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NYPD Still Throwing Out Documents In Public Trash Cans
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 28, 2011
Modified Jul 28, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 28, 2011
Modified Jul 28, 2011
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In May, Animal New York's Bucky Turco was strolling by the NYPD's Manhattan South Task Force station house on 42nd Street when he found counter-terrorism plans labeled "law enforcement sensitive" sitting in a trash can. He published the documents on his website, and though the NYPD tried to dismiss him as a dumpster-diving pest, the incident was embarrassing for the department. But it looks like that public shaming wasn't enough to make the NYPD buy the station a shredder, because Turco recently found a new stash of documents... IN THE SAME FREAKING TRASH CAN.
These 12 documents weren’t stamped “law enforcement sensitive," but Turco writes that they "discuss a variety of revisions to the patrol guide which aren’t readily available to the public... that include new tactics for gathering intelligence, identifying fellow officers, the amount of alcohol undercover cops can consume while on duty and other tips that border on common sense, such as determining if a suspect is intoxicated. Spoiler: vomiting and slurred speech is a dead giveaway."
So yeah, nothing revelatory, but what's newsworthy is that the NYPD seems incapable of managing its trash. We know computer technology still eludes much of the department, but are shredders really that futuristic? Or are cops just that lazy? Asked about the discovery, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne was begrudgingly contrite, while also mocking the messenger. "While none of the documents appear to be sensitive, the command should ensure they're shredded," Browne told the Daily News, "especially since someone with a lot of time on his hands is going through the garbage there."
"I don't make it a business of diving through trash," Turco says in his defense, and notes that the documents were not buried in the trash but right on top. "We spend all this money on this high-tech equipment... and they don't even take their trash inside the precinct? This is a sensitive area—it's Times Square."
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animal ny
nypd
Times Square
trash management
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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