Schoolcraft v. The City Of New York et al

Filing 400

FILING ERROR - DUPLICATE DOCKET ENTRY - DECLARATION of NATHANIEL B. SMITH in Opposition re: 297 MOTION for Summary Judgment .. Document filed by Adrian Schoolcraft. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit POX 36, # 2 Exhibit POX 37, # 3 Exhibit POX 38, # 4 Exhibit POX 39)(Smith, Nathaniel) Modified on 2/17/2015 (db).

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statement.

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Q

Please continue.

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A

I want to thank you, Judge·Mollen, and the

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members of the City of New York Commission to

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Investigation Alleged Police Corruption for this

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opportunity to

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addition to testifying, I have the opportunity before you

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issue your final report to comment in writing and in

t~stify

today.

I would ask that, in

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detail on a number of statements and assertions that were

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presented in the course of the hearings.

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Nothing is more important to the successful

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policing of the nation's largest city than the integrity

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and credibility of the members of its Police Department.

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The corrupt act of even one police officer inflicts

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incalculable damage on the rest.

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the professional, and it erodes public confidence in the

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men and women from whom the people of New York have every

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right to expect complete honesty and incorruptibility.

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It undermines pride in

This is especially true as the Police

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Department embraces community policing and enlists the

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support of people whQ live and- work in the neighborhoods

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of this City.

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police in a partnership to combat crime if they have

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reason to believe that police officers themselves are

we can hardly aSk the people to join the

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engaged in it.

We can hardly expect the overwhelming

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majority of honest police officers to take pride in their

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job -- in one of the toughest law enforcement

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environments anywhere in the world -- if the corrupt

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police officer easily escapes detection and punishment.

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The people of New York City must know they can

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count on the members of their Police Department to be as

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honest as they are brave and able.

They must know they

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can count on the Police Department to track down and

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drive from our ranks those who violate their oath and

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break the law.
It is fundamental to the

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~onest

operation of

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government that the police be honest.

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of New York City's Police Commissioners understood this

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better than most.

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said,

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portion of our population. they stand as the embodiment as

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well as the representative of the law of the land.

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Roosevelt said,

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members are not intelligent and honest."

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observation is as true today as when Roosevelt made it

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nearly a century ago.

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The most renowned

Police officers, Theodore Roosevelt

do not merely preserve order

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. but to a large

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No police force is worth anything if its
And that

In a police department soon to exceed 31,000
uniformed members -- some two and a half times bigger

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than Chicago's and more than four times larger than Los

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angeles' -- the corrupt police officer is all but

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inevitab.le.

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officer is neither inevitable nor acceptable.

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why you, Judge Mallen, and your fellow Commissioners

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perform a high public service in examining the extent of

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corruption in the Police Department and the extent of the

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Department's failure to combat it.

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However, tolerance £or the corrupt police
That is

Over the last several months, the Police
Department has supplied the investigative staff of the

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Commission with thousands of files in preparation for

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these hearings.

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your investigators were at all times thorough and

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professional, and the Police Departme~t takes pride in

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the fact that many of them are former members of the

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Department.

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I would like to note for the record that

As familiar as I had become last year with the

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particulars of the Michael Dowd case, I was revolted

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nonetheless by the testimony of Dowd and the other

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corrupt ex-police officers who testified before you.

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None of them took personal responsibility for their

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depravity.

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because his supervisor encouraged him.

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If Dowd abused alcohol on ·the job, it was
When he steals

the·savings of a hard-working woman, it is to win the

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acceptance of his new partner.

Cawley beats people, not

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because he's a thug, but because his sergeant rewards

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him.

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Police Department made me do it.

The self-serving chorus was always the same:

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The

Most galling of all was their insistence that

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they kept quiet about criminal activity they witnessed

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out of some unshakable bond with their brother officers,

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rather then the self-serving actions of corrupt hoodlums.

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Cawley claimed he would never betray another cop, yet he

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gladly sold guns to people who could use them to shoot

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police officers.

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thievery, extortion, and brutality, the witnesses were

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offensive in another respect:

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themselves as typical police officers gone astray.

Beyond their self-confessed acts of

They tried to paint

The truth is something else.

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Most police

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officers consider Dowd and Cawley and their ilk to be

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despicable.

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''low lifes 11 who deserve to be in prison.

