Q&A
NYPD's approach to concurrent and consecutive disciplinary penalties
1:41:43
·
3 min
Council Member Salaam questions the NYPD's practice of allowing concurrent penalties for distinct acts of misconduct. Deputy Commissioner Gerber explains the department's approach to concurrent vs. consecutive penalties in disciplinary cases.
- The disciplinary matrix addresses concurrent and consecutive penalties
- The approach depends on whether multiple acts are seen as one mistake or separate decisions
- Fairness is considered in cases where one mistake may manifest in multiple ways
- The new police commissioner is reviewing disciplinary practices
Yousef Salaam
1:41:43
The report also notes that a stop, a failure to file a report, a frisk, or a search are all separate and distinct acts.
1:41:54
And that penalties for each type of misconduct should be addressed or sorry, should be assessed consecutively and not concurrently.
1:42:02
In other words, if an officer conducts an illegal stop, goes on to conduct an illegal search, and then fails to file to fill out the required report right now, they will they will and are often penalized as if they are engaging in one act of misconduct and not three.
1:42:21
So my question is why does the NYPD allow an officer disciplinary penalties for distinct acts to be served concurrently?
1:42:33
And in what circumstances does the department impose disciplinary penalties that require it to be served consecutively?
Michael Gerber
1:42:44
So I'm gonna answer your question in one moment.
1:42:46
I just wanna say 2 things first.
1:42:47
1, I do wanna say, you know, the the the report you're referring to, the Yates report, you know, the the court has set sort of a schedule for us to provide comments on that.
1:42:57
And and we're gonna do that consistent with, you know, the court's direction.
1:43:00
I am gonna answer your question.
1:43:02
I just do wanna be clear, you know, there is, like, a separate sort of sort of judicial process for us to do that.
1:43:07
I certainly don't wanna I I don't want to be any suggestion that this is sort of, usurping that or or a substitute for that.
1:43:14
I also do wanna say that, again, when it comes to discipline, you have a new police commissioner and she's looking at these issues, and I certainly would not wanna get ahead of her.
1:43:22
That said, when it comes to con concurrent versus consecutive penalties, 2 things.
1:43:27
1, the matrix actually does speak to this.
1:43:30
There's an entire section in the matrix about concerning concurrent and consecutive penalties.
1:43:36
We actually worked on this language with the monitor's team.
1:43:40
And, we made certain revisions, to that language, that were, approved by the monitor.
1:43:47
That's one thing.
1:43:47
The second thing is, in the scenario you described, it depends.
1:43:52
It depends on the particular circumstances.
1:43:54
And the question is, are we talking about, one problem or multiple problems?
1:43:58
So imagine a police officer who believes, for example, that they've received consent.
1:44:06
They think they have consent for whatever reason.
1:44:11
And they're wrong about that.
1:44:13
Right?
1:44:15
Maybe if and and so they think it's level 2.
1:44:17
They think they have consent, cons cons consistent with the consent they believe they have.
1:44:23
There's a frisk.
1:44:23
There's a search.
1:44:24
They don't do a level 3 report.
1:44:25
They think they're a level 2.
1:44:28
Now that's a mistake.
1:44:29
That's a mistake.
1:44:30
And consistent with our our disciplinary system, consistent with our matrix, consistent with many things, there may well be a need for discipline.
1:44:38
But if it if it is really one mistake, I'm not sure they should be penalized multiple times for that.
1:44:44
Right?
1:44:44
Now to the extent you have an officer who is, you know, deliberately saying, okay.
1:44:50
I, you know, I know there's a level 3 encounter, but I'm gonna I'm gonna fly right by that.
1:44:56
I'm, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna, I'm not gonna do a report.
1:44:59
I'm I'm separately gonna do unconstitutional frisk.
1:45:03
Again, if if they are independent acts and independent decisions, I hear exactly what you're saying in terms of the need for a disciplinary system to account for that.
1:45:12
There's also a matter of fairness.
1:45:14
If someone's making one mistake that plays out in multiple ways, I think that the system should account for that as well.
