NYC POLICE BRUTALITY
Civil rights advocates in the city note, however, that there has been a cost to the new strategy, revealed by steady citizen complaints against more aggressive NYPD officers during the past several years and continuing impunity for many officers who commit human rights violations despite the recent reorganization of both the civilian review board and the police department's internal affairs bureau. In August 1997, after the alleged torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima by police officers made national headlines and outraged city residents, the anti-crime record of the mayor and police department was tarnished. In uncharacteristic fashion, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir condemned the officers implicated in the incident as well as those who reportedly did nothing to stop it or report it. In the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board's (CCRB) semiannual report for the first half of 1997, African-Americans and Latinos filed 78 percent of complaints against the police. The police force is 68 percent white. During the independent CCRB's first three-and-a-half years, only 1 percent of all cases disposed of led to the disciplining of a police officer, and out of 18,336 complaints, there have been just on
According to police-abuse experts in the city, the difficulty Human Rights Watch encountered in obtaining information is typical. The CCRB reports that CCRB and the police department's Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB) investigations are often concurrent. CCRB is entirely complaint-driven. Since the CCRB became independent from the police department in 1993, the total allegations received are as follows: 1994: 7,648 (excessive force: 3,079) The CCRB claims this new practice has expedited investigations. If a criminal investigation has begun, the CCRB defers to the relevant district or U.S. attorney. 1997: 7,183 (excessive force: 2,626) The Mollen Commission report noted, "Police unions and fraternal organizations can do much to increase professionalism of our police officers.... Unfortunately, based on our own observations and on information received from prosecutors, corruption investigators, and high-ranking police officials, police unions sometimes fuel the insularity that characterizes police culture." Criminal Prosecution Officer Bernard Cawley testified to the Mollen Commission that he never feared that fellow officers might turn him in:
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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