The NYPD Tapes

[Alphawolf55]

NYPD Tapes part 2


NYPD Tapes part 2

Way too long to post here but basically it's an article about how a cop concerned by how his department is acting decides to record his fellow cops and his superiors on the radio and on the streets during encounters. It details how cops were told specifically to arrest people for anything they could find (including merely being on the sidewalk)and to articulate a reason later, to intimidate victims of theft and to try not to always respond to crimes to lower reported crime rates.

The line that strikes me the most is when a lieutenant telling the cops to be more aggressive say in regards to people standing on the side walk "If they don't move, they are going to get out of control and think that they own the block. They don't own the block. We own the block. They might live there, but we own the block. We own the streets here."

The whole thing is an interesting read and is ongoing.

[Alphawolf55]

So no opinion on this?

[Mayabird]

This was up for not even an hour when it's night in the U.S. during the work week. You learn some freaking patience.
[line 2]

[Cyborg Stan]

Actually, it was up for nearly 12. AM and PM.

[Molyneux]

A remarkable similarity to gang violence, so far as I can see.
I do feel sorry for the lower-down cops, though - caught between a rock and a hard place, with their higher-ups pushing them to abuse their authority.

[Mayabird]

Son of a bitch. This is why I shouldn't post way after what should be my bedtime. Sorry, man.

Could that "arrest anyone for any reason" thing be descended from that broken windows hypothesis about cracking down on petty crimes?

[Alphawolf55]

It's cool.

From what it sounds like, partially but more in that they want to achieve quotas. Police often deny the existence of quotas, when presented with facts that show there are quotes, they switch that the quotas aren't illegal because there's no punishment for not achieving it, this shows that's false.

Basically the police are trying to achieve quotas by arresting for anything and they're trying to get crime statistics down by refusing to cover certain crimes like robbery or write the crime off as a lesser crime. For example someone was knocked out, and robbed of their possessions and that became 'Missing goods"

[Mayabird]

It's cool.

From what it sounds like, partially but more in that they want to achieve quotas. Police often deny the existence of quotas, when presented with facts that show there are quotes, they switch that the quotas aren't illegal because there's no punishment for not achieving it, this shows that's false.

Basically the police are trying to achieve quotas by arresting for anything and they're trying to get crime statistics down by refusing to cover certain crimes like robbery or write the crime off as a lesser crime. For example someone was knocked out, and robbed of their possessions and that became 'Missing goods"

Yeah, but where do these quotas come from originally? When did police start having these quotas to fill? Did they come about because people wanted the petty crimes prosecuted, or was it just some general thing dating back farther where people wanted to feel reassured by knowing the police were arresting a lot of people? (I'm guessing traffic cops are a bit different, since those quotas are probably set by "we want to make $____ this month.")

[Jalinth]

\
Yeah, but where do these quotas come from originally? When did police start having these quotas to fill? Did they come about because people wanted the petty crimes prosecuted, or was it just some general thing dating back farther where people wanted to feel reassured by knowing the police were arresting a lot of people? (I'm guessing traffic cops are a bit different, since those quotas are probably set by "we want to make $____ this month.")

Numbers are manipulated in both ways. Police want to look they are busy doing their jobs (so lots of activity) but also want to keep major crime statistics down, so either not record or downgrade some crime reports to make them look better and also improve the closure rate.

The numbers would be a "discussion" between the politicos and top police brass, and would trickle down to the street level as a "target" to implement whatever crime fighting flavour of the week is up. But in NYC, look at the stop and frisk vs arrest ratios. Truly pathetic and indicating the NYPD targets people at random and those who have the misfortune (meaning lack of cash) of living or looking like they live in the wrong parts of the city.

[Kuroji]

Yeah, but where do these quotas come from originally? When did police start having these quotas to fill? Did they come about because people wanted the petty crimes prosecuted, or was it just some general thing dating back farther where people wanted to feel reassured by knowing the police were arresting a lot of people? (I'm guessing traffic cops are a bit different, since those quotas are probably set by "we want to make $____ this month.")

In my experience it's the higher-ups wanting numbers to show that their people are doing good. Chief says 'I want everyone to have at least two citation books filled out by the end of the week' or something along those lines (50 citations in 7 days, doable if you stay busy). Rather stupid, but then it's the same line of thought that gets programmers paid per line of code they write.

[Ryan Thunder]

Rather stupid, but then it's the same line of thought that gets programmers paid per line of code they write.

Whoa, where do they do that? I may look for work there if my current job ever dries up...

[Alphawolf55]

What surprises me though is that no one is talking about it. No news stations or anything.

[Molyneux]

What surprises me though is that no one is talking about it. No news stations or anything.

Simple question: who owns the news stations?
Though I doubt that it is anything as sinister as that, it is not unknown for news stations to avoid reporting on harsh stories in order to keep favored status for information. Not to mention that it probably wouldn't do as well in ratings as the latest celebrity scandal.

[Alphawolf55]

Still it annoys the fuck out of me.