Yonkers police face difficult, dangerous job
A recent Journal News report would lead the average reader to believe that allegations made in lawsuits against members of the Yonkers Police Department are factual in nature, with little response from the department. This is not an accurate portrayal.
Police work in today's complicated world is a very difficult and dangerous profession. Officers are frequently called upon to engage in enforcement actions, often involving violent or emotionally disturbed individuals and sometimes requiring the use of physical force to maintain public safety. These types of encounters leave police vulnerable to allegations of misconduct and lawsuits against the department. It is important to note that allegations made in many of these lawsuits are ultimately found to be untrue; any implication of guilt of accused officers or lack of response by the department does not present a fair and balanced view.
In my opinion, multiple negative comments from attorneys representing plaintiffs in lawsuits against the department do not provide an objective account. The department is unable to comment on active litigation.
Although I am not at liberty to discuss specific personnel-related matters or comment on ongoing litigation against the department, I would like to provide another perspective on the matter.
Over the past several years the Yonkers Police Department has engaged in a number of programs and initiatives that have reduced citizen complaints, lawsuits, overall crime and improved our relationship with the community.
As indicated in the main article, community leaders acknowledge that "complaints have dropped and continue to drop." Citizen complaints have steadily decreased over the past three years, with excessive force complaints reduced from 25 in 2011 to 16 in 2012. That is a significantly low number for a department that responds to more than 120,000 calls for service and arrests over 6,000 people each year.
The article also reported that the payout per Yonkers officer, for legal matters related to misconduct cases, was low as compared to other area departments. As compared to 2012, lawsuits involving members of the department have fallen approximately 17 percent. The department is also in the process of improving our procedures for monitoring and tracking lawsuits filed against department members.
We continue to make strides in crime reduction with overall major crime in the city of Yonkers down 20 percent in the past two years and Yonkers remains one of the safest cities in the country as compared to cities of similar size and population.
We believe our diversified community policing efforts such as our youth police initiative, re-entry program, police community councils and expanded use of social media have contributed to the aforementioned reductions.
The progress we have made is due to the sacrifices, hard work and dedication of the men and women of this agency who, under very difficult conditions, continue to serve and provide quality police services to the people of Yonkers. We are a progressive, professional New York state-accredited police department made up of dedicated individuals who deserve our support. I am extremely proud of them and proud to be their commissioner.
The writer is commissioner of the Yonkers Police Department.
THE ISSUE
An April 6 Journal News report – "Behind the Badge: Abuse of Power?" – focused on a series of lawsuits claiming misconduct against two Yonkers Police Department officers.
The report included a main article, "Lawsuits: 2 Yonkers cops menace suspects, public," that detailed complaints against the officers. The report also documented the cost of police misconduct lawsuits, and provided summaries of 18 complaints against officers; half the cases were pending.