New York City Police Department

New York City Police Department
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Common name	New York Police Department
Abbreviation	NYPD
Motto	Fidelis ad Mortem Faithful Till Death
Agency overview
Formed	1845
Preceding agency	Municipal Police
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	New York, New York, United States
Size	1,214.4 km²
Population	8,274,527
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Sworn members	37,838 (2008)
Elected officer responsible	Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner
Agency executive	Joseph Esposito, Chief of Department
Units	List Aviation Emergency Service Organized Crime Control Bureau Scuba Team and Harbor Special Victims Major Case Squad Taxi Squad Movie and Television School Safety Real Time Crime Auxiliary Police Crime Scene Evidence Collection Transit Bureau Housing Bureau Highway Patrol Transportation Bureau
Boroughs	List Manhattan North Manhattan South Brooklyn North Brooklyn South Queens North Queens South Bronx Staten Island
Facilities
Commands	76 Precincts 12 Transit Districts 9 Housing Police Service Areas
Police boats	9
Helicopters	7
Website
Official Site

The New York City Police Department (NYPD), which was established in 1844, is currently the largest police force in North America, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City. The NYPD is considered to be one of the first "modern" style police departments in the United States along with the Boston Police Department.

Overview

The NYPD has a broad array of specialized services, including tactical operations, K-9, harbor patrol, air support, bomb disposal, counter-terrorism, intelligence, anti-gang, narcotics, public transportation, and public housing. NYPD has extensive crime scene investigation and laboratory resources, as well as units which assist with computer crime investigations. The NYPD's headquarters houses an anticrime computer network, essentially a large search engine and data warehouse operated by detectives to assist officers in the field with their investigations. According to the department, its mission is to "enforce the laws, preserve the peace, reduce fear, and provide for a safe environment."

The New York City Transit Police and Housing Police were fully integrated into the NYPD in 1995; Police officers are randomly assigned to the Transit and Housing units upon graduation of the police academy. Members of the NYPD are frequently referred to by the nickname New York's Finest. The NYPD is headquartered at One Police Plaza located on Park Row across the street from City Hall.

The size of the force has fluctuated, depending on crime rates, politics, and available funding. The overall trend, however, shows that the number of sworn officers is decreasing. In June 2004, there were about 40,000 sworn officers plus several thousand support staff; In June 2005, that number dropped to 35,000. As of November 2007, it had increased to slightly over 36,000 with the graduation of several classes from the Police Academy. The NYPD's current authorized uniformed strength is 37,838. There are also an approximate 4,500 Auxiliary Police Officers, 5,000 School Safety Agents, 2,300 Traffic Agents, and 370 Traffic Agent Supervisors.

History

The New York City Police Department was established in 1845. At the time, New York City's population of 320,000 was served by an archaic force, consisting of one night watch, one hundred city marshals, thirty-one constables, and fifty-one police officers. Peter Cooper, at request of the Common Council, drew up a proposal to create a police force of 1,200 officers. John Watts de Peyster was an early advocate of implementing military style discipline and organization to the force.The state legislature approved the proposal which authorized creation of a police force on May 7, 1844, along with abolition of the nightwatch system. Under Mayor William Havemeyer, the NYPD was reorganized on May 13, 1845, with the city divided into three districts, with courts, magistrates, and clerks, and station houses set up. The NYPD was closely modeled after the Metropolitan Police Service in London, which in turn used a military-like organizational structure, with rank and order.

In 1857, a new Metropolitan police force was established and the Municipal police abolished. The Metropolitan police bill consolidated the police in New York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Westchester County (which then included The Bronx), under a governor-appointed board of commissioners. Mayor Fernando Wood and the Municipals, unwilling to be abolished, resisted for several months.

Throughout the years, the NYPD has been involved with a number of riots in New York City. In July 1863, the New York State Militias were absent to aid Union troops, when the 1863 Draft Riots broke out, leaving the police who were outnumbered to quell the riots. The Tompkins Square Riot occurred on January 13, 1874 when police crushed a demonstration involving thousands of unemployed in Tompkins Square Park. Newspapers, including The New York Times, covered numerous cases of police brutality during the latter part of the 19th century. Cases often involved officers using clubs to beat suspects and persons who were drunk or rowdy, posed a challenge to officers' authority, or refused to move along down the street. Most cases of police brutality occurred in poor immigrant neighborhoods, including Five Points, the Lower East Side, and Tenderloin.

Beginning in the 1870s, politics and corruption of Tammany Hall, a political machine supported by Irish immigrants infiltrated the NYPD, which was used as political tool, with positions awarded by politicians to loyalists. Many officers and leaders in the police department took bribes from local businesses, overlooking things like illegal liquor sales. Police also served political purposes such as manning polling places, where they would turn a blind eye to ballot box stuffing and other acts of fraud.

Former HQ at Mulberry and Broome Streets

The Lexow Committee was established in 1894 to investigate corruption in the police department. The committee made reform recommendations, including the suggestion that the police department adopt a civil service system. Around the turn of the century, the NYPD began to professionalize under leadership of then Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt. The NYPD also began to emphasize training, and took advantage of technological innovations such as fingerprinting.

The economic downturn of the 1970s led to some extremely difficult times for the city. The Bronx, in particular, was plagued by arson, and an atmosphere of lawlessness permeated the city. In addition, the city's financial crisis led to a hiring freeze on all city departments, including the NYPD, from 1976 to 1980.

This was followed by the Crack epidemic of the late 1980s and early 1990s that was one factor that caused the city's homicide rate to soar to an all-time high. By 1990, New York set a record of 2,262 murders, a record that has yet to be broken by any US major city. Petty thefts associated with drug addiction were also increasingly common.

In 1993, Mayor David Dinkins appointed the Mollen Commission, chaired by Milton Mollen, to investigate corruption in the department. The commission found that "Today's corruption is not the corruption of Knapp Commission days. Corruption then was largely a corruption of accommodation, of criminals and police officers giving and taking bribes, buying and selling protection. Corruption was, in its essence, consensual. Today's corruption is characterized by brutality, theft, abuse of authority and active police criminality."

In the 1990s, under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the NYPD oversaw a large reduction in crime across the city, which has been attributed to the NYPD's implementation of CompStat under Bill Bratton, broken windows policing, as well as general demographic changes, and subsiding of the crack cocaine epidemic.

On September 11, 2001, 23 NYPD officers were killed when the World Trade Center collapsed due to terrorist attacks. More lives were lost that year than in any other year in the department's history.

Gun control problems in the city came to the forefront during the last two weeks of 2005, when two officers were shot to death by criminals using illegal weapons. Most of these weapons come from the South, through Interstate 95 which has been called the "iron pipeline".

Salary and retention issues

NYPD graduation ceremony in Madison Square Garden, July 2005.

After three years at $25,100 a year, the lowest in two decades, a state arbitration panel on May 19, 2008 boosted starting pay to $35,881. Pay for experienced officers was upped to $65,382 from $59,588 annually, not counting overtime, night differential and other forms of compensation.

While an improvement on the expired contract, the new terms will not close the gap with nearby departments that pay considerably more, up to $50,000 for new hires and over $100,000 for more experienced officers. Over the years, hundreds of city officers have left for higher paying jobs with other agencies, notably the Nassau County Police Department, the Suffolk County Police Department, Westchester County police departments, and the Port Authority Police of New York and New Jersey. Discontent over pay issues has become so widespread and so well-known that higher-paying departments in lower cost-of-living areas, such as the Rochester, New York Police, the Albuquerque, New Mexico Police, and the Seattle, Washington Police, are actively recruiting NYPD officers to join their forces.

Police departments in neighboring Rockland County and Westchester County have top base salaries ranging from around $85,000 to $105,000, not counting longevity, uniform pay, overtime and benefits. In 2007 a Westchester County Department of Public Safety officer reportedly made over $250,000 (with overtime), making him the highest paid police officer in the United States.

Large numbers of NYPD officers have also migrated to the New York City Fire Department, where, even though pay is comparable with that of the NYPD, work schedules are more attractive and relations with the public more amicable. Contract changes in 2006, however, now forbid the prior practice of allowing police officers who join the fire department to transfer their seniority for compensation purposes. With all new firefighters now compelled to begin working at the same starting pay, the number of NYPD officers "rolling over" to the FDNY is likely to fall considerably.

