The NYPD has an accountability problem

NYPD Greets Evidence of Mishandling of Occupy Protests With Shameful Closed-Door Policy


A recent report by the Protest and Assembly Rights Project highlights the many ways that the New York Police Department has violated both constitutional and international human rights standards in its policing of the Occupy Wall Street movement. These problems are not new. In 2003 and again in 2004, the New York Civil Liberties Union documented extensive failings in NYPD protest policing including unlawful preemptive arrests, restrictions on access to protest areas, excessive subdividing and “penning in” of demonstrators, extensive restrictions on permits, use of force and violent arrests for minor legal violations, inflexibility, and poor communication with demonstrators. These are the same problems identified by the new report.

The NYPD is also out of step with international and American standards. My own research on the policing of the Occupy movement in 10 American cities (cited in the study) shows that New York was second only to Oakland in its infringements on the right to protest. Protests are routinely less restricted throughout Western Europe and the NYPD’s practices are closer to those common in developing democracies such as South Korea, and the former Soviet countries.

The NYPD is also much less transparent than many of its counterparts. The report points out that while the NYPD refused to speak with the authors, they had good cooperation from police officials in Boston and San Francisco. I have also had recent positive interactions with police officials in Chicago and Boston concerning my research and have worked closely with numerous foreign police departments, which tend to welcome outside expertise, even when it is critical.

Rather than cooperating with research, the NYPD has a closed door policy. It resists all attempts to obtain information either in the form of documents or interviews. Journalists as well as researchers and even the City Council have complained for years about the secretive culture of the NYPD and many news organizations and civil rights groups have been forced to sue the NYPD for even the most basic information. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/hot-news-views/nypd-greets-evidence-mishandling-occupy-protests-shameful-closed-door-policy