NYPD Officer Speaks Out About Pressure To Make Quotas

[StemCell]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/investigators&id=7305356

An Eyewitness News investigation talks to a police officer who reveals the pressure they are under to make quotas.

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.

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.

This audio recording exclusively obtained by Eyewitness News seems to back up Officer Polanco's assertion of a quota. You can listen to one officer as he lectures his rank and file officers during roll call at the 41st precinct.

"Things are not going to get any better. It's going to get a lot worse," said a police officer.

He lays out clearly that they need to bring in the numbers.

"If you think 1 and 20 is breaking your balls, guess what you're going to be doing. You're gong to be doing a lot more, a lot more than what they're saying," said the officer.

In another recording, the 41st Precinct Patrol Supervisor appears to step up the pressure to write more and more summonses:

"Next week, 25 &1, 35 & 1, and until you decide to quit this job to go to work at a Pizza Hut , this is what you're going to be doing till then. Do you understand?" asked the patrol officer.

"He's being clear, the only choice that we have is to do it," 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.

"Yeah, they locked us up for nothing," said Zebulun Colbourne.

The Colbourne brothers say they and three other friends were the victims of quotas. All were arrested a few months ago after one of them had fallen while racing each other.

Eyewitness News asked, "You fell and that's how you hurt your eye?"

"Yeah, and they just wanted to arrest us. I told them I fell but that didn't matter to them," said Elijah Colbourne.

All five were accused of engaging in tumultuous and violent conduct that caused public alarm, given a summons for unlawful assembly and locked up overnight.

Eyewitness News asked, "So you're locked up waiting to see the judge, right?"

"Yeah," answered the Colbourne brothers.

Eyewitness News asked, "Then what do they do?"

"We don't see the judge, they let us out the back door after they kept us for a day and some change," said Elijah Colbourne.

The charges were dropped, but Officer Polanco says the patrolman still got 5 summonses toward their monthly quota.

"At the end of the night you have to come back with something. You have to write somebody, you have to arrest somebody, even if the crime is not committed, the number's there. So our choice is to come up with the number," said Officer Polanco.

One Police Plaza declined our requests to interview the 41st precinct commander. But, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said, "Police Officers like others who receive compensation are provided productivity goals and they are expected to work."

Officer Polanco says if they are just goals, why are officers who fail to make them, re-assigned to different shifts or relocated far from home.

It's the consequences of not making the numbers or quotas, he says, that forces officers to give out bogus summonses.

"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.

[donnay]

That's one brave cop!  Just ask Frank Serpico what happened when he didn't toe-the-line with his Precinct.

[bodygaurd]

This reminds me of the Sheriff in Cook County IL. When the housing crisis first hit, a bunch of rich bastards who owned Apt buildings let their rental buildings go into foreclosure. It took at least a year for the bankers to take control of the properties and the entire time the "owners" were pocketing the rent from honest, hard working folk. Then, when the banks took over, they didn't just start collecting the rent from these people. They evicted them. Thousands of people, including families, who payed their rent on time kicked out into the street THAT DAY! The deputies would show up and had to tell them to get out. Finally, the Sheriff realized that the people his deputies were kicking out weren't the ones who were trying to screw someone over so he put a stop to all evictions and said he wasn't going to start them up again until the banks and the land lords got their shit straight.   

[prototypeB.C.]

These are the dangers of enforcing someone elses laws and not doing a personal investigation into why or how these so-called "laws" came into fruition. Most just blindly sign up for law enforcement either because they sport a mustache and a buzz cut, and need a place to fit in, or they are trying to live up to a fictitious cop role like in lethal weapon or die hard. I wonder when freedom will be legalized. I'm tired of getting harrassed over petty "traffic" violations. "Sir, are you aware that your gas powered land vessel was moving through space and time at unapproved speeds, even though it is a four lane highway and you were the only person traveling on it?"......ridiculous. It seems the the law is curved around the hollow leech puppets that plague this planet, and anyone victimized by it, regardless of ones intelligence, are stereotyped as such. Then you gotta love the classic big brother lecturing session each time you get pulled over. If anything i should be thanked by the cops for getting pulled over. criminals are law enforcements job security.

