Q&A
NYPD official explains process for determining illegal evictions
0:41:36
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118 sec
Josh Levin from NYPD details the department's process for responding to and determining illegal evictions. He explains that officers consider multiple factors to make a determination.
- Officers look for evidence such as leases, personal property, signs of forced entry, and utility bills
- The process involves assessing the totality of circumstances rather than relying on a single piece of evidence
- Discussion includes the distinction between illegal evictions and potential trespassing situations
Josh Levin
0:41:36
questions?
0:41:37
Yes.
0:41:37
I do.
0:41:38
Thank you.
0:41:38
Good morning.
0:41:39
Josh Levin, NYPD.
0:41:40
Good to see you again, council member.
0:41:42
So I'll I'll speak obviously to NYPD's role in this.
0:41:46
When NYPD gets a call that there was an unlawful eviction, we respond to the scene, and officers then have to take account of the totality of the circumstances.
0:41:55
There's not usually one dispositive piece of evidence that will allow an officer to make a determination about whether somebody's been unlawfully evicted or whether they're trespassing because it's kinda like two sides of the same coin.
0:42:07
So when NYPD arrives, they're going to look for a host of different pieces of evidence.
0:42:11
So, for example, any evidence of a type of lease, whether it be text messages or whether it be an oral conversation or whether it be a written lease.
0:42:20
They're going to look to see if the person has property in there.
0:42:24
They're going to look to see if there's signs of forced entry.
0:42:27
They're going to look to see if, person has utilities or bills or letters or mail that has been sent there.
0:42:33
And then we'll make a determination given that totality of the circumstances, because it's not really one size fits all, and determine whether this person was unlawfully evicted or not.
0:42:42
So that's like the on the scene response.
Sandy Nurse
0:42:44
So yours, so first, your if I'm just to reiterate back to you, you're determining does this person actually live there?
0:42:51
And then in a in a situation where you come to the scene, would you not be looking for, like, a notice on the door of a of a legal eviction?
Josh Levin
0:43:01
Sure.
0:43:01
That would certainly be part of the calculation.
Sandy Nurse
0:43:03
Okay.
0:43:04
And if you don't see one, what are your steps there?
Josh Levin
0:43:08
So the notice from the sheriff wouldn't be the only way.
0:43:13
It's a great indicator that the person is there improperly, but someone also could be trespassing at the location.
0:43:20
And it doesn't matter if you've been there for 30 days or more Yeah.
0:43:23
If you're still there improperly.
0:43:25
And so that's why we go into that analysis and we take a look at all the independent factors.
0:43:30
We're not throwing people out on the street in the middle of January, February.
0:43:34
Right?
Sandy Nurse
0:43:34
Do you all have, like, a list of criteria that officers are trained on?
