Maybe October Will Be Better for the NYPD
The Village Voice has a summary of what a rough September it was for the New York Police Department. Tying the public and media outrage noose (ideally) tighter is the fact that Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (described as the "main mouthpiece" of the NYPD) Paul Browne has been less than forthright about some high-profile incidents which do not reflect highly on the professionalism of the NYPD. In most cases, video disproves or casts serious doubt on Browne's version of events.
The incidents related include the pepper-spraying of contained Occupy Wallstreet protesters (the video of which went viral), the bystander who might have been killed by a police bullet during an exchange with a criminal, the harassment and detaining of two black New York officials, and the killing of John Collado:
A plainclothes detective in Inwood arresting a suspected pot dealer shot and killed 43-year-old grandfather John Collado. According to Browne, the undercover officer had clearly identified himself, yet Collado, who belonged to a pro-cop Facebookgroup and wasn't involved in the drug buy, nonetheless put the detective in a choke hold. "The cops who responded described [the detective] as barely conscious," Browne said. "He was nearly choked out, and his limbs were numb." But the family's lawyer, Patrick Brackley, told reporters that he has seen surveillance video showing that the detective hadn't identified himself, and that while Collado was trying to break up what he thought was just a fight between his neighbor and a stranger, he was not choking the detective.
The article suggests, somewhat hilariously, that these "might mark the end of the NYPD's scandal-proof status."
Read the whole thing here.
Reason's police round-up, (as it were), including Jacob Sullum on the NYPD's habit of arresting people for supposed-to-be-misdemeanor weed possession.