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officers I know would have locked them up themselves, and

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most police officers I know were outraged by their

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posturing.

They are, in the vernacular of the street,
Most police

They never should have been police officers

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in the first place, a subject to which I'll return later

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in my testimony.

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As shocking as they were, these witnesses

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served a purpose in raising legitimate questions as to

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how theY could function unimpeded for as long as they

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did.

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as to how well out ·supervisors are trained and deployed

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and whether they are tempted to close their eyes to

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suspected wrongdoing by officers under their command.

They raised questions that bear serious examina_tion

These were among the same questions first

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raised in a series of articles written by columnist Mike

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Mc~lary

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undertook a review of how the Michael Dowd case was

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mishandled.

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responded when these problems surfaced.

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them Publicly and began the job of correcting them.

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process continues today.

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in June 1992.

As a result of those stories, I

I think it is important to know that we·

We identified
That

On November 16, 1992, I reported a number of
failures, including:
(1)

The dual system of corruption

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investigation blurred responsibility and diminished

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accountability.

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(2)

IAD'S ability to determine its own

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workload was an obstacle to the efficient and effective

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conduct of investigations.

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{3)

The FIAU's were hampered by a lack of

resources and by !AD's dismissive posture toward them.

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(4)

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There was a failure to use time-honored

investigative techniques to achieve results.
( 5)

IAD lacked a credible case management

(6)

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Access to important case information was

system.

too limited.

(7)

The level of staffing for internal

investigations was inadequate.
( 8)

Internal investigative units had

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difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified

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investigators.

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(9)

FIAU investigators conducted most

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corruption investigations but were inadequately

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and were provided inadequate equipment.

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trained

The central question to emerge from the Dowd

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case was how could a corrupt police officer identified by

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the system as a problem operate with such impunity for so

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long without being .caught by the Department·.

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not protected as part of some conspiracy or coverup, but

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Dowd was not stopped sooner because the anti-corruption

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system in place was bifurcated and large ineffective when

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it came to major investigations.

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Dowd was

Before a clear, unified chain of command was
put in place, corruption investigations were the

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responsibility of both IAD and the Field Internal Affairs

Units.

The creation of the Field Internal Affairs Units

in 1972·was well intentioned.

It was intended to fix

responsibility for corruption prevention at the command
level.

That's why the FIAU officers were answerable to

sep~rate

field commanders, while IAD had oversight

responsibilities.

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The effect was to obscure

responsibility rather than reinforce it.

In my view, the best way to assure
accountability is to make responsibility as clear cut and
unambiguous as possible.

In theory the former IAD would

monitor FIAU investigators and run parallel
investigations to check on the quality and integrity of
their activities, but, in fact, very little of either
occurred.
We found that the Field Internal Affairs Units
suffered not only from a lack of IAD oversight support,
but from a lack of equipment and personnel.
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case loads much larger than IAD' s.

They had

IAD itself

investigated only 5 percent of all corruption cases.

We

found that the FIAU's received little if any guidance as
to which cases to close and which ones to devote more
time.
We also found that there was an over-reliance

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choice among all candidates seeking assignments as

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supervisors to any investigative arm of the Police

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Departme'nt.

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investigative supervisors in the New York City Police

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Department is now through the Internal Affairs BureaU.

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IAB gets whomever it deems the best, and we are providing

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these outstanding supervisors with training that we found

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lacking in the past.

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In other words, the career path for

We sought out a management consulting firm with

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a worldwide reputation for excellence, McKinsey &

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Company, and asked them to undertake a thorough

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.management review of the Department's corruption-fighting

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systems.

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installed-new case management and quality control

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systems.

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computerized information system to greatly improve the

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quality of our investigations.

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As a result of the firm's recommendations, we

We are obtaining a new state-of-the-art

We established nine working groups comprised of

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Police Department executives and experts from outside of

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the Department to address specific areas of concern.

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They included Process and Organization, Information

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Systems, Investigative Techniques, Personnel Selection

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and Career Path, Training, Equipment, Physical Plant,

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Legal, and Transition.

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We initiated weekly steering committee meetings
within IAB for the purpose of continual case review,
providing tOr problem solving and reinforcing
accountability.

We introduced a comprehensive training

program for IAB personnel.

