Mount Vernon Police Accusations Become DA Campaign Issue

MOUNT VERNON, NY — Allegations of police misconductin Mount Vernon and a long quiet investigation by the Westchester District Attorney's Office hit the news Wednesday in a WNYC/Gothamist article.

Several officers are accused of multiple forms of misconduct, from framing people to beating local residents to collaborating with drug dealers.

Asked about the investigation by Patch Wednesday morning, the DA's office issued a statement: "The investigation brought on by these allegations is continuing. We cannot expand on the details of any investigation."

The article is based on phone calls that police whistleblower Murashea Bovell said he secretly recorded between officers in the Mount Vernon Police Department.

George Joseph, an investigative reporter at WNYC NY Public Radio/Gothamist.com, reviewed the recordings and wrote that in them several officers can be heard referring to having witnessed or taken part in acts of misconduct from framing and beating up residents to collaborating with favored drug dealers. Many of the allegations swirl around a detective who civilians have accused of brutality and corruption for years, Joseph said.

Bovell gave some of these recordings to the Westchester County DA last year, Joseph wrote. Bovell and his attorney claim that several months later a DA’s office investigator told them that an investigation had not moved forward. The DA’s office declined to comment on this meeting, Joseph said.

Court records show that prosecutors have continued to prosecute cases based on officers accused in the tapes without mentioning the allegations to defendants and defense attorneys, according to Gothamist. Several of these cases sent people to prison. According to Joseph, the DA's office held that it would have been premature to disclose such allegations before its office was able to complete its investigation and determine the veracity of the allegations.

Mimi Rocah, who is challenging DA Anthony Scarpino in the primaries for the Democratic line on November's ballot, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon.

By virtue of his own actions and inaction, DA Scarpino has lost all credibility in regard to his office’s ability to handle even the most egregious and obvious cases of police misconduct. I am infuriated by the failure to fully investigate and disclose credible allegations of police brutality and misconduct by the District Attorney.
Scarpino knew about these allegations more than a year ago, but continued to use the involved officers in prosecutions -- without making disclosures and potentially violating discovery laws. This is not the first time DA Scarpino has failed to be transparent, but the shocking scope of these allegations and his outrageous mishandling of the case demands a response. We are in the midst of a reckoning in our criminal justice system and leaders who undermine justice must be held accountable.