Some NYPD officers charge that the department's leadership is seeking to stem the flow of officers to other jurisdictions by administrative means. In January 2006, 35 NYPD officers seeking to move to the Port Authority Police sued the New York department, claiming that it was refusing to make their personnel records available to PAPD background investigators. The plaintiffs won an injunction at the trial level, but the Appellate Division in January 2007 overturned that ruling and ordered the case to trial.

For its part, the NYPD claims its actions are merely in line with the personnel practices of other employers and that there is no "stealth" effort to prevent officers from moving elsewhere. Nonetheless, it is a fact that no NYPD officers have been included in the last two PAPD police academy classes as a result.

Despite these obstacles, there are signs that the exodus from the NYPD may be accelerating. In 2006, 902 officers resigned before becoming eligible for retirement, on top of 867 who left in 2005 and 635 in 2004, which makes for an attrition rate of around two percent. While Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly insists that figure compares positively with turnover rates in private industry, police union officials note that the proper comparison should be with prior years on the NYPD. In 1991, for example, only 159 officers left early, for an attrition rate of less than one half of one percent.

Ranks of the NYPD

NYPD Patches

NYPD Crown Victoria police car

NYPD Ford Explorer SUV

NYPD Parking Enforcement vehicle

NYPD officers on horseback

NYPD Command Post

There are twelve sworn titles (referred to as ranks) in the New York City Police Department:

Title	Insignia
Chief of Department	File:4 Gold Stars.jpg
Bureau Chief	File:3 Gold Stars.jpg
Assistant Chief	File:2 Gold Stars.jpg
Deputy Chief	File:1 Gold Star.jpg
Inspector
Deputy Inspector
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Detective-Investigator Detective-Specialist Police Officer

Promotion from Police Officer to Detective- Specialist is based on merit. Generally each Precinct has one member designated "Detective-Specialist", which is a non-investigative rank.

Promotion to Detective-Investigator is based on investigative experience. Generally a Police Officer who is assigned to an investigative assignment for 18 months will be designated "Detective-Investigator". The rank of Detective holds no supervisors responsibilities.

Promotion to Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain is based on a civil service promotion exam, in which an officer answers 100 multiple choice questions based on Department procedures and the law.

Promotion to Deputy Inspector and above is based on merit and those promotions are made by the Police Commissioner.

The Department is ultimately administered and governed by the Police Commissioner, who is appointed by the Mayor and technically serves a five-year term; however as a practical matter and custom, the Police Commissioner serves at the Mayor's pleasure. The Police Commissioner also appoints numerous Deputy Commissioners. The Police Commissioner and his subordinate Commissioners are civilians under an oath of office, as opposed to the uniformed members of the force who are sworn officers of the law. However, a police commissioner who comes up from the ranks of the sworn members, will retain that status while serving as police commissioner. This has ramifications on their police pensions and the fact that any police commissioner who is considered sworn does not need a pistol permit to carry a firearm, and does retain the statutory powers of a police officer. Some police commissioners (like Ray Kelly) do carry a personal firearm, but they also have a full-time security detail from the Police Commissioner's (Detective) Squad. A First Deputy Police Commissioner may have a security detail when he/she acts as commissioner or under other circumstances as approved by the police commissioner.

Commissioner titles:

Title	Insignia
Police Commissioner	File:5 Gold Stars.jpg
First Deputy Commissioner	File:4 Gold Stars.jpg
Deputy Commissioner	File:3 Gold Stars.jpg

These individuals are administrators who supersede the Chief of Department, and they usually specialize in areas of great importance to the Department, such as counter-terrorism, operations, training, public information, legal matters, intelligence, and information technology. Despite their role, as civilian administrators of the Department, they are prohibited from taking operational control of a police situation (with the exception of the First Deputy Commissioner).

Within the rank structure, there are also designations, known as "grades", that connote differences in duties, experience, and pay. However, supervisory functions are generally reserved for the rank of sergeant and above. The title "Detective" is not a chain of command supervisory rank within the New York City Police Department. A "Detective-Investigator" has the equivalent rank of a police officer with the specification "Detective First Grade" (highest), "Detective Second Grade", and "Detective Third Grade". Movies and TV have only perpetuated this misunderstanding by portraying detectives as having supervisory powers. While a First Grade Detective may supervise other detectives in his/her squad, he/she is still outranked in the chain of command by a uniformed police sergeant.

Common designations of the various ranks are listed below:

• Police Officer - First Grade: "Grades" are actually only used to refer to pay "steps" or annual salary increasing gradually until the final "step" which is a large raise. Pay steps for a police officer are predetermined through service time and determined through a negotiated contract. Currently there are six "grades" including a substantial pay reduction for the first six months while training in the Police Academy. After graduating from the academy, the probationary police officer will receive small raises of one to two thousand dollars annually until they have completed five full years whereupon they will receive a large raise (10 to 15 thousand dollars) to "top pay". All police officer "grades" are the same rank, though seniority is respected.

All "Detective Investigators" start at Detective Third Grade, which has a pay rate roughly between that of Police Officers and Sergeants; they can then get "promoted" to Detective Second Grade which has roughly the salary of Sergeants or Detective First Grade which has a pay rate roughly that of Lieutenants.

All "Detective-Specialists" start at third grade, but can be promoted to second or first grade status. It is common knowledge in the NYPD that detective investigators resent the detective specialist rank as these officers are not "detecting" crimes. NYPD is the only police force in the world that uses this rank. Most other reward technical skills or special merit with ranks such as senior patrol officer, technical sergeant or corporal. The detective specialist title was created during the Edward I. Koch mayoralty and has been controversial ever since. They carry the same "gold" shield as detective investigators, further adding to the resentment for the title.

• Sergeant: Supervisor Detective Squad, Special Assignment

• Lieutenant: Commander Detective Squad, Special Assignment

Promotion from Police Officer to Sergeant, Sergeant to Lieutenant, and Lieutenant to Captain all occur via a civil service formula that factors: performance on the civil service written examination for that rank, length of service, citations awarded, optional physical fitness test (for extra points). Promotion beyond the rank of Captain is discretionary.

Promotion to grades within the detective rank is also discretionary.

Badges in the New York City Police Department are referred to as "shields" (the traditional term). Lower rank police officers are identified by their shield number, and tax registry number. Lieutenants and above do not have shield numbers and are identified by tax registry number. All sworn members of NYPD have their I.D. card photos taken against a red background. Civilian employees of the NYPD have their I.D. card photos taken against a blue background, signifying that they are not commissioned to carry a firearm. All ID cards have an expiration date. Sworn police officers are referred to as "MOS" or, members of the service.

Organization

An NYPD boat patrols the New York Harbor.

NYPD officers patrol on scooters.

The NYPD is headed by the New York City Police Commissioner, a civilian administrator appointed by the Mayor of New York City, with the senior sworn uniformed member of the service titled "Chief of Department". The Police Commissioner appoints a number of Deputy and Assistant Commissioners. The Department is divided into ten bureaus, six of which are enforcement bureaus. Each enforcement bureau is sub-divided into sections, divisions and units, and into patrol boroughs, precincts and detective squads. Each Bureau is commanded by a Bureau Chief (such as the Chief of Patrol, the Chief of Housing, Chief of Internal Affairs). There are also a number of specialized units (such as the Operations Unit and Compstat) that are not part of any of the Bureaus and report to the Chief of the Department.

The following is an example of the Department's bureau hierarchy:

• Reporting to the Commissioner:
  • Internal Affairs
• Reporting to the First Deputy Commissioner:
  • Personnel
• Reporting to the Chief of Department:
  • Patrol Services
  • Detective
  • Transit
  • Organized Crime Control
  • Transportation
  • Housing
• Reporting to the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters:
  • Criminal Justice

Aviation Unit

Founded in 1928, it claims the distinction of being the oldest police aviation unit in the world, but there is a competing claim from the London Metropolitan Police Service ("The Met"). Based in Brooklyn, the Aviation Unit responds to various emergencies and tasks, supporting other units of the N.Y.P.D. Among its capabilities are the deployment of divers for water rescues. From a standing start, the unit claims it can be anywhere in the five boroughs within 15 minutes, but this has been disputed and is dependent on weather conditions and air traffic congestion..

