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NYPD Drug-Planting Costs City At Least $1.2 Million
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 16, 2011
Modified Oct 16, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 16, 2011
Modified Oct 16, 2011
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While people seem to be understandably interested in the violent arrests made by the NYPD during the Occupy Wall Street protests, lets not forget about the widespread practice of planting drugs on innocent suspects! "Flaking," as it's called, has reportedly cost the city $1.2 million to settle cases of false arrests. The Daily News reports that the settlements range from $15,000 to $300,000, not to mention the untold amounts of time and money wasted on prosecuting false cases. But hey, crime's down!
Former narcotics Detective Stephen Anderson testified at the drugs-planting trial of Detective Jason Arbeeny, and said, "The corruption I observed... was something I was seeing a lot of, whether it was from supervisors or undercovers and even investigators." But Detectives Endowment Association President Michael Palladino tells the paper, "By his own admission, Anderson is clearly involved in wrongdoing, but it's disgraceful that to justify his own actions, he decided to attack the integrity and credibility of his hardworking fellow narcotics detectives."
One Brooklyn defense attorney who has represented dozens of clients who say they were arrested falsely because of planted evidence, says, "The biggest problem in the Police Department, it seems to me, is the lack of accountability." Oh yeah? You're one to talk about credibility after we just found this cocaine in your coat pocket.
Tagged
accountability
compstat
crime
drug planting
narcotics
nypd
nypd corruption
police corruption
quotas
Ray Kelly
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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