NYPD Rolls Out New Use-of-Force Rules

The New York City Police Department is making widespread changes to to its use of force policy. The policies also include disciplinary actions for officers who fail to report or intervene if they witness colleagues using excessive force.

The “state of the art policies”, which go into effect January 1, could be an example for other departments across the country on how to document, investigate and conduct trainings on use of force, Bratton said. Under the new guidelines, the officers would have to document that incident as force used, checking a box on the report indicating the type of force, even though it did not result in an arrest. “I think one of the most powerful forces affecting New York City and its police department is this growing awareness in the rest of America – it’s the policing equivalent of the Confederate flag”. The division will report directly to a deputy police commissioner.

Looking at “use of force” cases that did not involve a death between 2010 and 2014, the IG found 43 of the cases that were substantiated involved patrol officers: 28 were anti-crime cops, 18 worked in narcotics units, and the rest were in a variety of other assignments. It also said the NYPD has failed to provide the training needed to avoid using force in the first place.

Police officers “are not only missing opportunities to deescalate, but are sometimes actively escalating situations with members of the public”, the report said.

Still, Mr. Peters and Mr. Eure deemed that first issue an important one, with Mr. Peters saying it was “absolutely unacceptable that there is not a central mechanism for tracking and reporting use of force”.

The guidelines also come at the same time that the NYPD is handing out 900 Tasers to cops on the beat, because nothing says “model of restraint” and “de-escelation” like 50,000 volts in the tuchus.

While Mr. Bratton will doubtlessly expound on the report at his press conference this afternoon, the police department also responded to the inspector general in writing, outlining a few of the changes the department will announce later today.

“There’s a new national awareness and movement about racial bias and policing, and this is a very good development”, says Harry Levine, professor of sociology at Queens College who studies the arrest patterns of the NYPD. Officers will now be limited to pulling out their guns only when “an officer has to have an articulable belief there is a potential for serious physical injury”. Where force is necessary for public safety and order, the police must have our full support.

“There are definite concerns about relying on self-reporting, but we have yet to come up with a more objective way to find out what’s going on”, she told the Guardian. “New York City police officers want to keep our streets safe”.