[jofortruth]

This guy is a REAL MAN! He knows what his duty is as an Officer of the Peace. He also understands that what his commanders are telling him to do is WRONG!

So, what's wrong with the other officers who just mindlessly engage in the harassment of fellow citizens and act outside of the law? Accusing someone automatically of being guilty of anything is a breach of the law. A policeman should understand this very basic concept and stop being STUPID MINDLESS DRONES who just do as they're told when they should know it's wrong!

Guys, you really need to get your head on straight and figure out what you are participating in, or you are going to be sued individually, by citizens you harass, for breaking the law and violating their rights of being innocent until proven guilty!

[prototypeB.C.]

I think you mean to say "guilty until proven innocent"........

[Georgiacopguy]

Most just won't wake up, they see it as good to be the police in a police state. Every once i na while you find a moral one who is upset with what he sees, ebcuase he got in for the right reasons, everyonce in a while you'll see a turncoat who just got pissed because he got passed over for what he felt was his. But most of them just want to drive fast, violate people, and break things.

This guy is a REAL MAN! He knows what his duty is as an Officer of the Peace. He also understands that what his commanders are telling him to do is WRONG!

So, what's wrong with the other officers who just mindlessly engage in the harassment of fellow citizens and act outside of the law? Accusing someone automatically of being guilty of anything is a breach of the law. A policeman should understand this very basic concept and stop being STUPID MINDLESS DRONES who just do as they're told when they should know it's wrong!

Guys, you really need to get your head on straight and figure out what you are participating in, or you are going to be sued individually, by citizens you harass, for breaking the law and violating their rights of being innocent until proven guilty!

[Tactics]

If only he was the rule and not the exception....good post, may that man receive many blessings.

[rawiron1]

Protect and Serve has been replaced by Harass and Intimidate.

Jason

[Southern Patriot]

  Been saying it for years. People thought I was crazy when I told them we were expected to write 6 citations per shift. That was years ago. 6 citations per shift times about 20 shifts per month times about $150 on the low low end apiece equals $18,000 per month per officer in generated revenue for the county. There were just over 40 officers in my department when i left ($720,000 per month if you're still counting). This is a severe low ball estimate. Most citations I wrote were in the $250 and up range since I only went after people who were seriously f**king up. Consider that the only way for cops to make money is to write extra citations so they can get overtime going to court on "docket days" and this number can double or tripple per officer.
I once wrote a little over 200 warnings (no fines) one month and got my ass chewed like never before. When I brought up the fact that officer discretion dictates whether an arrest is made or a citation is written for low level misdemeanour's, I was reassigned to work in the jail for two months to "think about my law enforcement career".
  This is just the ticket angle of it all!
  Now comes the fun part.
  For every arrest an officer makes that spends a night in jail, the county receives federal and state money to house that inmate. They also rent out cells to the federal and state government to house inmates. Here is the kicker......A federal grant paid for our nice new jail. Our old jail could house approximately 30 prisoners....Our new "damn near free" jail is capable of housing 520 prisoners. Did we need this many cells? Hell no! But, within 6 months we had filled it up which I found to be an amazing feat since our old jail was hardly ever filled to capacity.
  Then I learned why.....It costs the county just about $60 to house and feed an inmate each day...This takes into account, food, laundry, water, guard labour cost, electricity, blah, blah, blah. Between the federal and state money they get, the county makes a profit of about $140 per day per inmate! 520 prisoners times $140 equals $72,800 per f**king day! ($2,184,000 per month) It gets better though....Once the jail is filled to capacity for a period of three months, the county applies for another federal grant to expand the jail and hire new officers. Keep that in mind the next time you get arrested for going 20 over the speed limit and you're sitting there eating a peanut butter sandwich.
  Think it is over when they let you out? Think again. When you go on supervised probation, you will pay the probation officer $35 (low estimate) each time you visit. Each probation officer (God only knows how many there are just in Tennessee) oversees about 150 people. If each of them only has to see the probation officer once each month, that is $5,250 per month, per officer...Again, this is a low estimate. There were something like 6 probation officers in my county. ($31,500 per month) All probation officers are former "top performing" law enforcement officers. They keep an undisclosed amount of this money, as well as a salary. I think they get a bonus if they can violate you and get you back in the big money jail.