Since 9/11 the department has undertaken a major overhaul of the Aviation Unit. Once equipped exclusively with Bell helicopters, it recently re-equipped its fleet with seven Agusta A 119 Koala helicopters. The centerpiece is a $9.8 million "unmarked" helicopter, which can fly at night without lights. However, this function will require approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and local Air Traffic Control on a case-by-case basis, due to the hazards it could present in the heavily congested New York air corridors. The department has also purchased a state-of-the-art helicopter flight simulator, so officers can practice flying without actually having to take up a helicopter.

Famed US cyclist Mile-a-Minute Murphy claimed to be the first police officer able to fly a plane in the US (possibly the entire world) as of 1914 as a member of the NYPD. He envisioned the use of airplanes to fight crime around the same time, though the Aviation Unit came into being 11 years after Murphy retired.

Emergency Service Unit

[1] The Emergency Service Unit, a component of the Special Operations Division, provides specialized support and advanced equipment to other NYPD units. For example, its Canine Unit helps with searches for perpetrators and missing persons. The Emergency Service Unit also functions as a Special Weapons and Tactical Unit (SWAT) and assists and secures the safety of NYPD hostage negotiators. Members of "ESU" are cross trained in multiple disciplines for police and rescue work. They are always on patrol (all three tours, 365 days a year) with 10 Large Trucks, each manned by a police officer and a sergeant, and often more than twice as many smaller "Adam" and "Boy" vehicles containing two ESU police officers. There are also two or more patrol lieutenants in unmarked vehicles on duty at all times to supervise ESU operations where needed. These are called "E-Cars" on the NYPD radio, for example, "E-5". The ten Emergency Service Squads (ESS) are divided geographically as: Emergency Service Squads (or Trucks): ESS-1 (lower Manhattan), ESS-2 (upper Manhattan), ESS-3 (East and South Bronx), ESS 4 (West and North Bronx), ESS-5 (Staten Island), ESS-6 (South Brooklyn), ESS-7 (East Brooklyn), ESS-8 (North Brooklyn), ESS-9 (Southern Queens), and ESS-10 (Northern Queens). There is a Truck 11, which is not a patrol squad but a vehicle manned by trainers and support staff assigned to the ESU headquarters facility and can respond to nearby incidents or as back-up to patrol squads when required. ESU vehicles operate on the "SOD (Special Operations Division)" radio frequency, but they also have the capabilities to transmit on local precinct frequencies. The city wide patrol supervisors, lieutenant's assigned to patrol multiple "truck's", patrol as either U-5 (supervising Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, or U-4, supervising Manhattan and the Bronx) respond to major incidents within their assigned boroughs for the shift. The personnel selected for ESU become highly trained, elite members of the NYPD who perform rescue, SWAT and other high risk tactical, counter-narcotic and counter-terror operations. This unit lost the most members (14) of any other NYPD unit during the World Trade Center Attacks of September 11th, 2001.

Organized Crime Control Bureau

The Organized Crime Control Bureau (O.C.C.B.) is charged with the investigation and prevention of organized crime within New York City. This is mainly done through standard police investigation and the use of confidential informants. The Organized Crime Control Bureau has numerous units and sub-units that investigate matters such as organized auto larceny rings, unlawful firearms, and prostitution. The Organized Crime Control Bureau utilizes undercover police officers to infiltrate various criminal organizations. The Organized Crime Control Bureau has been effective against the Italian Mafia, "the westies" of the Irish mob, Chinese Mafia and Russian Mafia organized criminal elements. The Organized Crime Control Bureau's Joint Organized Crime Task Force works in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Division (the largest FBI office in the US).

Harbor Unit and Scuba Team

Randall's Island base

On March 15, 1858 five members of the New York City Police Department rowed out into New York Harbor to combat piracy aboard merchant ships lying at anchor. The NYPD Harbor Unit has existed ever since, protecting life and property. With hundreds of miles of inland waterways to cover, the unit operates 27 boats from three bases.

For underwater work, the department used to contract with private diving companies when weapons or other evidence had to be recovered from the bottom of New York's many rivers and waterways. In the early 1970s, however, the Harbor Unit formed a specialized scuba team that today numbers around 30 officers. Unlike many police dive units, whose members dive only part-time, NYPD divers are assigned to the unit full-time. (The exception are some scuba-trained officers in regular patrol units who are detailed to the team temporarily during the busy summer months.) In addition to the normal duties of evidence recovery, the Scuba Team's mission has expanded since 9/11 to include a counter-terrorism role. For air-sea rescue work, the Harbor Unit keeps two divers assigned to the Aviation Unit 24 hours a day, seven days per week, all year round. These divers will work with their counterparts in the FDNY, who arrive at incidents by fireboat or rescue company.

Special Victims Unit

The Special Victims Unit is housed in the detective borough commands of the NYPD. The Special Victims Unit is part of the Detective Bureau and investigates the following types of cases:

• Any child under 13 years of age that is the victim of any sex crime or attempted sex crime by any person.
• Any child under 11 years of age who is the victim of abuse by a parent or person legally responsible for the care of the child.
• Any victim of Rape (all degrees) or Attempted Rape (all degrees)
• Any victim of Criminal Sexual Act (all degrees) or Attempted Criminal Sexual Act (all degrees)
• Victims of Aggravated Sexual Abuse (all degrees)
• Victims of sexual abuse 1st Degree

The TV show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit describes fictionalizations of some of the Special Victims Unit's cases.

Major Case Squad

The Major Case Squad is located at One Police Plaza in Manhattan. It handles the following cases.

• Kidnappings as directed by the Chief of Detectives
• Burglary or Attempted Burglary of a bank or bank safe
• Larceny by extortion or attempt, from a bank
• Robbery or attempted of a bank by a perpetrator not armed
• Burglary of a truck contents over $100,000
• Larceny of a truck contents over $100,000
• Robbery of a truck and contents by hijacking
• All robberies in warehouse depots or similar locations where the objects of the crime is a truck or its contents
• All commercial burglaries in which the value of the property stolen exceeds $100,000
• Art Theft

Unlike the Major Case Squad as depicted in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, however, the Squad does not investigate homicides. All homicide investigations are conducted by precinct detective squads and borough homicide squads, as Law & Order makes clear.

Taxi Squad

On October 19, 1999, the S.O.D. Taxi Squad was established as a separate unit that reports directly to the Special Operations Division of the New York City Police Department. The general mission of the Taxi Squad is of plainclothes, anti-crime assignment.

It was basically the re-establishment of the police Hack Bureau which had overseen yellow cabs in New York before the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) was formed in the 1970s. Today the TLC Police only enforce laws concerning livery cars and other cars for hire that are not yellow cabs with medallions.

Task Forces

The task forces are organized within each Patrol Borough and specialize in rapid mobilization for disorder control. The task forces can quickly respond to an incident location and mobilize to a precision suppression force to disperse disorderly groups and provide perimeter security. The task forces also assist patrol units in a variety of different elements such as in wide area searches for missing persons, DWI vehicle checkpoints, and supplemental patrol in high crime areas.

Movie and Television Unit

Founded in 1966, the NYPD Movie/TV Unit was the first of its kind in the country. Because of its relationship with the NYPD, the Unit has the greatest knowledge on how to assist productions, particularly with complex shooting situations, in a City that is dense with vehicular and pedestrian traffic. In addition to this expertise, their services are free to productions filming in the City.

Whether it conducts filming on bridges, highways, or busy intersections, the Unit controls traffic to ensure that companies can get shots that may otherwise be impossible. In addition, the City's many police related shows, such as Law & Order and Third Watch, generate "crime scenes" which are supervised by the Movie/TV Unit. The Unit's responsibilities do not end there; the Unit also monitors child work permits, stunts, prop firearms, placement of equipment, pedestrian safety, and parking.

While filming on busy New York City streets presents countless challenges, the Unit has, over the years, developed a strong working relationship with the film industry. The unit makes an effort to ensure that New York City remains a popular location for filming.

Until the election of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1994, the Unit occasionally assisted with pornographic productions. But Giuliani put a stop to this as part of his effort to clean up the streets of New York City. In 1997, porn producer Michael Lucas filed a lawsuit against the Police Department and Giuliani citing discriminating practices used by the Movie / TV Unit against porn productions. The lawsuit was dropped in September of 1998 when a district Judge granted a motion to dismiss on behalf of the NYPD. Michael Bloomberg's election as mayor had not led to a reinstatement of the Unit's assistance with pornographic productions as of mid-March 2008.

