Police Official Testifies Most Civilian Complaints Lodged by Blacks

By KATELYN HRUBY & JULIA JOHN-SCHEDER

New evidence in the now five-week-long federal stop and frisk trial on Tuesday showed race as a major factor in civilian complaints of police misconduct.

Julie L. Schwartz, the Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD’s Department of Advocates, testified that 56 percent of complaints brought to the department in 2011 were made by blacks.

The department oversees the Civilian Complaint Review Board, but remains a functionary of the police department, conducting intradepartmental reviews.

Schwartz said that every year since 2005, over 50 percent of complaints concerning police misconduct followed this pattern.

Schwartz noted that other considerations, such as the demographics of the area in which police action took place must be taken into account as well when processing a complaint. She added that the free run 5.0 +3 femmes disproportionate number of complaints made by blacks must be taken in context.

The main reason for stop-and-frisk complaints, Schwartz said, was not race, but that victims did not know why they were stopped.

However, when asked by Manhattan Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin, “Do you draw inference that if more the 50 percent of the people who complained were black that they were stopped for no reason?” Schwartz said yes.

According to Schwartz, the department receives some 250 complaints per quarter, only 20to 40 of which turn out to be substantiated.

Additionally, the department does not process all complaints as many  go beyond the statute of limitations. “This year we’ve received skyrocketing numbers” said Schwartz, “of cases that were over the statute of limitations.”

She attributed many of these to Hurricane Sandy.

Schwartz said that her department considers racial profiling when conducting complaint reviews, though the plantiff’s lawyer Darius Charney cited a 2009 deposition in which Schwartz stated that her department does not deal with racial profiling.

Depending on the severity of the offense, officers receive small penalties, mainly new instructions on how to conduct a stop and frisk.

“I hope it works,” Schwartz said, when asked about the efficacy of her department’s deterrent reviews.