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Q&A
Gang database inclusion and parental notification procedures
2:16:07
ยท
6 min
Council Member Rita C. Joseph questions NYPD officials about the inclusion of juveniles in the gang database and the process of notifying parents. The NYPD admits to implementation challenges with parental notifications and discusses plans to improve the system.
- NYPD is revamping the notification system, shifting responsibility to the Detective Bureau
- Officials acknowledge the need for better data tracking on notifications and parental objections
- Recent data shows significant removals from the database, with over 3,000 individuals removed in the past two years
Rita C. Joseph
2:16:07
Thank you, chair.
2:16:08
Good morning.
2:16:09
How many individuals 21 are included in the gang database?
Michael LiPetri
2:16:13
21, so it's a 62 which is 1% under seventeen.
2:16:21
So eighteen to twenty four is 17%.
Rita C. Joseph
2:16:27
How many times has the department notified a parent of their child's inclusion into the gang into the gang database?
2:16:34
And since you implemented, what recommendation since you implemented the recommendations from DOI?
Michael Gerber
2:16:40
Right.
2:16:42
So one of the things one of the recommendations that we accepted was this idea of notifying parents when a child, a juvenile, is entered into the database.
2:16:51
We agreed to do that with with a carve out if it's gonna compromise an ongoing investigation.
2:16:56
There are certain circumstances in which it would be wildly inappropriate to do that, some situations where it'd be fine.
2:17:01
In full candor, we have not yet done a good job of implementing that.
2:17:06
And I just I'll I'll tell you why.
2:17:08
I think we we thought about it on reflection the wrong way.
2:17:11
We sort of had a system in place where, you know, we said we're gonna have the YCOs make the notifications.
2:17:19
And there was, you know, good reasoning behind that.
2:17:21
I think that was an error because, you know, you have the detectives working on investigations, and you have the YCOs supposed to make notifications, but no one really owns it, if that makes sense, or no one has owned it.
2:17:35
And that's been a problem.
2:17:36
So on the one hand, I wanna be clear, we are we are committed to what we said we would do, which is to have a system in place where appropriate to make these notifications.
2:17:46
We actually, sort of as we speak, are revamping the system because it has not been working well.
2:17:52
And I think the the plan going forward is to actually have the Detective Bureau own this piece as well.
2:17:59
That way there's no question of who's responsible for this.
2:18:02
And quite frankly quite frankly, you know, if you're making notification to parents, parents are gonna have questions.
2:18:09
Absolutely.
2:18:10
Right.
2:18:10
And and we need people to make notifications who actually can answer the questions.
2:18:14
I think one of the many problems in what we come up with, which again, we're we're totally revamping, was the idea of having YCOs make notifications.
2:18:21
And of course, the YCOs know nothing about the investigation of the case.
2:18:25
So so your your I totally understand the question.
2:18:28
We are working on that as we speak.
2:18:31
We are going we are revamping that that that whole process.
Rita C. Joseph
2:18:36
And have you ever gotten a parent that objected to that child being placed in the gang database?
Michael Gerber
2:18:41
So so one of the many problems that we don't have good data on this because no one had ownership, no one was tracking this.
Rita C. Joseph
2:18:48
So who's gonna own it now?
2:18:49
Now that we're
Michael Gerber
2:18:50
It's going be the detective bureau.
2:18:51
The detective bureau is going to own this.
2:18:53
Mhmm.
2:18:54
And and they're going have to be, you know again, there I want to be clear.
2:18:58
If we have an an active investigation, in some circumstances in some circumstances, we can't go tell the parents.
2:19:03
In some we can't do it always.
2:19:05
I want to be very clear about that.
2:19:07
We I think we were clear with that when we responded to DOI.
2:19:11
But if it's not gonna compromise an investigation, we we do want the parents notified for for all the reasons.
Rita C. Joseph
2:19:17
Cause I'm very concerned as a parent.
Michael Gerber
2:19:19
Yeah, no, 100%.
Rita C. Joseph
2:19:20
I'm a parent, and I'm very concerned with that.
Michael Gerber
2:19:23
%.
2:19:23
And so what you're going to see going forward is a better system with the detective bureau owning this, and frankly better we'll have you know, have data on what we're doing and and and tracking that.
2:19:37
But that's something we're working on as we
Rita C. Joseph
2:19:39
Right.
2:19:39
In our business, data drives everything we do.
2:19:41
Right?
2:19:41
Data drives the policy.
2:19:43
Data keeps us informed.
2:19:44
So what so what's your next step is to capture data.
2:19:48
When is that going
Althea V. Stevens
2:19:49
to happen?
Michael Gerber
2:19:50
So so we're we're gonna put out a new a new policy.
2:19:53
Right?
2:19:53
Because, again, the policy at this point has has not been working well.
2:19:56
We're fixing that.
2:19:59
And we're going put out a new policy in the detective bureau in terms of the detectives owning this.
2:20:04
And then, look, in candid, we still have figure this part out.
2:20:07
The data piece, we have to be capturing accurately, accurately Accurately.
2:20:12
When we're making notifications and when we're not.
2:20:14
Mhmm.
2:20:14
And if we're not, we need to just be documenting why.
2:20:17
And again, I think there is there is
Rita C. Joseph
2:20:18
But how long has this database been in place that this work hasn't happened before that it's happening?
2:20:23
It's I I kinda feel like we're building this plane as we're flying.
Michael Gerber
2:20:27
No.
2:20:27
I I don't I don't I don't I disagree with that.
2:20:29
I think what happened was in in 2023, DOI issued its report, made its recommendations.
2:20:36
In late twenty twenty three, we adopted the majority of them, put in place new policies, new procedures, new documentation requirements.
2:20:46
I think in most respects that has gone very well, and you see that in the data.
2:20:52
You've seen the additions to the database drop pretty dramatically.
2:20:57
You've seen the removals go up pretty dramatically.
2:21:01
As you say, so I think good data reflecting some pretty significant policy changes and some pretty significant practical changes.
Rita C. Joseph
2:21:08
For the record again, could you remind me how many people were taken off that database?
Michael Gerber
2:21:12
Yeah.
2:21:13
So in 2024
Althea V. Stevens
2:21:14
Mhmm.
Michael Gerber
2:21:16
1,559 were removed.
2:21:18
In 2023, '1 thousand '6 hundred and '30 '3 were removed.
Rita C. Joseph
2:21:22
So what does that what percentage does that represent that was on the database?
Michael Gerber
2:21:27
So the well, I don't want do the math on the fly.
Rita C. Joseph
2:21:32
Right
Michael Gerber
2:21:33
now in the database, we have a little over 13,000.
2:21:42
Yeah, so we're talking about roughly 3,000 out over the last two years, down to 13 down to 13,000.
2:21:55
So that's a 3,000 reduction off of 16,000.
2:22:01
We're talking well, we're talking what, 20?
Rita C. Joseph
2:22:05
Would you be able to get that data to
Michael LiPetri
2:22:06
the council?
Rita C. Joseph
2:22:07
Would you be able to share that data with with the council?
2:22:09
A %.
2:22:10
Yes.
2:22:10
We would love to see what that looks like.
2:22:11
Yes.
Michael Gerber
2:22:12
We'll do.
Rita C. Joseph
2:22:12
I have another question for you.