100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who CareState of Blacks in the NYPD 2004Annual Report on the Commissioner"The Police Department, from the lowest rank right up to the highest rank, is a good example of what can be done. "Mayor Bloomberg's quote in response to diversity in city governmental agencies. NY Newsday 2/17/04 91% of NYPD uniformed personnel in the rank of captain or above are caucation. OVERVIEW
“100 Blacks in Law
Enforcement Who Care” conducts an annual review of the New York City Police
Commissioner. The analysis is an
examination of how the policies of the present administration addresses issues
that impact on the African-American police officer as well as the communities of
color within New York City. 100
Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care’s annual “State of Blacks in The NYPD”
report is broken down into six areas as follows:
Each area is issued a letter grade from “A” to “F” (A being the best and “F” the worst) based on the organization’s analysis of the Police Commissioner’s successes or failures. At the beginning of each section the letter grade is stated followed by a list of bullet points highlighting the grade. The section is then concluded with a brief synopsis explaining each bullet point and the resulting grade. PROMOTIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS - Grade (F)Two years after Raymond
Kelly was appointed Police Commissioner there continues to be a void of
diversity in the command staff (Captain and above) of the NYPD. Blacks
have been all but removed from the policy making decisions in the following
areas: No Black Executives assigned to the
following areas of the NYPD LOCATION
# OF POTENTIAL ASSIGNMENTS Detective Bureau
21 positions Detective Borough
Manhattan
10 positions Detective Borough
Queens
06 positions Detective Borough
Brooklyn
05 positions Detective Borough
Bronx
06 positions Counter Terrorism Bureau
06 positions Intelligence Division
09 positions Special Operations
Division
10 positions Traffic Control
Division
20 positions 1st DC office or
subunits*
12 positions DC of Legal Matters or
subunits
09 positions DC of Operations Office or
subunits
03 positions DC of Management and Budget
or subunits
17 positions DC of Technology and
Development
13 positions DC of Strategic Analysis and
Planning (OMAT)
13 positions Total
Positions
174 No Black Commanders assigned to the
following Bureaus or commands LOCATION
# OF POTENTIAL ASSIGNMENTS Patrol Borough
Commanders
07 positions Transit Bureau*
04 positions Transit Borough Manhattan
14 positions Transit Borough Bronx 08 positions Transit Borough Queens
07 positions Transit Borough
Brooklyn
13 positions Housing Borough Manhattan
09 positions Housing Borough Bronx/
Queens
09 positions Housing Borough
Brooklyn
07 positions PBQN
23 positions PBQS**
25 positions PBBS***
38 positions PBSI
12 positions PBMS*****
32 positions PBBX
34 positions Transportation Bureau - Support Services Bureau
13 positions Criminal Justice Bureau
09 positions MISD
__________ Total
Assignments 264 Notes: *Transit Bureau has one
Black Deputy Inspector **During our review one
Black CO was assigned to PBQS precinct ***During our review Deputy
Chief James Secreto was assigned to PBBS (A Black captain was assigned here
during the Louima incident but was never promoted to CO, although other white
captains were promoted over him.) *****PBMS has never in the history of the NYPD had a Black CO assigned to any of its precincts. Lack of African-Americans assigned to
Precinct Squad Commander positions LOCATIONS
# OF POTENTIAL ASSIGNMENTS Detective Borough Manhattan
22 positions - 1 Black
assigned
Detective Borough Brooklyn
23 positions - 1 Black
assigned Detective Borough Queens
16 positions - 0 Blacks
assigned Detectives Staten Island
3 positions - 0
Blacks Detective Borough Bronx
12 positions - 0 Blacks assigned Total
Assignments
73 positions - 2 Blacks assigned **There
is no Detective Borough in Staten Island. (Patrol
Borough Staten Island supervises its own Detective Operations, which oversees
detective squads in each of that borough's three police precincts). Lack of Black Executive representation
in special training and assignments -No Black Unit Head in
charge of any Borough or Bureau Investigation Unit -No Black Executive assigned
to an active role in the Republican National Convention -Lack of Black
representation for the upcoming Olympic planning -Lack of Black Executive
assigned to Police Management Institute training* -Lack of Black applicants
assigned to external specialized training such as: -FBI
Academy -Educational Scholarships NYPD SPECIALIZED UNITS WHERE THERE IS
A LACK OF AFRICAN AMERICANS ASSIGNED
Number of Number of
Number of UNIT
Positions
Blacks assigned
Whites assigned CHIEF
DEPT S.A. SECT.
