Crown Heights Cops Amass More Than 1,000 Misconduct Allegations

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The two police precincts that oversee Crown Heights have amassed more than 1,000 misconduct allegations in the past two decades — more than almost all other precincts in New York City, according to a new database published by ProPublica.

Both the 77th Precinct, which covers Northern Crown Heights, and the 71st Precinct, which covers the southern portion of the neighborhood, ranked in the top 20 precincts in terms of how many allegations were filed against their officers with the Civilian Complaint Review Board, according to the database.

In the 77th Precinct, there were 671 allegations in 242 separate complaints filed against 85 officers during their time serving at the precinct. Only seven of New York City's 77 precincts across the five boroughs had more allegations, including three in Brooklyn.

The 71st Precinct had 424 allegations in 157 complaints filed against 72 of its officers, more than 60 of the NYPD's precincts.

A single complaint can carry more than one allegation of misconduct.

Allegations range from "physical force," to "abuse of authority" and "offensive language."

The Crown Heights precincts also ranked relatively high in the number of allegations that were substantiated by the Civilian Complaint Review Board, according to the data.

145 of the allegations against the 77th Precinct were substantiated, meaning they resulted in some form of discipline, and 92 were substantiated in the 71st Precinct.

Complaints that are not "substantiated" are either found "unsubstantiated" — meaning the board could not conclude the conduct occurred — or "exonerated," meaning the board concluded that what a civilian alleged did happen, but the conduct was allowed by the NYPD's rules, according to ProPublica.

The commanding officer with the 77th Precinct did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the allegations. An email to the commanding officer of the 71st Precinct was returned with a "message blocked" note.

The ProPublica database includes a host of disciplinary records of all NYPD officers that became public after a change in state law in June.

The law, the a decades-old statute known as 50-a, had kept NYPD disciplinary records under lock-and-key. Repealing 50-a was part of a larger package of police reforms enacted following nationwide protest following the killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd, who died with a police officer's knee on his neck in Minneapolis.

When Patch asked the department to comment on allegations in the database, an NYPD spokesperson pointed to a ruling this week that temporarily blocks the city and the CCRB from releasing disciplinary records. ProPublica was not a party in that case and is not subject to the order, which will face a hearing next month.

"The NYPD has for many years worked to increase transparency to gain the trust of the communities we serve," Sgt. Mary Frances O'Donnell said. "While we remain committed to increased transparency, we are equally committed to due process...We await the results of pending litigation."

Unions for police officers, firefighters and corrections officers have sued New York City to stop the disclosure of most of these and other disciplinary records, according to ProPublica.

Find a full list of the allegations against each precinct, or other officers, by searching the database here.