School Safety Division

The mission of the School Safety Division is to provide a safe environment, conducive to learning, where students and faculty can be free from hostility and disruptions which could negatively impact on the educational process. In 2006, NYPD School Safety Agents were classified Civil Service Status with the first NYC DCAS Civil Service Exam given on June 9, 2007. The starting salary is $28,491 and the union is Local 237 Teamsters. School Safety Agents wear uniforms that look identical to the uniform worn by regular officers except for the color of the shirt, which is light blue in contrast to dark blue shirts worn by regular officers, and have dark blue police cars in contrast to white cars used by regular officers. Their badge is oval with an eagle on top, in contrast to the shield worn by Regular officers and the seven point star worn by Auxiliary officers.

There are eight different ranks within the NYPD's School Safety Division:

1. Director of Patrol Operations: Assists in the implementation of Division-wide programs, oversees field operations and directly supervises and coordinates the activities of all Deputy Directors.

2. Deputy Director of Patrol Operations: There are three Deputy Directors, two deputies will oversee the operational activity for nine SSD Borough Commands: Brooklyn North; Brooklyn South; Queens North; Queens South; Staten Island; Manhattan South; Manhattan North; Bronx East; and Bronx West. One Deputy will oversee the operational activity of Support and Special Services; who will be responsible for the in-service training of all school safety agents, providing field resources to borough commands, and in conjunction with the NYPD Intelligence Division, conducting unannounced scanning at large-scale events.

3. Associate Supervisor of School Safety Level II (Borough Commanders): Plans, directs and supervises the entire operation of school security within an assigned geographic area: identifies training needs; assists in preparation of proposals; implements policies; allocates budget resources; initiates changes on a daily basis; meets with community superintendents, principals, community board officials, parent association, high-level police commanders and assistant district attorneys.

4. Associate Supervisor of School Safety: Responsible for the deployment, administration, evaluation and supervision of all members assigned to the command; maintains personnel records; deploys vehicles assigned to the office; serves as liaison between the division and all city agencies, parents associations, community school boards and civic groups in the development of security reform; handles all grievances and disciplinary actions involving personnel.

5. Supervisor of School Security: Meets and discusses issues and problems with subordinates and effectively communicates suggestions and conclusions in oral and written form. Oversees performance issues for all including attendance and lateness violations, and field inspections. Trains subordinates in procedure and disseminates policies to subordinates.

6. School Safety Agent III: Performs supervisory duties inside the schools; maintains work schedules; observes performance of subordinates; administers roll calls; monitors and responds to incidents; maintains full knowledge of school safety plans; documents and takes all corrective action necessary towards addressing emergency situations.

7. School Safety Agent II: Knowledgeable of arrest procedures and police forms, and is readily available for assignment changes. Quickly responds to emergency incidents within assigned borough.

8. School Safety Agent I: Appears at specified time and location, is alert and prepared for post assignment; regulates flow of students at entrances and maintains order of school interior, checks outer perimeters for unauthorized persons; checks student ID, challenges visitors and adheres to visitor control procedures; immediately reports possible child abuse, drugs, alcohol, gang participation or psychological problems; uses minimal force necessary to effect arrest; interprets and reviews X-ray machine screens.

School Safety Training Unit

The mission of the School Safety Training Unit (SSTU) is to provide entry-level School Safety Agents with a fundamental understanding of Department procedures, policies, and the limits of their authority. The Basic Course for Peace Officers without Firearms is a 14-week program geared to instructing School Safety Agents on the fundamentals of law enforcement. Topics include Behavioral Science, Police Science, Law, and Physical Training/Tactics (including CPR/First Aid Training.)

In 2004, SSTU conducted three entry-level courses for a total of 551 School Safety Agents. Assistance was also provided to the NYPD’s School Safety Division’s In-Service Training Unit. Another 1,107 Agents were trained during these sessions.

Also in 2004, continued emphasis was placed on Counter Terrorism Training. School Safety Agents received instruction on current events and conditions that are directly related to terrorism. Other additions to the curriculum included the introduction of facilitated role-play exercises on Bomb/Explosive Device recognition and gang-related incidents.

In 2005, SSTU plans to implement a new curriculum for School Safety Agents that more accurately reflects the day-to-day functions of a School Safety Agent. A pilot program for baton training for School Safety Agents Level 2 assigned to the Mobile Task Force has also been approved and training will commence during 2005. The Program is run using facilities at Brooklyn Technical High School.

Real Time Crime Center

Located on the eighth floor of Police Headquarters, at One Police Plaza, the Real Time Crime Center is essentially a data warehouse and search engine operated by a staff of detectives that assists in providing relevant and timely information to officers conducting an investigation. The computer network stores facts about convicted persons, suspects, encounters, nicknames and items of seemingly trivial value whose correlation could assist in an investigation. The computer network's control room can display real-time satellite and surveillance camera images and hosts a wireless link to police vehicles equipped to generate sketches at crime scenes and transmit them for comparison to stored data.

Auxiliary Police

Main article: New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police

A NYPD Auxiliary RMP.

File:Two highway auxiliary officers.jpg

2 NYPD Auxiliary Police Officers in the Highway Patrol unit.

The NYPD has an unpaid, unarmed reserve police force known as the Auxiliary Police. NYPD Auxiliary Police Officers assist the Police Department with uniformed patrols and provide crowd and vehicular control at special events, riots, accidents and fire scenes.

In 1950, the 81st Congress passed the Public Law #920, entitled The Civil Defense Act of 1950 authorizing a Federal Civil Defense Program. In 1951, the New York State Legislature enacted The Defense Emergency Act requiring New York City to recruit, train, and equip volunteer Auxiliary Police Officers, who would provide traffic and crowd control and other assistance to Police Officers in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. New York State Penal law provided Peace Officer status to the officers during the event of a disaster or emergency.

In 1967, a Mayoral Executive Order closed the Civil Defense Headquarters and placed full responsibility of the Auxiliary Police Program with the NYPD. During the 1960s when crime was on the rise, uniform Auxiliary Police Officer patrols were an effective means to deter crime.

Before becoming Auxiliary Police Officers, recruits must complete 16 weeks of training mandated by the NYS Municipal Police Training Counsel. Training given to Auxiliary Police recruits includes training in penal law, police science, powers of a Peace Officer, radio use, unarmed self defense, self defense with a straight baton, first aid, and arrest procedures. In 2008, the NYPD revised the training course to include training in domestic violence and terrorism awareness. A written and physical exam is given at the end of training. All Auxiliary Police Officers are required by NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to pass an annual refresher course in the use of force with the straight baton, arrest procedures, and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) in order to maintain their Peace Officer status. All Auxiliary Police Officers are certified by NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services as Part Time Peace Officers without Firearms training.

Currently, the 3 largest unions that represent NYPD Auxiliary Police Officers are the Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association(APBA), Auxiliary Police Supervisors Benevolent Association(APSBA), and the New York State Association of Auxiliary Police(NYSAAP).

Auxiliary Police Officers wear virtually the same uniform as regular officers and are equipped with straight batons, police radios directly linked to the Central Dispatcher, other Auxiliary officers, and Regular officers, flashlights, whistles, handcuffs, and reflective traffic vests. Their badge is a seven point star, in contrast to the shield worn by regular officers. Auxiliary Police Officers who work the minimum required hours per fiscal year recieve an annual uniform allowance check to help pay for new and replacement equipment and uniforms. Although volunteers, Auxiliary Police Officers are city employees while on duty and may be eligible for Workers' Compensation in the event of injury while on duty.

A directive dated July 14 2005, two weeks after the 2005 London bombings, stated that the City would institute a citywide Transit Auxiliary Police program. The Transit Auxiliary Police is the youngest Auxiliary Police addition and one of the most highly trained units.

Shooting of 2 Auxiliary Police Officers

On March 14, 2007, two Auxiliary Police officers were killed in the line of duty. Auxiliary Police Officer Marshalik and Auxiliary Police Officer Nicholas Pekearo were shot and killed while following a suspect who had just murdered a pizza shop employee in Greenwich Village. The suspect had entered the shop, asked for a menu, and then shot the employee in the back fifteen times after the man turned around.

Auxiliary Police Officer Pekearo and Auxiliary Police Officer Marshalik, both of whom were unarmed and on foot patrol in the area of the shooting, heard the description of the suspect that had been transmitted over the radio. They spotted the suspect and immediately began to follow him. After a short distance the man suddenly turned and opened fire, fatally wounding both officers.