Working with the Department

of Investigations and the Police Department's Detective
and Organized Crime Control bureaus, we developed a

mo~el

package of equipment for investigative and surveillance
teams and spent $2.7 million acquiring it for them.

We

also introduced a new vehicular fleet for IAB, making
unobtrusive leased cars and special surveillance vehicles
avai~able

to investigators.
We are working to reduce backlogs, to close
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cases without investigative merit, and to build evidence
to prosecute all serious cases.
to move

cases.eff~ciently

While we are determined

and expeditiously, we are also

prepared to devote time and resources to long,
complicated cases that merit such attention.
McKinsey & Company cited the

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large reactive

rnanagement 11 of corruption cases in the past, so we are
taking an aggressive posture, putting into play
sophisticated sting operations to bring corrupt police
officers and others into our net.
We are using integrity tests, both targeted

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tests against officers suspected of corruption, as well
as random tests that could reach anyone.

If there was

ever a reluctance to turn corrupt officers against each
other, I do not share it.

We will turn them

even give them a chance to redeem themselves

we may
in order

to bring down the others.
We are debriefing drug dealers and confidential
in~ormants

to determine whether they are aware of any

police corruption.

We will use criminal informants, and

we will seek the district attorney's help in doing so.
We will make the case for wire taps and use them.
We have examined the times of corruption-prone
activities and provided additional IAB coverage from
midnight to 8 a.m.

Also, for the first time, IAB

investigators are d-ispatched as a matter of course to
incidents in which a person is shot by a police officer.
We have established a special litigation unit to pursue
allegations of wrongdoing when they first surface in
notice of claims against the City.

We are examining any

correlation between corruption. complaints and complaints
of excessive force that are made with the Civilian
Complaint Review Board.
After listening to the testimony of witnesses
and Commission staff members, the Police Department is

HATION•WZDZ

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making every effort to treat people who make corruption
complaints -- whether members of the

Departrn~nt

or

members-of the public-- with courtesy and encouragement.
Toward that end, we are making the Language: Line

translation service available to the IAB Action Desk.

In

this way, complainants who do not speak or _understand
English may have immediate access by telephone to
translators on the same line with IAB officers.
To encourage members of the Police Department,
as well as the general public, to report corruption, we

have established a new, easy-to-remember, toll-free
number.

It is 1-800-PRIDE PD.

We are also encouraging

complainants -- police and civilian

to write either to

a special IAB postal box -- Box 111 in Brooklyn 11201 -or personally to me at· Police Headquarters.

I want every

member of the Police Department to know that if they have
any reservations about reporting corruption to a
particular supervisor or commander, they always have the
of going directly to the Police Commissioner.
In testifying about the improvements we have
our internal investigative systems, I don't want
that the issue of corruption-fighting
there.

Of course, it does not.

~f'oimaLt;.on

of Internal Affairs and even beyond the

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Beginning with recruitment and training, we

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have to recognize that our commitment to integrity starts

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with those we select as probationary police officers and

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continue with the m_essage we give them through training,
both in the Police Academy and i.n the field.

We have established a committee on police
culture to review the selection process for police
officers, their training, and other issues, all with an
eye toward enhancing an environment, or culture, that is
intolerant of corrupti_on antl supportive of efforts to

comPat it.

I have asked the committee to review the

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questions of maturity and education in determining

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whether they-may be factors in screening out corruption-

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prone can-didates.
Considering the enormous responsibility and

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authority conferred upon police officers, we have to ask

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ourselves whether the minimum age to become a New York

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City police officer should be raised.

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candidate for the

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officer examination at age sixteen and. a half and be

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Pol~ce

Right now a

Department may take the police

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appointed at age twenty.

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educational standards adequate in this day and age?

Is that too young?

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may be time for the New York City Police Department to
r~ise

the minimum education requirement for police

officer .to an associate college -degree.

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We need to do all we can to make certain that

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police officer feel confident to come forward to report

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corruption.

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resist such reporting.

I

am cdnfident about any ethic that would

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We need to pay special attention to our firsc

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line supervisors and their responsibility for integrity

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control.

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is difficult and far too quick.

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opportunity for a new sergeant to assume command with the

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The transition from police officer to sergeant
There is little

confidence that further training would afford.
Therefore, we are exploring the possibility of

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establishing a sergeant's academy.