009 000
007 DD
BS HOM. T/F
018
000
017 DISORDER
CONTROL
012 000
011 GANG
SQ. S.I.
017 000
015 PBQS ANTI CRIME* PBSI
ANTI CRIME
015
000
014 S.I.
DA SQUAD
015
000
014 NARC
BORO S.I.
025 000
021 PBBS
ANTI CRIME*
017
001 015
PBQN
ANTI CRIME*
014 001
011 BOMB
SQUAD
036
001
035 DD
QNS. HOM. T/F
031
001
026 GANG SQ. BS AVIATION
UNIT
061
002
053 PBMS
ANTI CRIME*
029 002
020 CANINE
TEAM
045
003
034
GANG
SQ. BN
035 003
029 GANG
SQ. QNS
035 003
024 HWY DISTRICT GANG
DIVISION
040
004
032 INTELL
PUB. SECURITY
058 004
046 AUTO
CRIME
111
005 095
HARBOR
UNIT
173 006
154 JOINT
TERRORIST T/F
136
006
113 FIREARMS
TACTICS
149
007
119 CITYWIDE
ESU
482 046
388 HWY
UNIT 1- 5 (TOTAL)
324 048
258 *Formerly the Street Crime
Unit. The Street Crime unit had a
history of excluding minority officers. In addition to the above
data, the poor grade issued in this area also took into account the following
information: -Lack of representation for
African-Americans in the skilled civilian workforce -Placement of low level
white supervisors over ranking members of the Traffic Enforcement Division -Refusal to fill DCCA
position that historically was held by a minority PROMOTIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS BRIEFING Commissioner Kelly has
failed to use his office to ensure that diversity is of paramount importance to
the missions and goals of the NYC Police Department. Although he has made
a few ceremonial promotions, he has not used his discretionary powers to appoint
qualified African-Americans to policy making positions. Although civil
service controls the manner in which a member of service is promoted in the rank
structure, it does not control how the Commissioner uses his discretionary
powers to appoint Unit heads and Deputy Commissioners. Ranking Black
members have also been kept out of the planning, implementation and operations
of prestigious projects such as the Republican National Convention and proposed
upcoming Olympics. On paper Blacks have been indicated as being part of
these committees, but in practice they are left out of the planning and
implementation stages. These assignments offer a vast amount of
opportunity to network and expand one’s technological abilities. Commissioner Kelly made
these comments knowing that terminating the promotional list after two years
will result in disqualifying Black candidates who have "studied."
An examination of the current captain list of 275 potential captains shows the
following in regards to minority candidates: LOCATION OF MINORITIES ON CURRENT
CAPTAIN LIST RACE
LIST# 1 – 137
LIST #138-275 Male Black
1
3 Female Black
0
3 Male Hispanic
6
9 Female Hispanic
2
3 Male Asian
1
2 Female Asian
0
0 Female White 5 4 The above Captains
eligibility list is broken down into two areas. The first area list numbers 1 – 137 are the number of
captains eligible to be promoted under Commissioner Kelly’s two year
eligibility plan. The second area
list numbers 138 – 275, will be excluded under the Commissioner’s plans.
