up a report, but give you an inspirational pep talk.
You realize that this is happening in many places. The defund the police movement has morphed into this, along with punitive use of force laws that remove the reasonableness test replacing it with “ necessary”. All this is designed to get police to avoid any contacts. Nobody wants to write a bunch of unnecessary reports or risk getting thrown into prison. If force is later deemed to not have been “necessary”.
Sauron,
https://www.thedigitalfix.com/wp-content/sites/thedigitalfix/2022/10/why-is-sauron-eye-lord-of-rings-1-1.jpg
NWO Central, the Council on Foreign Relations, publishes Foreign Affairs. Take a look at the symbol which finds its way into each issue,
https://i1.feedspot.com/200/5050988.jpg?t=1658495345
The word “Ubique” is Latin for Everywhere or Omnipresence.
My take on this is that it would lead to fewer police officers on the street because more of the officers’ time would be taken up with just filling out paperwork. Also, I would expect that some officers would become so frustrated with this process that they would either seek employment elsewhere or take early retirement. In any event, this is going to make NYC less safe than it already is and may very well act to accelerate its decline.
I have no issue with turning over body cam footage within ten days. The fact is it’s paid for by taxpayers with the purpose of preserving the history of the encounter. Not turning over the body cam footage based on ‘someone having the worst moment of their life’ is, IMO, self serving excuse making to avoid transparency, oversight and potential liability.
The paperwork though? That’s overly burdensome. It will have the primary effect of reducing police encounters to avoid paperwork and the unavoidable encounters will bog down officers in pettifogging paperwork. Both leading to reduced LEO presence on the streets and reduced effectiveness overall. Plus handing clerks a way to jam up LEO if they forget to dot an I or cross a T. Seems punitive to me and will definitely Gives yet another reason for folks to avoid becoming or remaining LEO in NYC.
However….. Crime rate statistics will show a decline. And the Council will take full credit for making life in NYC safer and more fun.
The truth will be that crime will continue at the current rate, if they are lucky, With the police officers in the field saddled with writing worthless reports that serve no purpose, those officers will not be “out and about” being seen by those disposed to crime but deferring since the police are around, so no deterrent. And that is just from being seen; the officers will also not be observing behavior that supports a stop for questioning, so no intervention when otherwise warranted.
This will also mean that waiting time to make a report of a crime will increase and many victims will decide its not worth the wait and –viola’ — there is no report so that crime did not occur. “If its not on paper, it did not happen”… said many a unit supervisor/commander.
What about all the reports you have already been making them file for years? Most of them are never looked at other than to say it proves your point. Thus telling a story, not the story.
The police chief can just tell them to go screw thrmselves, and tell the police to carry on as before. The council can’t fire all of them.
True, but they can fire the police chief and keep hiring new ones until they find one malleable enough to go along. He then starts with the most senior (in terms of time served) and starts the firing there. They are usually the highest paid, so that chief will get credit for helping the budget. After a couple of score of old-times get the boot, those close to, but not quite qualified for retirement toe the line (for the sake of their pensions – other agencies are not eager to hire someone due to retire in five years) and the younger troops take the hint and either fall into line or move on. Brand new hires won’t know anything different.
I hope those reports are edited by sensitivity readers before they are released.
Coincidentally, I happened to peruse a webpage of “Maricopa County is Hiring” three days ago, and noticed that one of their openings was for a “Redaction Specialist.” I don’t want to know.
No, you don’t. Here’s a hint: LA County (and the rest of CA) is altering scanned title deeds electronically to seamlessly remove “problematic language” in the title deed history like racially restrictive covenants. Or any other inconvenient language, like clear title.
But they are pinkie swearing that they have the originals…. somewhere.
All public agencies have to redact names of victims/witnesses, their home addresses, telephone numbers, The reports have to be anonymized. Some agencies like the Department of Child Safety and Adult Protective Services provide information to the police but their agencies’ reports are confidential. This means that the police can use the information to direct their investigations but they can’t reveal the sources of that information. Redaction is legitimate more often than not when it comes to police.
It takes a particular brand of delusion, what I can “The Bureaucratic Soul,” to believe the evil that lurks in the hearts of men can be cured with sufficient paperwork, filed in triplicate.
“Brazil.”
“If footage is withheld the department must provide a written explanation to the Department of Investigation, citing specific laws, such as confidentiality, that would violate disclosure.
Clarke questioned the necessity of the bill, saying the NYPD has a close working relationship with DOI investigators and turns over footage on request, as long as it complies with the law.”
Then you shouldn’t have a problem with making it a law.
¨ When you hear officers on shows like Law & Order, The Wire, Rizzoli & Isles, etc, complain about paperwork, I’m starting to think it’s not acting.¨
Trust me, Mary, it is not acting. I was a beat cop in Honolulu and I never in any of my jobs did more paperwork than when I was a cop. My signature changed cause I had to write it so often. All the reports and chain of custody docs add up quickly.
And I served in the Navy as a cryptologic intel officer for 25 years and after Honolulu another 13 or so years as an intel guy in DC. We had plenty of paper to shuffle in those jobs, but nothing like the police.
Something similar in Maricopa County as a result of Eric Holder’s accusing then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio of racial profiling, which resulted in court oversight that continues to this day. It has now been several years, and that policy continues with a democratic sheriff now in charge. The result has been the retirement/resignation of many long-time officers who just became fed up with constant reporting and micro-management.
Who’s going to read all those millions of reports? Answer: no one. The point of the reports is to provide fodder if some police officer runs afoul of some City Council agenda-grievance-mongerer. Then those reports will be unearthed and the wrath from on high will be released.
That’s basically what all the commercial & industrial & construction monthly environmental reports to the EPA are for. Nobody reads them, not until a particular company comes to their specific attention.