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Did Ray Kelly Violate NYPD Code Of Conduct By Lying About Anti-Islam Video?
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 26, 2012
Modified Jan 26, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 26, 2012
Modified Jan 26, 2012
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Last year, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly sent multiple letters to the city's Muslim leaders insisting the department "did not participate in" the production of an Islamophobic propaganda film that was screened on a continuous loop for over 1,200 NYPD officers. Then along came The Brennan Center for Justice and their meddlesome Freedom of Information Law requests, Kelly was forced to admit that he did knowingly participate in the film, titled The Third Jihad. And now, as some call for Kelly's resignation, The New York World takes a look at the NYPD guidelines and finds that Popeye probably broke some big rules. Surely he will hold himself accountable!
The NYPD has an internal policy prohibiting false statements, according to a copy of the policy provided by the NYCLU to The New York World. "It would seem that both Kelly and Browne violated this false statement policy - Kelly by 'lying in an official Department document' when he signed letters last year claiming no involvement in Third Jihad’s production, and Browne when he possibly 'created false description of events' by first claiming Kelly’s interview had not taken place, and then stating that it was he who had recommended Kelly do the interview," writes Pei Shan Hoe.
But this opens up a whole can of worms, because if the Kelly and Browne can't bend the truth a little to keep NYC safe, how are they supposed to fill quotas meet productivity goals? “It would certainly not be a stretch to say that, if Browne lied, that would call for dismissal under the policy," says NYCLU spokesman Chris Dunn. "Given that he was personally involved in arranging for the interview, one would certainly think that he knew what he told the Times was not accurate, but that is as far as one can go at this point."
And Noel Leader, the co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, tells Capital New York that Kelly's participation in the film violates the NYPD's Patrol Guide rules barring officers from associating with hateful materials or hateful organizations. "Since I've known officers to be terminated in the past for violating this procedure, he violated it, he should be terminated," says Leader.
So far no officials have called for Kelly to resign, but Councilmember Jumaane Williams has said that Browne should be fired, and other Councilmembers have joined him in calling for an investigation. Mayor Bloomberg stood by Kelly today, telling reporters he has "100 percent confidence" in Kelly and declaring, "Commissioner Kelly should not step down." And despite their frequent criticism of Kelly, the angry wags on the NYPD Rant message board are also standing behind the Commissioner. True to form, they're blaming the Times for reporting the story, with one writing: "OMG will the Times ever stop. If the Ragheads ever take over that Red Rag will last about ten minutes. Kill them all and let allah sort it out!"
Tagged
muslims
nypd
paul browne
Ray Kelly
the third jihad
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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