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After word of historic legal payout, City Councilmembers demand answers about controversial NYPD unit
By
Samantha Max
Published Mar 2, 2023
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Samantha Max / WNYC
By
Samantha Max
Published Mar 2, 2023
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As news broke Wednesday that New York City is preparing to sign a historic settlement with hundreds of people who were trapped by police and attacked with batons and pepper spray during a 2020 protest in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx, elected officials and activists gathered at City Hall to press the NYPD for answers about the unit responsible for the police response that day.
At the oversight hearing, which had been postponed twice, councilmembers weighed the future of the NYPD’s controversial Strategic Response Group, or SRG — the group that responded to the Mott Haven protest. Most people who spoke at the meeting — councilmembers and members of the public alike — said they want the unit to be disbanded.
“The SRG’s involvement in policing protests, as we have seen, unfortunately, seem to be more about suppression of speech and assembly, and less about keeping everyone safe,” said Jumaane Williams, the city's public advocate.
However, one party was noticeably absent from the hearing: the police department.
The NYPD informed City Hall shortly before the public meeting that it would not send anyone to testify, citing pending lawsuits. The department’s decision not to attend the hearing prompted sharp criticism from multiple councilmembers and New Yorkers who came in search of answers from a unit that has operated largely in the shadows.
“Best believe that I had questions — that we had questions — that will remain unanswered,” Councilmember Tiffany Cabán said. “Because the NYPD brass is scared of accountability, they’re afraid that submitting to the bare minimum of oversight of the City Council would expose the rot at the core of the SRG.”
In a written statement, NYPD Director of Legislative Affairs Michael Clarke noted that more than 80 lawsuits regarding the police response to the 2020 protests are still pending in state and federal courts, including a lawsuit brought by state Attorney General Letitia James. He said the department had signed a confidentiality agreement while negotiations are ongoing.
“Such an agreement is not unusual and is intended to foster open and frank discussion,” Clarke said. “As a result, on advice of counsel from the Law Department, we are not able to answer any questions at this time.”
A department spokesperson also said in a statement that “the NYPD remains committed to publicly discussing the events of that challenging period, including the practices of the department’s Strategic Response Group.”
The hearing was supposed to provide an opportunity to the City Council and members of the public to learn more about the SRG’s training, budget and tactics. More than 100 people also signed up to speak during the public comment period — many of them activists who said they had been arrested or mistreated by members of the unit.
One protester testified that she had received thousands of dollars in settlement money after members of the SRG, who arrested her during a protest in 2020, allegedly beat her, broke her glasses, ripped her backpack and zip-tied her hands so tightly that they caused nerve damage.
“They took away my ability to move through this city without feeling visceral fear at every corner at the sight of a blue uniform,” said Adelina Ceretto. “But maybe the biggest thing that the SRG took from me was the belief that nonviolent dissent is my right as an American.”
A police unit under scrutiny
The SRG started in 2015 as a counterterrorism unit. Since then, the team has grown to about 500 members with a budget of $68.3 million. Its responsibilities have also morphed over the years.
According to Clarke, the SRG’s main function is crime suppression in neighborhoods with high rates of violence. The unit also responds to critical events like active shooter incidents and hostage situations, as well as protests and other major events.
“SRG is comprised of highly trained, well-vetted and professional police officers,” he said.
But many activists, elected officials and watchdog agencies have challenged the unit’s training and tactics. The Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates complaints against police, testified at the hearing that SRG officers accounted for a disproportionate percentage of complaints stemming from the 2020 protests.
Members of the unit made up more than 20% of officers who were subject to complaints related to the protests, according to data from the CCRB. Complaints against them were also substantiated at a higher rate, meaning that the agency found they had violated policy more often. Of the 146 officers that faced substantiated complaints, 27 were assigned to the SRG.
On Tuesday, New York City agreed to pay more than $20,000 each to hundreds of protesters who were detained, arrested or subjected to force in Mott Haven. The settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, is believed to be the largest-ever per-person payout for those subject to police violence in the country, a plaintiff’s attorney said.
The settlement echoes a 2020 Department of Investigation report that criticized the unit’s use of “kettling” — a tactic in which officers encircle a crowd, leaving them with no way to escape. Human Rights Watch also found that the department violated international human rights law when using this tactic during a June 2020 protest in Mott Haven.
Councilmember Chi Ossé has proposed a measure that would ban the NYPD from sending the SRG to nonviolent protests. More than 20 councilmembers also have signed a letter urging the department to disband the unit.
Several elected officials defended the unit at Wednesday’s hearing, including Councilmember Robert Holden, who noted that about 400 officers were injured during the 2020 protests and hundreds of NYPD vehicles were damaged, leading many in the audience to snicker and shake their thumbs down (booing was not allowed in the chambers). Councilmember Joann Ariola focused on the SRG’s presence in neighborhoods with high crime rates and called for more officers to be sent to those areas — not fewer.
“The SRG officers are there to help precincts that are in need,” she said.
This story has been updated with additional comment from the NYPD.
Tagged
public safety
the bronx
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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