  So, where in the hell does all this money go? Cops make shit money, drive shitty cruisers on shitty roads and the county screams that they are broke at every budget meeting.
  It supposedly goes to.....get this...cover the cost of fighting crime and the cost of operating the court system.
  $2,935,500 per month in revenue for a county of just under 60,000 residents. This averages out to the county getting $48.93 for every man woman and child in the county each month.
  $35,226,000 per year and that is the lowest possible number I can come up with.
  If it realistically cost half this amount to keep the wheels turning on this finely oiled machine called justice (which it doesn't), the county should never be crying broke.
  Where's the f**king money?

[happyJoy]

Southern Patriot:

Thank you for a great post!

Jeebus on a thumb drive. Speaking as someone who has been on the receiving end of police hospitality, yes we do live in a USA kinda gulag. I've had friends also who got jobs as a cop and had to quit real quick once they realized the corruptness of it all. Follow the money.

What you've laid out is the right focus for any fix for this mess. Me? I am not optimistic any reform will happen ever. But at least let the damn truth be known.

Down in central and South America, corruption is real, but they are amateurs compared to us, where it is institutionalized and in the legal 'code'.

Did you see where they arrested that "Kopbusters" dude today? I think he has potential if he shifts his focus to the higher level of the food chain instead of just the patrol cops.

[Volitzar]

Yeah many small towns in the state of NY have no big economy base cuz the high taxes drive out all the businesses so they use the courts as a tool of extortion to keep the state and local cities running.

If any state falls first to the New World Order it will be New York State.

The women there are already screwed up thinking they are entitled to everything without having to work for it. 

I had 2 incidences with CPS within a 2 year period before I left in 2008.    I yelled at my nieces in a Wal-Mart parking lot to get the cart and themselves out of the line of traffic and closer to the car.  3 days later my brother gets a letter in the mail by CPS.  Then a sub-teacher took "I lick lollies and dum-dums at my uncle's house."    You know like lollipops and dum-dum candies.  She took it to mean something perverted and next thing I am getting a call from my dad saying to stay away from their house for a month while my brother and sister-in-law straighten it out.  Oh I was so pissed. 

That and the number of women that file phony sexual harassment claims there and get caught in so many lies.  Many of the times it is done by ugly women so they can prove to other women that they are attractive, either that if a man and a woman are both in line for a promotion, a woman will come up with a sexual harassment claim just to get the guy fired so she can get the promotion.  So if you travel to New York and you hear on the radio about the "victims" of domestic violence, take it with a grain of salt.  80% of the time they are the ones whacking a hornet's nest with a stick and then crying foul.   

NYS is literally coming to  mean Nanny-Youth-State.

[Guns Equal Freedom]

Of course, all police officers are under pressure to meet their quotas.

They have a big budget deficit to fix, and even when there isn't a budget deficit to fix they still want to make money for the city or town.

[Volitzar]

Right the banks foreclosed on so many homes these towns and counties have no home taxes they are collecting each year.

[happyJoy]

True that.

I live in a small town and there are so many cop entities here it is unreal. There's a training operation based here for all manner of police agencies. There's city cops, sheriffs, tribal, hypos, narcos, I don't know what all. The little rag that passes for a paper here is half about posting arrest records, mostly DUI's, public intox, driving under suspension, etc.

The local economy is a shambles, in a town of about 16,000 we have a transient homeless population of about 1,000. Think of that, and they are almost invisible too, they've been riding the freight trains in, and stay in camps out of sight, unless your eyes are open you don't even see them.