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hiatus between the role of police officer and supervisor

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and a base for increased training and support.

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also provide an extended opportunity to instill in all

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sergeants the fact that leadership carries with it the

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responsibility to impose discipline fairly but

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unwaveringly.

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.;o

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It would provide a

It will

Simultaneously, I am ordering a review of our
supervisory staffing models.

You have heard testimony

about the reported ese with which corrupt-minded police

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officers could elude their supervisors in busy precincts.

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We need to look at that and determine whether the

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Department should make staffing decisions beyond the

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standard measure of police officers to sergeant ratios.

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Right now we have 297 vacancies for sergeants, and we are

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awaiting an examination to fill them, but even then we

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have to ask ourselves whether the traditional ratio is

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enough.
Throughout the chain of command, from sergeants

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on up, we need to exploit every opportunity to make it

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clear that supervisors and commanders who expose

corruption in their own commands will be rewarded, and
those who attempt to conceal it will be disciplined.

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Corruption-fighting is like other issues in management

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you can be part of the problem or part of the solution.

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The

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to everyone in the Police Department that no one's career

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will be diminished if he or she is part of the solution.

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It can only be enhanced.

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commitmen~

must be made at the top, and I can affirm

The Police Commissioner must be the number one
For that reason, I and my

execu~ive

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corruptiori fighter.

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staff will e personally involved in the integrity

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training of the current class in the Police Academy.

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thousand six hundred probationary police officers are in

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training there -- the largest class in history -- and we

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want to make the greatest impression possible, reminding

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them that nothing is more important than their honor and

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integrity.

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The Police Department is a great and a strong

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institution.

We can take the so-called bad press.

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comes with the territory.

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who thinks they are doing the Department a favor by

What we can't afford is anyone

problems under the rug.

Problems grow there and

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sweepi~g

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come back with a vengeance, as these hearings have

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demonstrated.

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While I categorically reject the propositi_on of

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some of the first Commission Witnesses that police

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officers are somehow trained to practice or accept

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corruption,~ I

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responsibility of

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We are doing so with revamped Police Academy curricula,

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as well as in-service training.

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needs to be reinforced throughout a police career, if

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only-~.bedause

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the opportunities for corruption are

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cons~ant

inher~-~

and

believe the Police Department bears the
re~nforcing

integrity at every turn.

It is.a message that

in law enforcement.

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y. p.hat· ,!!gard,

To he~t -

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of police.- af:fice:~ ;,,-

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tours. to discuss

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commarids ._and various

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\~:-~~ cent~ring on ~ntegrity and

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corruption.

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represe.ntatives because of the important supportive role

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they can play in combatting corruption.

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reaching out to the community in new ways. For example,

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we have established a pilot program that immerses police

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officers in the dominant cultures of a given police

a

precinct.

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The focus groups include union

We are also

Language training is part of the program.
w.e have heard throughout the Commission

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hearings references to the Wall or Code of Silence.

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There is truth to it.

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out of the best of intentions and motivations, including

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the loyalty and sense of mission that binds people

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engaged in demanding and sometimes dangerous work.

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there's a difference between a police officer who says

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cor·rupt activity.

There is a solidarity that grows

But

watch my back 11 and Michael Dowd' s admonition to conceal

In fact, the corrupt police officers who

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appeared were so self-damning and so good at being anti-

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role models that their testimony was videotaped by our

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Police Academy personnel who have been here filming since

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the beginning of the hearings.

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along with other portions of the Commission proceedings,

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will be used in training sessions for new recruits, as

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well as veteran police officers and supervisors.

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The witnesses' testimony,

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If the Mallen Commission had the distasteful

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but necessary duty to produce scoundrels as witnesses,

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you also produced heroes.

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Mallen, that Sergeant Joseph Trimboli fits that category.

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I have decided to promote Sergeant Trimboli at

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Departmental ceremonies at the end of this month.

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no, the timing iS not coinCidental.

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I concur with you, Judge

And,

In addition to recognizing his obvious talent

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and dedication as the lone investigator of the Dowd case,

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we are recognizing his cooperation with and

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before the Mallen Commission as an act of sterling,

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lasting service to police officers everywhere.

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we are sending a message to all other police officers

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that Sergeant Trimboli is our definition of a "good cop."

