NYPD Officer claims pressure to make arrests

[sharingwisdom]

NYPD Officer claims pressure to make arrests
March 3, 2010, WABC (New York City's ABC News affiliate)
An Eyewitness News investigation talks to a police officer who reveals the pressure they are under to make quotas - 3/02/10 - New York News and Tri-State News - 7online.com
When Officer Adil Polanco dreamed of becoming a cop, it was out of a desire to help people not, he says, to harass them. "I'm not going to keep arresting innocent people, I'm not going to keep searching people for no reason, I'm not going to keep writing people for no reason, I'm tired of this," said Adil Polanco, an NYPD Officer. Polanco says One Police Plaza's obsession with keeping crime stats down has gotten out of control. He claims Precinct Commanders relentlessly pressure cops on the street to make more arrests, and give out more summonses, all to show headquarters they have a tight grip on their neighborhoods. "Our primary job is not to help anybody, our primary job is not to assist anybody, our primary job is to get those numbers and come back with them?" said Officer Polanco. Eyewitness News asked, "Why do it?" "They have to meet a quota. One arrest and twenty summonses," said Officer Polanco. Eyewitness News asked, "Are you telling me they're stopping people for no reason, is that what you're saying?" "We are stopping kids walking upstairs to their house, stopping kids going to the store, young adults. In order to keep the quota," answered Officer Polanco. "I cannot be more honest than I've been. There's no reason for me to lie, there's no reason for me to get into the trouble I am, cause I just could've kept quiet and made the money," said Officer Polanco.
Note: If you think this is only a problem in New York City, think again. It is likely a problem in many major cities.

[comodin]

Some Waccobbians may recall my message from last year, "Falsified Speed Stops." A CHP officer stopped me for speeding when I was not. She may have thought that, because I had no witnesses, I would have no defense. You will be happy to know that I beat the rap by logical argument, and protested the injustice to the CHP chief in Santa Rosa. He defended the officer, maintaining that my Not Guilty verdict really showed nothing about the correctness of the stop--- an obvious evasion. My own guess is that our local CHP is under exactly the same pressure as this NYC cop is. The state is, after all, bankrupt. And I have only compassion for police officers who have to behave this way or lose their jobs--- or at least get themselves into a whole lot of trouble. The only response I can think of is the one I used--- protest the injustice and hope the court still has some integrity, even though the court itself is now closed sometimes because of the lack of money! Perhaps it will occur to the CHP that such nonsense, instead of getting money, actually costs time and lost money through the investigation that must follow.

If anyone wants to know more about what happened in my case, please write privately.

Quote:
He claims Precinct Commanders relentlessly pressure cops on the street to make more arrests, and give out more summonses, all to show headquarters they have a tight grip on their neighborhoods. "Our primary job is not to help anybody, our primary job is not to assist anybody, our primary job is to get those numbers and come back with them?" said Officer Polanco. Eyewitness News asked, "Why do it?" "They have to meet a quota. One arrest and twenty summonses," said Officer Polanco.