The ethnic demographic breakdown clearly shows that the Commissioner
Kelly plan will continue the systemic exclusion of people of color from the
position of Captain. This brief analysis shows
that if in fact the Commissioner’s plans are carried out, the only three Black
females on the captain list will not be promoted. Only one African-American will
be promoted from the entire civil service list. As it currently stands there are only two African-American
female captains. It should be noted that the
men and women on any promotional list are the top scorers in their rank. For
example the 275 potential Captains on the current list were the best out of the
potential 1716 eligible Lieutenants. This
current list has the largest number of minority eligibles in the history of the
NYPD. It was only the last
Captain’s exam that the first Female Hispanic was promoted to the rank of
captain. She was promoted at the
fourth year level of the list. If the Commissioner Kelly’s plan was in place then, we
would still be without a Hispanic Captain. The Commissioner is making
the decision to turn the traditional four year eligibility list into two years
with the knowledge that 91% of NYPD uniformed personnel in the rank of Captain
and above are Caucasians. Historically
the Captain’s exam was allowed to run the full four year life of the list. Commissioner Kelly is making
this decision without any empirical data that shows it would benefit the overall
running of the department. It would
in fact have an immediate negative impact on years of attempts to diversify the
police department’s command staff. An additional area of
concern is the civilian skilled workforce ranks.
Although African-Americans make up the majority of the civilian strength
of the NYPD, they are under represented in the skilled labor pool.
Ethnic Breakdown of Civilian Workforce
vs Skilled Workers
Black
White
Hispanic
Other Civilian Workforce
9864
3200
3379
697
57.1%
18.9%
19.9%
4.1% Skilled Craft workers
55
363
62
33 10.7% 70.8% 12.1% 6.4% Analysis of the Traffic Enforcement
Division One area that is alarming is
how the Police Commissioner handled the merger of Traffic Enforcement Agents.
A review of the aftermath of this action shows that Commissioner Kelly
has little or no confidence in Black managers’ ability to handle duties that
they historical have handled well. The
managerial rank of the Traffic Enforcement Division structure prior to the
merger was as follows: -Chief -Deputy
Chief -Assistant
Chief -Inspector
-Captain -Lieutenant Many of the above titles
were held by people of color. The
Traffic Enforcement Division has historically been one of the only law
enforcement agencies that was predominantly ran by people of color and many of
them were women. Throughout the
years they have been very successful at managing this largely minority city
agency. Commissioner Kelly’s
administration rewarded them by completely revamping the rank structure and, in
the process, denying them upwardly mobility.
The new rank structure is following: -Deputy
Inspector (NYPD member) -Director -Deputy
Director -Captain
(NYPD member) -TM -Lieutenant
(NYPD member) -Sergeant
-TS-3
-TS-2 -TS-1 An analysis of the new
managerial hierarchy chart shows that Commissioner Kelly creatively undermined
the authority of Traffic managers by placing a NYPD Deputy Inspector over the
entire unit and then infusing NYPD Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants over the
existing Traffic Enforcement managerial staff.
This is an unprecedented move that completely circumvented the
overwhelming existing minority managerial staff and, in the process, neutralized
their decision making abilities. This
action has also created a glass ceiling where there is little or no upward
movement. POLICE
DEPARTMENT MORALE - Grade
(F)
POLICE MORALE BRIEFING The most telling sign that
morale has fallen since the departure of Police Commissioner Kerik is the
outcome of an independent survey that was reported in the New York Daily News on
June 14th 2003. In the report 68% of the officers interviewed
stated that they believed moral declined under Police Commissioner Kelly.
Unlike the caring, concerned approach that previous Commissioner Bernard Kerik
displayed for his men and women in uniform, Commissioner Kelly has not shown
that concern. Many commanders feel as though they have reached a glass
ceiling as they are held in the position of precinct commanders for long periods
of time. Under Commissioner Kelly,
there has been very little movement on the precinct level due to his slow micro
managed approach of the current administration. INTERNAL
DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT - Grade (D) INTERNAL DISCIPLINE BRIEFING On February 1, 2004 the
Latino Officers Association announced the details of their class action law suit
that was settled with the New York City Police Department. The basis of
the law suit was that Black and Latino officers were disciplined at a
disproportionate rate in comparison to their white counterparts during the
periods of 1996-1999. POLICE
DEPARTMENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION - Grade
(D) Police Commissioner Kelly
failed to improve in the area of recruitment for the following reasons: -Failed to give analysis for
Ivy League school recruitment strategy. POLICE RECRUITMENT BRIEFING The New York City
recruitment diversity effort is cloaked in lies and distortions. In many
cases the Police Commissioner has issued bloated numbers to indicate a
successful drive. When the numbers are scrutinized it is easy to determine
that the drives have been total failures. The department boasts that Since
December 2003, 31,770 people have applied for the recent NYC Police
Officer Exams. They believe this is a vast improvement from the dismal and
embarrassing 3,323 who filed for the exam in June of 2003. According to
the Commissioner's statements this improvement occurred because of his decision
to drop the $35.00 fee that was previously charged to take the exam. Recently the NYPD claimed
success due to the turnout of 10,761 people who took the exam on Feb. 20 and 21.