And if you get caught holding weed, yer charged with possession within 1000 ft of a school or church, which is anywhere in town, so they can double penalties and fines. I've been here 2 years and I'm the only person I know that hasn't been nailed for something(knock on wood). They even drive around with those bogus sniffing dogs in their damn cars so they can jack you on the spot. I joke that the cops will be arresting each other at this rate. I don't drive drunk, but they can nail you for 2 near-beers and there is no public transportation.

So you imagine what this does for the local economy. Hell these are all working stiffs they are jamming up. Between this crap and the so-called "child support" enforcement and CPS nazis, a working man especially and many woman just spend their days trying to stay out of jail. The local 'economy' is just for the enrichment of the pinhead fat cats that run the show and if you aren't born into the local connections well it sucks to be you.

These Stalinist bureaucrats and jackboots are preying upon us and funded by our own tax monies. There are nearly only 2 paths here, get fed head-first into prisons, or become one of the tools of the clampdown(military, police, etc).

My grandfather fled Europe in the 30's to escape the fascists, I have the same feelings about the USA now. My study of history leads me to the conclusion that once a country falls to totalitarianism, resistance is best created and organized outside the empire. People are too stunned to react until the SHTF, then it's time to go into exile and organize our comeback as citizens. 

[donnay]

BUMP in light of the Frank Serpico interview today!

[kerrymti]

Ok, guys!  Nobody has answered the question posed by Southern Patriot...I do not know the answer, I have ideas, but can't put them together.  Someone tell me where the money is going from all of the revenue generated by the city and county jail systems, this is insane...thanks

[Constitutionary]

Lawyers and NY-ers have known that this has been going on for years.

Lawyers are fed up with the fact that they don't have time for murders and real felony cases cuz courts are tied up with speeding tickets and other pissant crimes.

In certain cities the judges and lawyers will process speeding tickets and other assinine traffic stuff real fast without any points cuz they know it's all a quota system with cops.

[TahoeBlue]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359154/Cash-kids-judge-took-1m-kickback-private-jail-builder-lock-children-up.html
'Cash for kids' judge took $1m kickback from private jail builder to lock children up
By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 7:25 PM on 21st February 2011

A former judge [Mark Ciavarella]  has been convicted of taking a $1million kickback from the builder of a juvenile jail in the notorious ‘cash for kids’ scandal.

Mark Ciavarella sent hundreds of children and teenagers to the private prison for minor crimes after being given the money by the company which ran it.

Some of the children jailed were as young as 10 and at least one killed themselves because the excessive sentences ruined their lives.


Cash for kids: Mark Ciavarella is confronted by Sandy Fonzo, whose son was locked up by the judge for a minor offence and subsequently killed himself Suicide: Edward Kenzakoski, 17, was a star wrestler before being jailed for a minor offence. He shot himself

Ciavarella, 61, left the bench in disgrace two years ago after the allegations came to light and is now expected to be jailed for at least 13 years.
...
The ‘cash for kids’ investigation has widely been seen as one of the worst cases of judicial malpractice in U.S. history.

Prosecutors said it involved Ciavarella and a second judge, Michael Conahan, 58, using juvenile delinquents as ‘pawns to enrich’ themselves to the tune of $2.3million.

Ciavarella worked in Luzerne County in Pennsylvania where he was known as ‘Mr Zero Tolerance’ for his tough sentencing.
But the court was told there was another reason for his hardness - he has taken nearly $1million from the owners and builders of a privately-run juvenile detention centre.

The court was told the two judges closed the existing youth jail in 2002 and arranged for the construction of the PA Child Care facility near Wilkes-Barre.

Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, ensured it was busy by sending hundreds of teenagers and children there, even if they had never been in trouble before. Some were locked up even after probation officers recommended against it - one teenager was jailed for two years for joyriding with his parents’ car.