Several plainclothes officers who were responding to the scene encountered the suspect, who fled on foot and began firing at them. The suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the officers. The suspect was found to be carrying two handguns and over 100 rounds of ammunition.

Crime Scene Unit

The Crime Scene Unit (CSU) is a part of the NYPD Detective Bureau's Forensic Investigations Division, responsible for forensic investigations of all homicides and sexual assaults, as well as other crimes as deemed necessary by an investigating supervisor. Members of the Crime Scene Unit assist the precinct detectives in the processing of a crime scene as well as determining the proper routing of evidence between the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the NYPD Police Lab and the NYPD Property Clerk.

The Crime Scene Unit is composed of NYPD detectives (or occasionally police officers that are awaiting their promotion to detective), not civilian technicians like crime scene units in other parts of the U.S. Generally these detectives come from an Evidence Collection Team which is operated at the borough level.

The Crime Scene Unit covers all of the boroughs of New York City, but is staffed with less than 1% of the total number of detectives in the NYPD. These detectives are dedicated to doing what is necessary to ensure that the precinct detectives and the District Attorney have as much evidence to identify the perpetrator of the crime and convict them at trial.

The Crime Scene Unit has at its disposal many tools to process a crime scene including the materials needed to develop fingerprints, cast footwear and tire impressions, follow the trajectory of bullets fired through windows and the chemicals necessary to observe blood under special lighting conditions that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. The unit is also trained to process a crime scene in a hazardous environment, for example following a nuclear, biological or chemical attack.

The NYPD Crime Scene Unit will handle in excess of 1,000 runs a year, a large drop from the busy days of the Crack-Wars in the 1980s where 3,000 runs a year was common. Although there are fewer runs, each crime scene involves much more work these days. The common use of modern equipment unavailable previously, as well as the increase in computer generated case work and sketches means the amount of time spent on each individual case has drastically increased. The modern-era case load of 1,000 also takes into account the fact that the patrol borough based Evidence Collection Teams handle the vast majority of burglaries and robberies as well as assaults where the victim is not likely to die, leaving the Crime Scene Unit to focus on more serious incidents.

Recently the NYPD Crime Scene Unit has come under scrutiny by higher ranking members of the NYPD as well as the local press. Claims that the unit has incorrectly processed multiple high-profile cases have been leveled against the unit. Claims against the current Commanding Officer of the Crime Scene Unit Deputy Inspector Gary Gomula as well as the Executive Officer Michael Kletzel have been made citing their mismanagement of Detectives during major investigations has led to evidence being mishandled or missed completely.

A February 1, 2008 article in the NY Daily News leveled accusations that both Gomula and Kletzel have had the Police Commissioner's attention drawn to them after ballistic evidence was missed in investigations involving shot police officers. According to the article there was also concern about the recent spike in disciplinary issues in the unit. A former Crime Scene Investigator was quoted as saying "More panic management, the top people don't know what they are doing, so they panic and slap people for every little thing. A sign of trouble." The Police Commissioner is reported as being so concerned he has hired an outside expert to look into the practices of the unit.

Another article in the NY Daily News on February 2, 2008 mentioned a lack of manpower and shortcuts demanded by D.I. Gomula led to cases being compromised again and again. The article mentions claims from sources that on the day of the Sean Bell shooting a rush to prepare charts and diagrams for a briefing led to ballistic evidence being overlooked. Ballistic evidence was later found by the Internal Affairs Bureau according to the article.

In yet another story printed in the Daily News on March 3, 2008 a retired Detective named Ira Scott claimed that he was injured in an incident while assigned to the Crime Scene Unit and that he was retaliated against by the supervisors in the unit for filing a claim for the injury. The article also states that at least four other Detectives are considering filing charges that they were denied promotions or specialized training by the Commanding Officer or other supervisors. Detective Scott's lawyer Eric Sanders was quoted as saying "The collective managerial incompetence has led to the downfall of this elite unit." Claims were also made that the Commanding Officer Gary Gomula fired his service weapon during a training session almost striking two Detectives and that he improperly removed a shotgun from a crime scene to show it in a press briefing before it was photographed in the scene, something that would violate most common practices for processing a crime scene.

Most recently an article printed on March 4, 2008 in the Daily News attributed a major error in the handling of the crime scene involving the police shooting of Sean Bell to the Executive Officer Captain Michael Kletzel. The article claims that in a rush to try and find a firearm in the car belonging to Sean Bell, Captain Kletzel ordered members of the Crime Scene Unit to dismantle the vehicle's door before the scene was finished being processed. They claim that this was done in such a rushed and unorganized manner that the door's hinges were lost and replacements had to be purchased from a local junkyard. The door being removed becomes an issue according to the article because a reconstruction of the shooting was to be done at a later date and the door being removed could alter the results. Assistant Chief Michael Collins stated that these accusations were a smear campaign against the supervisors in the unit by disgruntled unit members and that the door being removed was a non-issue and had no bearing on the investigation.

Evidence Collection Teams

The Evidence Collection Teams are tasked with the collection of evidence at crime scenes in their respective boroughs that are not determined to be at the level necessary to require the Crime Scene Unit. Each patrol borough (Manhattan South, Manhattan North, Bronx, Staten Island, Queens North, Queens South, Brooklyn North and Brooklyn South) has their own Evidence Collection Team under the control of the respective borough commander. The Evidence Collection Teams are staffed by Police Officers, Sergeants and usually headed by a Lieutenant.

The Evidence Collection Teams were started in Manhattan South by Lt. James Robert (Ret.) to take some of the pressure off the Crime Scene Unit and the precinct detective squads by forming a forensic unit to bridge the gap between precinct latent print officers and the Crime Scene Unit. The Evidence Collection Team handles burglaries, robberies, assaults where the victim is not likely to die, suicides and any other crime determined by the borough commanders.

Many of the Police Officers that originally started in the Evidence Collection Team have gone on to transfer to the Crime Scene Unit and become Detectives. This transfer is difficult (due to the change from the Patrol Services Bureau to the Detective Bureau, as well as the fact that there are over 150 members of the various Evidence Collection Teams usually vying for one or two slots in Crime Scene.

Although Crime Scene is expected to handle many of the newsworthy or high-profile cases in the city quite often the Manhattan South Evidence Collection Team is called out to jobs in the Midtown Manhattan area that involve celebrities and wind up on the cover of national news papers. Recent examples of this include the shooting involving Remy Ma (the rapper) as well as the incident involving Sean "Puffy" Combs and Jennifer Lopez in December 1999. Here is a link to an evidence voucher prepared by a police officer in Manhattan South http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/puffyprop3.html

Transit Bureau

Further information: New York City Transit Police

The NYPD Transit Bureau is a separate branch of the NYPD that patrols and responds to emergencies within the New York City transit system. Its responsibility includes the NYC Subways in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. However, there are certain units that have citywide responsibilities such as the Homeless Outreach Unit and the Vandals Task Force.

The Transit Bureau is divided into Transit Borough Commands. These Borough Commands generally follow the boundaries of the City's geographical boroughs, although there are some notable exceptions. Since there are no subways on Staten Island, there are only four Transit Boroughs: Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Each Transit Borough is further divided into Transit Districts.

As a general rule, each Borough is commanded by an Inspector while Transit Districts tend to be commanded by Captains. The NYPD Detective Bureau investigates all crimes that occur in Transit. Each borough office has assigned detectives from the Detective Bureau similar to the Precinct Detective Squad. As of June 15, 2006 all detectives assigned to investigate transit crimes will fall under a unified command [Central Robbery Section] of the Detective Bureau's Special Investigations Division.

Housing Bureau

Further information: New York City Police Department Housing Bureau

The Housing Bureau is responsible for providing the security and delivery of police services to 420,000 residents, employees and guests of public housing (projects) throughout New York City. They are stationed in Police Service Areas (PSA), which are almost identical to police precincts, with nine PSAs in total located throughout the five boroughs. Officers often do vertical patrols, making sure illegal activity does not take place in the halls, stairways, or the roof.

