(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - According to the NYPD investigators, “When viewed in their totality, a disturbing pattern is prevalent and gives credence to the allegation that crimes are being improperly reported in order to avoid index-crime classifications.”
The NYPD internal investigative report was first published by the Village Voice weekly newspaper on Tuesday.
In September 2009, Officer Adrian Schoolcraft of the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn attended confidential meetings with NYPD investigators in which he provided evidence, including secret audio recordings he had made, that more than a dozen crime reports had been manipulated and felonies had been downgraded.
In addition, Schoolcraft charged that crime reports taken were never filed and crime victims were discouraged from filing complaints.
However, Schoolcraft was subsequently taken from his apartment in handcuffs to the psychiatric ward of Jamaica Hospital weeks later. He claimed he was held against his will for six days.
His attorney said senior officers in the precinct declared Schoolcraft an emotionally disturbed person (EDP) when he refused to return to work, and police transported him to the psychiatric ward at Jamaica Hospital.
Schoolcraft, who is still under suspension, has filed a federal lawsuit against NYPD and Jamaica Hospital and several of its doctors.
The 81st Precinct officer completed his report on the “systematic underreporting of crime” in 2010, but it was not made public.
According to the NYPD internal investigative report, seven officers in the 81st Precinct were disciplined following the investigation into the Schoolcraft case and the precinct commander was also transferred to another detail.
NYPD tracks and reports seven major index crimes: murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto.
The New York Police Department has been under increasing scrutiny over its declining crime statistics and Schoolcraft’s lawsuit will add fuel to the fire.
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