H

testirno~y

And, yes,

I hcive no illusions about the problem

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corruption poses.

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produce more painful examples of people who violate their

19

oath and betray the public trust.

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will be swept under the rug.

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Our efforts to combat corruption will

So be it.

Nothing

Like other institutions, the Police Department,

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and law enforcement generally, are vulnerable to

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corruption in a city awash with cash

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drug trade.

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Po_lice Department is at stake, and so is the "Public's

f~om

the illicit

The morale and good order of the entire

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confidence in its police.

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confidence of the public to operate effectively.

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The police must have the

As painful as I know this process has bene to

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the police officers and other members of the

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a stronger, revitalized

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~as the case wh·en former Po-l'ice Commissioner Patrick

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ose

I want them and- the public to know that it will make for

Murphy took the opportunities created by the Knapp

Depart~ent,

Certainly, that

or~anization.

1an

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Commission. to build a stronger Department.

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organization, no integrity·controls, no matter how well

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Conceived, no matter how able the Commissioner who
implements them, will last forever.

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But no

Teddy Roosevelt and

in

:e
r

~at Murphy could attest to that.
As y9u have heard in previous testimony, it was

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16

a matter of faith that the refOrms of the Knapp

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Commission would work forever.

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to see if that was so.

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system performed in light of the crack epidemic of the

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80's.

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turned out to be blind faith.

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No one really monitored

.e

No one loOked to·see how well the
y

As we found in my report on the Dowd case, it

We

ne~d

to safeguard against complacency and

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a,gainst Whatever vagaries, be they cra.ck cocaine or some

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future unknown condition, conspire. against the best of

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intentions.

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n

For that reason, I would favor a formal
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preserves the authority and the accountability of the

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Police Commissioner to conduct investigations and impose

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discipline, and one that keeps the Police Commissioner

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fully informed and involved.

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undermine accountability and to invite a cure worse than

a

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monitoring process, independent of IAB, but one that

the disease.

To do otherwise is to

In closing, I want to say how important it is

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10

that the police officers of this City know we believe in

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them.

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years ago when I took the oath as a New York City police

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officer.

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the men and women I work with and whom I now have the

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privilege to lead.

I do.

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The proudest day of my life came thirty

Every day since then, my faith is iestored by

Judge Mellen said it best when he reported the

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Commission finding that,

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the vast majority of police officers throughout the City

:i.g

perform one of society's most important, sensitive, and

20

dangerous jobs with efficiency and integrity.

21

11

Each day throughout the year

11

As difficult as I know' these last two weeks

i2

\

have been for the ffiembers of the Police Department and

23

the public, I am confident that the Commission's faith in

2~

this City's police officers is well deserved and widely

'

25

embraced.

As we look ahead, I am also drawn once more to

JOS

BRQADW~~.

~TW

FLOOR , NEW YORK, NEW YORX,

.... ..,. .. ~ ....

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10007-llO~

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KELLY

1

215

2

the words of Theodore Roosevelt when he said,

3

no good reason why we should fear the future, but there

4

is every re·ason why we should face it seriously, neither

5

hiding from ourselves the gravity of the problems before

6

us, nor fearing to approach these problems with the

7

unbending, unflinching purpose to solve them aright.

'

MR. CHAIRMAN:

There is

11

Thank you, Judge.

9

11

On behalf of the Commission, I

10
ll

very detailed and excellent statement.

:!.:2

take this opportunity, and I think I can speak on behalf

13

of all the members of the Commission, to congratulate you

i<

and to highly commend you for the steps that you have

15

already taken to deal with this very 'serious, troublesome

16

,,

want to thank you very much for your very broad, your

problem of corruption.

'

f

I also want to

I also would hope that your statement and steps

l7
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that you've taken to deal with the problem will help to

"

restore public confid"ence and faith in the integrity of

20

the Department from the Commissioner down.

21

important that the public have faith in the integrity and

"

take recognition of the fact that you have alluded to and

23

which I've alluded, as you pointed out, that the

It is so

,,

over.whelming majority of police officers are honest,

25

incorruptible, and are doing a very difficult and

H~IUOH·IITDI.

I.UOI.Till'O COV%11.ACJII:

lOS BROI.DWAY, 4TK FLOOR • Nt:W YOIU::, NEW YORK,

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