Highway Patrol

Further information: New York City Police Department Highway Patrol

Transportation Bureau

Further information: New York City Police Department Transportation Bureau

Structure

NYPD patrol mounted on horseback (New Year's Eve 2005/06)

Patrol Boroughs

For management purposes, police precincts are grouped collectively based on their jurisdiction into the Patrol Boroughs. There are eight Patrol Boroughs. They are: Manhattan North, Manhattan South, Brooklyn North, Brooklyn South, Queens North, Queens South, Bronx, and Staten Island. Each Patrol Borough has a number of police precincts and the grand total of police precincts in New York City is 76.

Police precincts

Each Patrol Borough is composed of precincts. Each precinct is responsible for safety and law enforcement within a designated geographic area. Police units based in these precincts patrol and respond to emergencies.

Staten Island currently has three precincts: the 120, 122, and 123. A 122 satellite precinct opened in December 2005 adjacent to the Staten Island Mall on Richmond Avenue. Currently, the department is building a brand new 120 precinct in a new location to replace the current one, and is building a fourth precinct for the Island, which will be the 121 precinct.

Queens South began operating a satellite for the large 105 Precinct in the southern part of the precinct next to the Rosedale LIRR station in July, 2007. This building was, until then, the quarters for the Queens South Task Force, the Q.S. Auto-Larceny Unit, the Q.S. Anti-Crime Unit, the Q.S. Evidence Collection Team and the Detective Bureau's Queens Major Case Squad.

Line of duty deaths

NYPD Line of Duty deaths

Type	number	Type	number
9/11 related illness	23	Accidental	10
Aircraft accident	7	Animal related	17
Asphyxiation	3	Assault	31
Automobile accident	50	Bicycle accident	4
Boating accident	5	Bomb	2
Drowned	12	Duty related illness	10
Electrocuted	5	Explosion	8
Exposure	1	Fall	12
Fire	14	Gunfire	321
Gunfire (Accidental)	23	Heart attack	44
Motorcycle accident	36	Stabbed	24
Struck by streetcar	7	Struck by train	5
Struck by vehicle	37	Structure collapse	3
Terrorist attack	24	Vehicle pursuit	12
Vehicular assault	20

From December 25, 1806 to November 5, 2007, the NYPD has lost 758 officers in the line of duty. This figure includes officers from agencies that were absorbed or became a part of the modern NYPD in addition to the modern department itself. The NYPD lost 23 officers on September 11, 2001.

Allegations of police misconduct and the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB)

Main article: Civilian Complaint Review Board

Over the years, NYPD officers have come under public scrutiny with allegations of corruption, brutality, excessive use of force, and poor firearm discipline. Individual incidents have tended to receive more publicity; a portion of which have been substantiated while others have not. The Knapp Commission in the 1970s, and the Mollen Commission in 1994 have led to reforms within the NYPD aimed to improve police accountability. However in recent years, likely due to low salaries and declining morale, many more off-duty NYPD officers are being arrested and charged in and outside the city for crimes ranging from drunk driving to homicide.

One of the department's most spectacular cases of corruption was that of Lt. Charles Becker, who holds the dubious distinction of being the only NYPD officer ever to die in the electric chair.

Due to repeated public outcry over these and many other incidents, specifically, the Tompkins Square Riot of the 1988, and the Crown Heights Riot, prompted the creation of the Civilian Complaint Review Board (known commonly by its acronym, the CCRB) in 1993, an independent investigative unit of entirely civilian investigators (with some being former members of the NYPD), who investigate allegations of Force, Discourtesy, Offensive Language and Abuse of Authority made by members of the public against members of the NYPD. Complaints are made directly to the CCRB, through the city's 311 information system, online at nyc.gov/ccrb, or at any Precinct within the city limits. This was the third iteration (after an attempt by Mayor Lindsay and Mayor Koch before to create "mixed" review boards), but was the first to employ an all civilian Board and investigative staff.

The CCRB exits today as a fully independent civil department, staffed with 142 investigators and about a dozen miscellaneous employees. Additionally, three officers from the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau work with the CCRB at their office at 40 Rector Street as, "IAB Liaison," officers, including a senior Detective Lieutenant. Their role is to provide the Investigators with access to certain restricted NYPD documentation quickly and efficiently without having to wait the lengthy processing period document requests normally take (sometimes outlasting the course of an investigation).

The agency is headed by the 13 board members, who defer day-to-day operational command to an Executive Director (currently Ms. Joan Thompson, as of September 18, 2007, formally Ms. Florence Finkle, Esq.), who is then followed by a newly created position called, "First Deputy Executive Director," which was formerly known as the Assistant Deputy Executive Director before that position was transformed into its new form. The Agency then separates into several divisions, the largest being the Investigative division, led by a Deputy Executive Director of Investigations, followed by five Assistant Deputy Executive Directors (a newly created series of positions, occupied by only one Assistant Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Dorsh, prior to his promotion). The division is then broken down into 8 Investigative Teams, lead by an Investigative Manager, along with a Supervising Investigator and an Assistant Supervising Investigator. Promotions to Assistant Supervising Investigator and Supervising Investigator are not granted to Investigators based on tenure or results, but rather are arbitrarily chosen by senior management. The remaining Investigators fall into Level I and Level II, which simply denotes tenure, experience and pay grade.

The agency is also broken down into an Administrative Division, which includes Human Resources, Information Management Unit and the Case Management Unit (which stores all records of past cases), amongst others, which is lead by the Deputy Executive Director of Administration. There are then four other directorships, including the new, "Research and Strategic Initiatives Director," as well as the Mediation Unit Director. There is also an accomplished attorney, Mr. Ghram Daw, Esq., who serves as the Agency's legal counsel. These units compliment and serve the Investigations Unit, which acts as the main focal point of the Agency.

Each complaint the agency receives is assessed by one of the Investigative Managers on a daily rotating basis, and has its merits checked for proper jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is first assessed by type of allegations. Only allegations that fall under the jurisdiction of the CCRB are investigated by the CCRB. These include Force (whether use of force was justified), Abuse of Authority (which includes racial profiling, unauthorized searches and seizures, inappropriate entry onto property, etc.), Discourtesy (using foul language, acting in a rude and unprofessional manner, flashing rude and offensive gestures, etc.) and Offensive Language, which is more specific than Discourtesy, and includes racial slurs, ethnic slurs, sexist slurs, homophobic slurs and comments of that nature. Jurisdiction is also determined by the officers involved. As many types of officers work in the City of New York (such as the MTA Police, the Port Authority Police and the New York State Police), complainants encounter all of these officers in their day-to-day lives. Only incidents involving members of the NYPD are investigated by the CCRB. Cases that do not fall within the CCRB's jurisdiction are then forwarded to the respective jurisdiction (usually, the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, the Office of the Chief of Department or the respective organization in question, such as another police department).

The cases are then assigned to one of 142 civilian investigators, who are members of one of 8 teams (as of 2006), who then attempts to contact the civilian who initially complained. After initial assignment, there are four conclusive dispositions that result only from a full investigation, and five other "miscellaneous," or inconclusive dispositions. These are Substantiated, Unsubstantiated, Exonerated and Unfounded along with Complainant Uncooperative, Complainant Unavailable, Officers Unidentified, Miscellaneous (i.e. the MOS has retired since the incident occurred) and Mediated, respectively. If contact with the civilian complainant is not achieved after five contact attempts by telephone and two letters by mail, and the contact information is confirmed the case is automatically closed with a disposition of, "Complainant Uncooperative." If the civilian can not be located after a diligent search and/or did not provide accurate or correct contact information, the case is automatically closed as, "Complainant Unavailable." These types of cases are not considered, "full investigations," but are tallied together with the total number of complaints for statistical purposes. It should be noted that while not stated on their web page, all communications with Investigators and both civilians and Members of Service are tape recorded as well as transcribed, to ensure accuracy. Additionally, contrary to popular (and occasionally published belief, see a former CCRB Investigator's misstatements and an Officer's misunderstanding in Vice Magazine's article on the CCRB), all statements made to a CCRB Investigator on the record are considered sworn testimony, and are treated as such legally. All Investigators are Commissioners of Deeds by requirement and may depose anyone within New York City limits.

