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Greater NYPD Oversight Would Just Be "A Distraction," Says Mayoral Candidate Liu
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Mar 26, 2013
Modified Mar 28, 2013
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Christopher Parypa / Shutterstock.com
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Mar 26, 2013
Modified Mar 28, 2013
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Last week, Comptroller and mayoral candidate John Liu noted that the systematic dysfunction of the NYPD might lead him to dismiss not only commissioner Ray Kelly, but other high rankings members of the department. "You have branches of chiefs, who have been there for a long time, and I don't think that they reflect New Yorkers today," Liu said. "So it's not just about the commissioner, it's about the branches of top chiefs." Liu had also expressed support for establishing an Inspector General for the NYPD, but not anymore. “The more I think about it, the less sense it makes,” Liu told the Wall Street Journal. "I don't support it."
The Comptroller went on to call the creation of an IG a "distraction," and said that the most salient issue with the department is stop-and-frisk. Liu, Joe Lhota, Sal Albanese, and John Catsimatidis are now the only mayoral candidates who oppose the creation of the office as part of a larger package of bills called the Community Safety Act, currently being debated by the City Council.
Liu is also the only mayoral candidate who wants to end stop-and-frisk entirely, and has called it "racial profiling." Yet the largest police force in the country that carries out the racial profiling shouldn't be monitored by an independent entity?
We asked Liu how his new position on an Inspector General for the NYPD squares with his idea that the department's leadership has drifted from the beliefs of "New Yorkers today," and we'll update if we get a response.
If the fact that the three checks on the NYPD's power are 1) The NYPD, 2) Ray Kelly's friend and 3) An organization whose determinations can be overridden by Ray Kelly isn't enough to persuade you of the department's need for an Inspector General, let Leonard Levitt tell you the story of how the NYPD formally responded to Adrian Schoolcraft's allegations of stat-fudging.
In a department press release, Kelly said that the committee, composed of David Kelley, Sharon McCarthy and Robert Morvillo, would “complete its work over the next six months with the full cooperation of all units in the Police Department. "The integrity of our crime reporting system is of the utmost importance to the department,” the release read.
It’s now nearly two and a half years later. Morvillo has died. The committee has produced nothing. What has Mayor Bloomberg said or done about the lack of a report? He has said and done nothing. Maybe an Inspector General can discover what happened to the committee’s report.
Levitt's column is particularly devastating in noting how much authority Bloomberg has relinquished to Kelly: "Bloomberg is a billionaire dilettante when it comes to law enforcement."
Tagged
inspector general
john liu
mayoral election
nypd
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
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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