Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYPD: Dry-Humping Is OK, But Throwing Football Is Misconduct
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Sep 19, 2011
Modified Sep 19, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Sep 19, 2011
Modified Sep 19, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Four NYPD officers have been hit with disciplinary action after tossing a football around with a boy on the Fourth of July in 2010. Instead of ticketing cyclists, investigating a call for "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza," or violently slamming their groins against scantily clad women, the officers made the mistake of throwing a football with a young boy at the Webster Houses in the Bronx. "I don't think throwing a football to a 7-year-old boy is misconduct," 17-year-veteran Catherine Guzman naively told the Daily News. "It was the Fourth of July, it was 96 degrees out and we were interacting with the community." Pardon us, but vigilance doesn't drop when the mercury rises!
Deputy Chief James McNamara, who oversees the patrolling of the Bronx Housing Bureau, reportedly chewed out all four officers on the spot. "He was irate and berated us in front of everyone," Guzman said. "He said, 'What are you doing? Do you realize you are on overtime?'" Two of the officers accepted the two-vacation-day penalty, but Guzman and Mariana Diaz are appealing the charges that they neglected "to remain alert…while maintaining a foot post." There's also an additional charge for "totally throwing like a girl."
Their attorney tells the paper, "I think the Police Department prefers its officers to be an occupying force rather than interacting with the community." Officer Diaz notes, "There's a lot of negativity toward police. I want kids in the community to look at us in a positive way." What would give her the impression that people think ill of the NYPD?
Tagged
bronx
cold-blooded criminals
daggering
football
Misconduct
nypd
Webster Houses
west indian day parade
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.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .