NEW YORK (NewsNation) — As unrest over allegations of police misconduct sweeps the country, the nation’s largest police department is laying out consequences for officers who cross the line.
New York City on Monday unveiled a discipline matrix that will guide decisions on punishment when those sworn to serve and protect are found to have gone too far.
For now, it’s a 48-page draft proposal open for public comment for the next 30 days. It’s designed to work in very much the same way as sentencing guidelines for criminal cases, a fact that immediately caught the attention of the city’s largest police union.
Mayor Bill DeBlasio told reporters the idea is to send a very specific message, “We want it to be clear that when certain actions are taken -and certain mistakes are made- that there will be accountability.”
The city says these guidelines have been in the works for the past 12 months, but the release is noteworthy for the timing, coming amid waves of anger over the videotaped actions of police—most recently in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Jacob Blake was shot seven times by officers—and in Minneapolis, where police took the life of George Floyd. Both men were African American.
Last year, the NYPD fired the officer who placed another African American man, Eric Garner of Staten Island, in the chokehold that took his life. The police union argued there was little to no precedent for the dismissal. Now the Police Benevolent Association is lashing out at the new discipline matrix with a strongly worded statement from union president Patrick Lynch.
“Apparently, mandatory minimums and sentencing guidelines are unfair to criminals but perfectly fine for cops. This matrix has nothing to do with fairness. It’s an avenue for the City Council’s policing ‘experts’ – the ones who brought chaos back to NYC – to manipulate NYPD discipline to further their radical political goals. Just watch as the punishment guidelines are changed based on headlines and poll numbers, rather than any objective sense of justice or fairness.”
NewsNation reviewed the city’s most recent use of force report, which notes that five people were shot and killed by the NYPD in 2018, each while in possession of a potentially deadly weapon.
Multiple times during Monday’s press conference, police commissioner Dermot Shea worked to remind the public of the dangerous work his officers do, in a city currently grappling with a rise in crime. Shootings nearly doubled over the summer.
“There’s a lot of things I don’t know,” Shea said. “But one thing I definitely know; New York City police officers and detectives are as dedicated as they ever have been. They put themselves in harm’s way every single day— and they are out there for the residents of New York City.”