If the civilian is contacted, a statement is initially taken over the phone by the investigator to further ensure proper jurisdiction and to gain a basic understanding of the broad facts within the complaint. An in-person interview is then scheduled at the CCRB's office at 40 Rector Street, at which point, the investigator meets with the civilian and any witnesses s/he brings with them that were present at the time of the incident and interviews each person separately. The investigator then transcribes the interview, submits a, "case plan," to one of their three supervisors (each team having an Assistant Supervising Investigator, a Supervising Investigator and an Investigative Manager). Once the case plan is approved, the investigator must then begin their investigation, which involves identifying all subject and witness officers involved. If the investigator fails to identify the officers, the case is closed as, "Officers Unidentified." Once the officers are identified, which is done by obtaining a variety of NYPD documents, including SPRINTS/911 tapes to identify which officer(s) responded to the call in question, roll calls from specific commands, to see which officers were working in the area of question during the time of the incident, Command Logs from respective commands, to determine if the incident was logged and which officer logged it, Memo Books of Officers or DD5s of Detectives, to search for possible notes about the incident, along with arrest records, court records, photographs, Complaint Reports, Accident Reports, AIDED reports, Stop, Question and Possibly Frisk Reports (UF-250s), to name only a few.

Once the officer is identified, s/he is then scheduled to give a statement to the investigator and must attend, according to Patrol Guide 211.13. An officer failing to appear or lying to an investigator is, in itself, a violation that could result in severe discipline up to and including suspension and possibly termination. Each officer and their partner at the time, along with any witness officers are interviewed and questioned about the incident by the investigator. This interview is also taped and transcribed, and based upon the officers testimony, further information is obtained by the investigator, including subpoenaed medical records, further department documentation, field canvasses and their resulting information, and so on.

After all civilians and members of service are interviewed and all possible relevant documentation has been received and analyzed, the investigator then collects any relevant case law and begins their, "recommendation," which is their report, averaging about 10-12 pages, on the case in question. The report is broken down in to relatively strict (each team has their own, "style," dictated by the Team Managers and Supervisors, and even then, can and often does vary between internal team supervision), template of investigative analysis. The report includes a summary of all complaints made, an explanation of the circumstances of the case, a summation of the statements by the officers and civilians, a credibility assessment of the officers and the civilians (at which point, the investigator is supposed to weigh in criminal history of civilians and CCRB history of officers, as well as inconsistencies between accounts, motivation of the civilian and the overall possibility of an incident occurring), a summation of criminal and CCRB history of the civilians and officers respectively and finally a recommendation for disposition on each complaint, which breaks down into four main categories (beyond the technical variants mentioned in part earlier): Substantiated, meaning the officer committed the act in question and it consisted of misconduct; Unsubstantiated, meaning that there is not a preponderance of evidence either way to determine if the incident occurred as described and/or the incident consisted of misconduct; Exonerated meaning that the incident occurred but did not consist of misconduct, either because the officers actions were justified or did not actually consist of misconduct; Unfounded meaning that the incident did not occur as described and no misconduct occurred.

The recommendations are then reviewed by at least two team level supervisors who then approve or instruct the investigator to "correct" their findings, and upon approval submit the case to the Board, which is composed of 13 members of the NYC community, five of whom are appointed by the mayor, five of whom are appointed by the City Council (with each borough represented), and three appointed by the Police Commissioner. The Board is currently headed by Ms. Franklyn Stone, Esq., the first woman ever to chair the Board. Once the Board receives the complaint, either as a full board, or, more likely, as a three member sub-unit, they meet to discuss the case and then vote on the recommendations of the investigator. If the Board agrees with the investigator, the dispositions stand and the case is then closed or forwarded to the Police Commissioner in cases that involve Substantiations. All cases sent to the Police Commissioner come with recommendation of discipline made by the Board, which the Commissioner has the privilege to review and enforce or overrule. In fact, if s/he so chooses, the Commissioner can essentially dismiss the complaint once he receives it. However, it remains on an Officers' record for the length of their career, regardless of the disposition. Public meetings are held to communicate recent statistics and "snapshots," of some of the more straightforward cases are published as examples for the public's understanding and announced at this page.

In 2006, the CCRB received 7,669 complaints from civilians, and closed 7,399 cases, of which 2,680 were full investigations (meaning that the civilian participated, the officer(s) were identified and an investigation was closed after doing a full and through investigation). Approximately 6% of the full investigations resulted in a Substantiated disposition. 262 cases were mediated, which is an option for certain complaints provided the officer does not have an extensive CCRB history, there was no arrest made and severe force or abuse of authority were not involved. In mediation, the officer and civilian both voluntarily bypass the investigative process and meet each other one-on-one with a third party mediator to discuss the incident and resolve it. This results in no disciplinary action being taken against the officer and often results in a more satisfied civilian as an outcome. CCRB Homepage

The CCRB remains the only completely civilian oversight of the New York Police Department in the City, and is complimented by the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau, and the Mayor's Task Force on Police Corruption, each charged with investigating different types of allegations. The CCRB and its acronym FADO (for the first letter of the allegations it investigates) has permeated all ranks of the NYPD and is part of all officers' training at the Police Academy. Additionally, the number of complaints has risen steadily since 2002 as the 311 system was implemented and public awareness of the program grew.

NYPD Crime Laboratory Scandal

In 2007 The New York state inspector general said that the New York City Police Department's crime lab cut corners analyzing evidence and submitted results in drug cases without having done the required tests in 2002.

Serious errors were made by the police lab under since-reformed practices, Inspector General Kristine Hamann said in referring her report to the Queens District Attorney's office for possible criminal investigation. She said past officials failed to appropriately monitor some lab workers' performance and enforce standards.

"The integrity of evidence is a cornerstone of law enforcement," Hamann said. "These lapses were a threat not only to the prosecution of drug crimes, but to the public's trust in our criminal justice system."

She noted that the city has made significant improvements since the improper practices in 2002.

City police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne noted that the police department made the failures public and the lab workers involved have been removed or left their positions. The lab staff has been increased and more rigorous safeguards are in place, Browne said. He said the crime lab received a 98.4 percent grade in its most recent accreditation assessment by the American Society of Crime Laboratory/Laboratory Assessment Board, which was done in October.

Browne said former lab director W. Mark Dale retired in 2004 and his successor, Dr. Peter Pizzola, found "the lapse in notification and made the necessary notifications in April to state officials, district attorneys and a national accreditation body."

Hamann said her investigation began after the state Division of Criminal Justice Services asked her to investigate allegations of "dry labbing" - sending results to police and prosecutors without doing the actual lab tests - in 2002.

She said her investigators found that lab officials were told in April 2002 an assistant chemist skipped steps when analyzing narcotics evidence and many others did the same. But the lab staff wasn't questioned and the claim wasn't investigated. She said a double check of two lab workers' results found incorrect answers, but no immediate action was taken against the employees.

The lab is now searching past cases for any erroneous reports, Hamann said. The prosecutors in all five boroughs have been alerted.

Knapp Commission

Main article: Knapp Commission

In 1970, police officer Frank Serpico and other officers, testified before the Knapp Commission about the corruption he witnessed in the department. The Commission's findings led to reforms within the department, developed by Commissioner Patrick Murphy. Reforms included decentralizing corruption control, within Field Investigative Units, which were intended to be closer and more in touch with the streets where the problems were.

Other incidents

Some of the higher-profile incidents involving allegations of police misconduct within the NYPD are summarized as follows:

• In 1962, the future convicted Bonanno crime family mobster Frank Lino was arrested for his alleged involvement in the shootings of two Brooklyn police detectives. The detectives, aged 28 and 56, were shot dead during a holdup of a tobacco store in Gravesend, Brooklyn, where Lino and two others netted $5,000. Lino was charged with the murders after supplying a getaway vehicle for one of the "stick-up men" so that he could then flee to Chicago. Lino was one of the five men charged after being taken to the 66th Precinct for an interrogation. During Lino's interrogation, he claimed that police officers drove staples into his hands and a broomstick up his rectum. He alleged that the abuse resulted in a broken leg and arm. Lino was later released with three years probation after he threatened to sue the city for police brutality. He also claimed that the uncontrollable blinking of his eyes was a direct result of the alleged beating.

• In August 1988, a riot erupted in Alphabet City's Tompkins Square Park in the East Village of Manhattan when police attempted to enforce a newly-passed curfew for the park. Bystanders, artists, residents, homeless people and political activists clashed with police on the night of August 6 and the early morning of the following day. In a report released by Commissioner Benjamin Ward, the police department's actions were "not well planned, staffed, supervised or executed... which culminated in a riot."

