Brooklyn cop Adrian Schoolcraft, pictured with copies of police states in 2009, sues NYPD for locking him up in psych ward.
In the midst of these protests the stop and frisk policy is on trial in a class action lawsuit, as we reported last week.
So far it has been revealed in court through whistleblower testimony and audio evidence that the NYPD's stop and frisk policy was motivated by racism and quotas. This is something that we all know about police departments all over the country, but it was extremely important to get this confirmation in court because way too many people still refuse to recognize the brutality that takes place and authoritarianism.
The whistleblower testimony that has come to light so far has been unexpected, because police departments, and the NYPD in particular are very unforgiving towards those within their ranks who attempt to do anything to change the status-quo.
Just recently a report with claims against the NYPD from 2010 was finally made public, when this report was released two weeks ago the world also learned that its author was suspended from the NYPD and involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward. The claims that this officer made weren't even as serious as those being brought up in court over the past week, so there is no telling the kind of persecution that these new whistleblowers will be forced to endure.
Reuters reported that:
"In September of 2009, Officer Adrian Schoolcraft of the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn met confidentially with NYPD investigators and provided evidence - including secret audio recordings he had made - that more than a dozen crime reports had been manipulated.
He charged felonies had been downgraded, crime reports taken were never filed, and in still other cases, crime victims were discouraged from filing complaints at all.Weeks later, on Halloween night, he was taken from his apartment in handcuffs to the psychiatric ward of Jamaica Hospital, where he claimed he was held against his will for six days.
Schoolcraft had left work sick that day, after being harassed by senior officers in his precinct who had learned of his complaints, his attorney said. He filled out a sick form but failed to have it signed by his supervisor. Senior officers arrived at this apartment and encouraged him to return to work, but he refused.
"Act like a man," Schoolcraft was warned, according to attorney Jon Norinsberg. When he refused, he was declared an EDP, or emotionally disturbed person, and police transported him to Jamaica Hospital's psychiatric ward. Schoolcraft, who remains under suspension, has filed a federal lawsuit against the department, as well as the hospital and several doctors there"
"This is the underbelly of the program: the (crime) numbers are being gamed, plain and simple, and the numbers are being gamed because the (police district) commanders are under tremendous pressure to make the numbers look good. This is happening all over the city," said retired NYPD Captain John Eterno, co-author of "The Crime Numbers Game: Management by Manipulation," a critical look at the NYPD's widely replicated "CompStat" program.
Eterno and co-author Eli Silverman surveyed 400 retired NYPD captains during the research for their book. More than 100 said they were "aware of manipulation that was unethical," Eterno said.
Police departments nationwide engage in this fraudulent behavior to make it look like they are actually improving the safety of the community, but in reality they are just showing up after crimes happen to fill out paperwork, and spending all of their time hunting down nonviolent offenders.
However, when someone comes forward with credible information to prove that they are just a criminal racket, police departments will put all of their time and resources towards that cause, and will be relentless in dealing with whistleblowers.
Like any psychopathic and fascist organisation - and lets face it, what organisation isn't exactly that? They bully victimise, lock up and in some cases kill people who are moral and courageous enough to say "Enough! You are awful".