Deputy Chief George Anderson stated “things are looking up.”
Apparently ‘up’ is a relative term to the NYPD.
The fact still remained that of the over 31,770 people who applied to
take the exam, only 16,547 even reserved a seat. Based on the normal course of recruitment and retention, the
‘success’ will be the actual hiring of a mere 10% of those who actually take
the exam, approximately 1,654 people. If
the pattern of hiring continues, then the number of African-Americans will be an
insignificant number of those actually hired.
Given the dismal rate of return, the recruitment effort is not even cost
effective. In spite of these poor
figures the police department has refused to reinstitute a successful program
approved by former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. The program was in
conformity with the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed during the
merger. It called for the implementation of a career advancement incentive
for School Safety Agents and Traffic Enforcement Agents. Commissioner
Kerik's plan called for a college waiver incentive for employees of both
agencies after a two year successful stint in their agencies. Commissioner
Kelly removed this program without warning. It should be noted that the
School Safety Division and the Traffic Enforcement Division are two agencies
that have an employee staff that is 81% Black and Hispanics. Ethnic Breakdown of Traffic
Enforcement Agents & School Safety Officers Black
Hispanic
White
Other
57.3% 24.5%
14.0% 4.2% Both agencies are
currently under the control of the New York City Police Department.
Although Commissioner Kelly removed the college wavier for these predominantly
minority agencies, he allowed it to remain for those in military service. It
should be noted that School Safety Agents and Traffic Enforcement Agents are
trained by the NYPD to interact with the public in a non-lethal manner, whereas
the Military is trained to use lethal force. The Commissioner also
received an asterisk in this area due to his failure to give a fair analysis of
the cost success ratio in regards to the Ivy League school recruitment
initiative. A large sum of manpower
and revenue was used to go outside the city and target Ivy League schools.
A report must be generated to determine if this initiative was cost
effective. As of today no
such report has been made public. There
appear to be a strong possibility that this endeavor was a complete waste of
taxpayer’s resources. On all accounts the
recruitment process has been a complete failure. POLICE
ENFORCEMENT -
Grade (C )* Commissioner Kelly receives a “C” in this area with an asterisk. His actions in the area of police enforcement and addressing the terrorist threat are based on the following: -Unsuccessful transition
from the success of former Commissioner Bratton's crime fighting strategies and
initiatives -Failure to terminate
summons quota system -Questionable successful in
terrorist crime fighting strategy -Failure to implement comprehensive terrorist training program for uniform officers -Successful handling of
large crowds at non-confrontational events POLICE ENFORCEMENT BRIEFING The Police
Commissioner’s grade is based on several variables.
We looked at the seven major crimes that are used by the FBI to indicate
the success or failure of crime fighting initiatives. Our comprehensive review of
the Police Commissioner in this area shows that he has failed to follow the
successful trend first implemented by Commissioner Bratton and followed by his
predecessors. By using crafty crime
recording methods the police department has given the appearance that crime is
continuing to drop, but there remains a question mark whether in fact it is
true. The repeated accusations
from groups such as the PBA that Police Department is mis-classifying crimes to
give lower numbers should be accurately investigated by an external body to
determine if this in fact is true. This
could be accomplished by calling in all precinct crime analysis personnel and
questioning them under oath to determine the role in crime classification.
The external investigator should also conduct an audit to determine the
legitimacy in the number of crime re-classifications.
Even by NYPD records the
homicide rate has in fact increased. And that is the Homicide rate citywide for the two year crime
periods. Police stats show that the
number of homicides for this time frame increased by 15.3%.