• On September 16, 1992, at a political rally at New York City Hall led by then-mayoral candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani, police officers were encouraged to vent their frustration with Mayor David Dinkins and ultimately rioted, overturning and stomping vehicles belonging to city officials. In fear for the safety of the building and its inhabitants, Dinkins ordered City Hall to be locked down to prevent the police from entering.

• On December 22, 1994, 29-year old Anthony Baez was choked to death by police officer Francis X. Livoti in the University Heights section of the Bronx. In 1998, Livoti was convicted of violating Baez' civil rights, and two other officers were convicted of lying on the witness stand at Livoti's trial.

• On August 9, 1997, Police Officer Justin Volpe in Brooklyn sodomized Abner Louima with a broken broom handle in the 70th Precinct bathroom. Officer Volpe eventually pled guilty and received a sentence of 30 years in federal prison. Other officers were also implicated and convicted on charges stemming from the initial cover-up.

• On February 4, 1999, four plainclothes NYPD officers working under the Street Crimes Unit fired 41 gunshots at Amadou Diallo, killing him instantly. Diallo, whom the officers mistook for a since-convicted rapist, was later found to be unarmed. The officers were subsequently acquitted, but the City of New York and the NYPD later paid out US$3,000,000 to Diallo's parents in a civil suit. Following the controversy, the Street Crimes Unit was abolished three years later.

• On March 16, 2000, undercover narcotics detectives shot Patrick Dorismond to death during a scuffle on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. The detectives had approached Dorismond, an unarmed security guard, to purchase drugs. He attacked the undercover officer and was killed with one shot by the officer in self-defense.

• On May 22, 2003, 43-year old Ousmane Zongo, an immigrant from Burkina Faso, was shot four times by Police Officer Bryan Conroy in a Chelsea warehouse. In 2005, Conroy was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to 5 years probation. In 2006, the city awarded the Zongo family $3 million to settle a wrongful death suit.

• On January 24, 2004, Housing Bureau officer Richard Neri, Jr. accidentally shot to death Timothy Stansbury, a 19-year-old black man who was trespassing on the roof landing of a Bedford-Stuyvesant housing project. Stansbury was unarmed but had apparently startled Neri upon opening the roof door coming upon the officer. At that point, Neri discharged his service firearm and mortally wounded Stansbury. Although Commissioner Kelly stated that the shooting appeared "unjustified", a Brooklyn jury found that no criminal act occurred and that the event was a tragic accident. Neri was thus cleared of all charges. The city later agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Stansbury family. A grand jury declined to indict Neri but Kelly later suspended him for 30 days without pay and permanently stripped him of his weapon.

• On November 25, 2006, plainclothes police officers shot and killed Sean Bell and wounded two of his companions, one critically, outside of the Kalua Cabaret in Queens. No weapon was recovered. According to the police, Bell rammed his vehicle into an undercover officer and hit an unmarked NYPD minivan twice, prompting undercover officers to fire fifty rounds into Bell's car. A bullet piercing the nearby AirTrain JFK facility startled two Port Authority patrolmen stationed there. An undercover officer claims he heard one of the unarmed man's companions threaten to get his gun to settle a fight with another individual. On April 25, 2008, Justice Arthur Cooperman cleared Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora manslaughter charges and Detective Marc Cooper of recklass endangerment in the death of Sean Bell.

• On November 12, 2007, five NYPD police officers shot and killed 18-year-old Khiel Coppin. The officers responded to a 911 call where Coppin could be heard saying he had a gun. When the officers arrived at the scene, Khiel approached officers with a black object in his hand. He repeatedly ignored orders to stop and pointed the object, which was later identified as a hairbrush, at the officers. This prompted officers to open fire at Coppin. Of the 20 shots fired, 8 hit Khiel, who died at the scene. This shooting has been ruled to be justified within both the NYPD guidlines regarding the use of deadly force and the New York State Penal Law provisions, so no charges, criminal or administrative, will be filed against these officers.

NYPD medals

The department presents a number of medals to its members for meritorious service. The medals the NYPD awards are as follows (from highest medal to lowest):

• Medal of Honor (Solid green bar speckled tiny gold stars)is awarded for:

Individual acts of extraordinary bravery intelligently performed in the line of duty at imminent and personal danger to life. Specifically, the Department Medal of Honor is awarded for acts of gallantry and valor performed with knowledge of the risk involved, above and beyond the call of duty.

• Police Combat Cross (Solid green bar) is awarded for:

Members who have successfully and intelligently performed an act of extraordinary heroism, while engaged in personal combat with an armed adversary under circumstances of imminent personal hazard to life.

• Medal for Valor (Solid blue bar) is awarded for:

Acts of outstanding personal bravery intelligently performed in the line of duty at imminent personal hazard to life under circumstances evincing a disregard of personal consequences.

• Honorable Mention (Displayed wearing the MPD medal with a silver star in the middle)is awarded for:

An act of extraordinary bravery intelligently performed in the line of duty at imminent and personal danger to life.

• Exceptional Merit (Displayed wearing the MPD medal with a green star in the middle)

Awarded for an act of bravery intelligently performed involving person risk to life.

• Commendation or Commendation - Integrity (Displayed wearing the MPD medal with a bronze star in the middle)

a. grave personal danger in the performance of duty, OR b. a highly credible, unusual police accomplishment.

• Commendation - Community Service Displayed wearing the MPD medal with a blue star in the middle)

a. An act which demonstrates devotion to a Community service. b. An idea implemented that improves conditions within a Community.

• Meritorious Police Duty (MPD) is awarded for:

a. An act of intelligent and valuable police service demonstrating special faithfulness or perseverance, OR b. Highly creditable acts of police service over a period of time.

• Excellent Police Duty (EPD) is awarded for:

a. An intelligent act materially contributing to a valuable accomplishment, OR b. Submission of a device or method adopted to increase efficiency in an administrative or tactical procedure.

The department also awards a Purple Shield to those injured or killed in the line of duty.

Demographics

The NYPD is majority white with an increasing number of minority officers. Amongst minorities 17.4% of the officers are African American, 26.5% Hispanic, and 3.8% Asian American. This compares to a city population that is 27% Hispanic, 26.6% African American, and 9.8% Asian American. In 1970, there were only 300 sworn Hispanic officers on the force, in today's department there are over 9,000 sworn Hispanic officers. 2005 marked the first academy class that was majority minority where only 45.2% of the graduates were non-Hispanic Whites.

Affiliations

• The department is affiliated with the New York City Police Museum.
• The department also runs a Summer Youth Police academy to provide positive interaction with police officers and to educate young people about the challenges and responsibility of police work.
• The department also provides a citizen Police Academy which educates the public on basic law and policing procedures.

Service Pistols

Officers of the NYPD are issued a 9mm Service pistol that fires in DAO (Double Action Only). Currently authorized pistols for new officers to select from include the SIG P226 (DAO), Smith & Wesson 5946 (DAO), and Glock 19 (All modified to a nominal 12 pound trigger pull). Senior officers who joined prior to 1993 are still authorized to carry Smith & Wesson Model 64 .38 Special Revolvers.

Fictional portrayals

Further information: List of fictional portrayals of the NYPD

The NYPD is behind perhaps only cowboys and gangsters in terms of public fascination, as measured by movie and television treatments. Over the years, countless fictional or fictionalized depictions of the department have emerged into popular culture--and not all such depictions have shown the department or its personnel as being above reproach.

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in New York
• New York City Police Commissioner
• New York City Police Department Highway Patrol
• New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police
• New York City Police Department Cadet Corps
• New York City Housing Authority Police Department
• New York City Transit Police
• NYPD Rodman's Neck Firing Range
• New York City Police Foundation
• New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board
• Real time crime center
• Police memorabilia collecting
• Thomas F. Byrnes

External links

• NYPD Homepage
• On the Front Line in the War on Terrorism, City Journal, Summer 2007
• NYPD-Badges
• Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association
• Unofficial School Safety Myspace Page
• Full listing of NYPD Officers who have been killed in the line of duty
• NYCPR and COPP NYC police misconduct organizations
• NY Daily News March 12, 2007
• From database to crime scene: Network is potent police weapon, by Thomas Lueck, New York Times, June 7, 2007
• AM New York, December 8, 2006
• Google Earth NYPD Car Model
• Site with instruments used by Stephen Hasbrouck, First Surgeon General of the Department *Homepage for the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the only official Civilian Oversight of Police Misconduct in NYC
• Collection of NYPD-Badges and Informations about the NYPD