This trend appears to be more so in the African-American
community where Homicide is on the increase. It has been incorrectly
interpreted that because crime is down that all communities are living safer.
The fact is that crime can be down in one area of the city but up in
other locations. A review of
crime by precinct shows that 40% of the total numbers of precincts are showing
an increase in crime. 31 PRECINCTS WITH CRIME INCREASES: PRECINCT
% INCREASE 010
34.43 070
15.92 107
14.45 018
13.77 112
13.27 026
12.98 090
12.53 006
12.12 017
11.14 063
10.06 009
9.90 030
9.01 120
8.90 050
7.80 068
7.50 073
6.89 069
6.12 040
5.85 034
5.57 114
4.95 019
3.83 066
2.91 111
2.70 115
2.65 079
2.55 076
2.34 075
2.11 033
1.74 072
1.69 044
0.67 067
0.53 The above listed
precinct increases in crime still does not show the true crime picture.
A particular precinct may not be on this list because the overall total
of crime is down (total of 7 majors), but in one of the particular crime area
there could be an increase. For
instance a precinct can be down in Grand Larcenies but up in robberies and
rapes. In several areas of the city
this holds true. For instance Patrol Borough Queens South is down overall in
crime, but has an increase in the number of murders, rapes, and burglaries.
Crime Increases By Borough Command PBBN
PBQN
PBQS
PBMS
PBBX
PBSI Murder Burglary
Murder
Rape
Murder Rape Rape
Rape
G. Larc.
Robbery Fel. Aslt
Burglary
Fel. Aslt. Burglary G. Larc. GLA It is not enough to use
simple stats as indicators of public safety when there are several communities
that are still showing a substantial number of predatory crimes.
One troubling form of record
keeping “slight of hand” is the ignoring of all crime that occurred on
February 29th. This is a
crime fighting record keeping trick to use the leap year as an excuse to not
account for crime on this date. We
believe the Police Department should
give dual reports during this period to account for the crime including the 29th
date of February. There were
a total of 317 index crimes on this date, one of which was a homicide.
If these crimes were added to the crime for the month it is highly likely
that crime is up. FEBRUARY 29TH CRIME NUMBERS 317
INDEX CRIMES 1 HOMICIDE Historically there has not
been any conformity on accounting during the leap year. Our concerns for crime
fighting tactics also included an analysis of the methods that are used in the
NYC Police Department to combat crime. We
found that although the commissioner put out an order against racial profiling,
the police department’s pattern and practices dictates the contrary.
This fact was driven home when eight officers were transferred from the
75 precinct for not continuing to uses crime fighting strategies to profile
people of color. We believe there has been an
atmosphere of tolerance for abusing the crime fighting tools of Operation
Impact, Operation Atlas, summons enforcement and Uf250's. In spite of the
constant denial that there are no summons quotas, far too many officers are
being unfairly place on monitoring or discipline for not issuing a predetermine
number of summons. The department
was disingenuous when they indicated that there was no summons blitz only to
come out some time later and show that there was a substantial increase in the
number of summonses issued. “The
administration reported that 532,817 summonses were issued by the New York
Police Department in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The summonses were for
a range of offenses, including graffiti, noise and disorderly conduct. Not only
is that figure an increase over the previous year - and a slight increase over
the year before that - but it represents more than 100,000 more summonses than
city officials reported last fall. Police have not issued as many of these kinds
of summonses since at least 1999, records show.” Aides to Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg said the discrepancy between the fall report and the Preliminary
Mayor's Management Report issued yesterday was caused by an administrative
error.- New York Times (January 28, 2004) Another crime fighting
tool that has been abused under several police administrations, and continues
under the current one, is the use of UF25O also known as the Stop Question and
Frisk Report. Police commanders
have used this report as some form of activity generated measure.
Officers are told the number of UF250’s that are expected of them and
they are penalized if they fall below the required numbers.
According to New York Attorney General Spitzer’s 1999 report, Stop
Question and Frisk is at the heart of the racial profiling problem.
We have sent a letter to the
New York State Attorney General to conduct an audit on how the Police Department
conduct these initiatives and what are the impact on the communities of color. On May 16th Ms. Alberta
Spruill died after the New York City Police Department initiated contact during
the service of a search warrant at her residence. Fourteen days after her death
the New York City Police Department released a report explaining the
circumstances surrounding the events preceding her death. Included in the report
was a list of deficiencies as well as proposed reforms to address the failures
in the police department procedures. In September 2002, the
police forced their way into the home of Ms. Willamae Mack, where she resided
with her 13-year-old twin boys. Ms. Mack, who was peacefully sleeping, was
pulled from her bed partially nude, after being awakened by the police busting
into her home. Her two sons heard a deafening explosion and a bright
flash of light followed by strange loud voices. In sheer terror, one of
her boys scurried under the bed in an attempt to find safety. The scared,
dazed and confused young boys were pulled from under the bed at gunpoint and
handcuffed. A thorough and invasive search by the police officers yielded
no illegal drugs or weapons. On October 15th of the same
year, the police, reportedly based on information Detailed
analysis of warrants enforcement: Although the Police
Department's report discusses the death of Mrs. Spruill, there must be a more in
depth analysis of how warrants are obtained and executed as well as the manner
in which distraction devices (stun grenades) are used. The review should
account for the 9,242 warrants conducted over the previous 7 years and supply
the following corresponding data: (actual numbers, no percentages) Ensuring that Police
Officers Are in Proper Identifiable Attire:
COMMUNITY RELATIONS - Grade (C)Police Commissioner Kelly
has done an excellent job of changing the style of the police department
response to the various communities within New York City. He has not
however, changed the substance. His grade in this area is based on the
following items: -Changing the tone
that the NYC Police Department communicates with NYC various communities -Expanded Police Department
outreach to various community groups -No current Deputy
Commissioner of Community Affairs -Failure to
incorporate the “Community Policing” model into crime-fighting strategies -Insensitive decision
to appoint DC Fyfe to head Timothy Stansbury shooting report -No outreach to non-traditional contacts to
establish ‘official NYPD liaisons’ COMMUNITY RELATIONS BRIEFING The wedge that
Commissioner Kelly’s administration is creating between the New York City
Police Department and the communities is not detectable without an in depth
examination. As the years progress it will be increasingly more difficult
to close the chasm with mere acknowledgements that a shooting is not justified.
On first appearance one will interpret the Commissioner's relationship with the
community of color as a good one. Although his public demeanor is not as
combative as some of the men who formally held his position, he does not support
this persona with his every day actions. It is commendable that
this commissioner has taken the unprecedented steps of quickly acknowledging the
lack of justification of certain shootings.
This however cannot be the cornerstone of community relations.
Cosmetic improvements are not enough, substantial policy and practice
reforms need to be implemented. We
cannot ignore the crime fighting initiatives
that will have a long lasting negative impact on New York City’s
communities of color. We
also took into account in this area the insensitive decision Commissioner Kelly
made to appoint Deputy Commissioner Fyfe to head the team that will put in place
a recommendation in response to the Timothy Stansbury shooting.
In Deputy Commissioner Fyfe’s role as head of the New York City Police
Academy, he has received several complaints from minority officers.
He also played a role in the trial surrounding the Amadou Diallo
shooting. During this trial Deputy
Commissioner Fyfe stated in essence that the officers acted properly on the day
that they shot Amadou Diallo. We
believed that the decision to appoint Fyfe to this important task showed a level
of insensitivity on the Police Commissioner’s part.
Our evaluation has taken into account the failure of the administration to establish relationships with non traditional sources. The community liaison program that exists in the Black community is nothing more than an exercise in public relations. Outside of the Black community, the liaisons are granted privilege and access. These are vital components to a respectful relationship. The NYPD needs to upgrade and standardize the manner in which liaisons are dealt with to incorporate the Black community into the dialogue about NYPD strategies and objectives. Finally, Commissioner Kelly’s failure to appoint a Deputy Commissioner of
Community Affairs since the resignation of Deputy Commissioner Patrick, speaks
volumes about his lack of commitment in this key area.
Eric Adams Co-Founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care 3/04 To post your comments
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