The extent of the scandal only became clear afterwards when a a court in Pennsylvania dismissed 4,000 cases of his judgements.
Now a jury in Scranton has convicted Ciavarella of 12 counts, including racketeering and conspiracy, and acquitted him of 27 counts.
Incredibly as he walked out of the courtroom his lawyer tried to pass it off as some kind of victory.
...

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Ciavarella__appeals__sentence___conviction_08-17-2011.html
...
Ciavarella was sentenced last week to 28 years in prison for his conviction on 12 counts, including racketeering, money laundering, mail fraud and tax evasion. The charges related to his acceptance of nearly $1 million from real estate developer Robert Mericle, the builder of two juvenile detention facilities the county utilized.


Face of the Devil - Ciavarella


http://newsbusters.org/people/michael-conahan
...consistently and disgracefully failed to tag the infamous "Kids for Cash" jurist Mark Ciavarella and his judicial colleague in crime Michael Conahan as a Democrat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Conahan
Michael Conahan is a former judge from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania who committed the "Kids for cash" scandal in 2008[1] with fellow judge Mark Ciavarella.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/judge-ciavarella-conahan-immune-from-civil-suits-for-in-court-actions-1.433769#axzz1VVgPGvZJ
Judge: Ciavarella, Conahan immune from civil suits for in-court actions
BY DAVE JANOSKI (STAFF WRITER)Published: November 21, 2009

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Conahan_pleads_guilty_to_plot_07-23-2010.html

July 24, 2010

Conahan pleads guilty to plot
Former judge admits to kickback scheme
JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES and JERRY LYNOTT jandes@timesleader.com

Former Luzerne County judge Michael Conahan faces a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Former Luzerne County judge Michael Conahan pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to racketeering conspiracy, acknowledging under oath that he illegally used his power as president judge to get “kickback gratuity.”
...
Conahan faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release
...
Conahan signed a plea agreement in April that called for him to plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy in exchange for all other charges being dropped. Ciavarella, who was juvenile court judge during the period in question, has not reached a similar deal and is preparing for trial

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Federal-prosecutors-seek-stiffer-sentence-for-Robert-Mericle.html
Federal prosecutors seek stiffer sentence for Robert Mericle



SCRANTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed a modification to the plea agreement with Robert Mericle that will likely increase the sentence he faces for his guilty plea related to the Luzerne County corruption probe.

The amendment, filed Thursday, alters a section of the plea agreement that stated the U.S. Attorney’s office would recommend Mericle be sentenced to the minimum under federal sentencing guidelines. In its place, the government inserted language that says it is now free to recommend a higher sentence, up to the maximum.

The government has also included language that would allow it to seek a higher sentence for Mericle based on “obstructing or impeding the administration of justice.” The document does not state what action Mericle has allegedly taken to obstruct justice.
...Mericle pleaded guilty in September to withholding information on a crime for taking actions that prosecutors said helped former judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan conceal the source of $2.8 million Mericle and Attorney Robert Powell had paid them.

Prosecutors allege the money, roughly $2.1 million of which was paid by Mericle, was a reward for rulings the judges made that ensured two juvenile centers once co-owned by Powell maintained a high occupancy rate. The centers were built by Mericle’s company, Mericle Construction.

Mericle admitted he created documents that helped Conahan and Ciavarella disguise the source of the revenue by describing it as “brokers fees” that were paid to Powell by Mericle. In reality all parties knew the money was going to Conahan and Ciavarella, prosecutors have said.

Mericle is expected to be a key witness against Ciavarella at his trial, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 7. Conahan pleaded guilty last year to one count of racketeering conspiracy and may also be called as a witness.

[Constitutionary]

Yeah NY can never fund its schools but can build the latest hi-tech prisons in all the poorests of counties.   

NY is the Globalists other beta-tested police state much like Texas, at least according to Alex-E-J.

[chris jones]

 Adil, hat off to you, that took courage.
 It goes up the ladder doesn't it, the chief, selectmen, mayor etc..Like this man said he became a cop to help, in the beleif he may be doing some good, to find out to late its a setup. Like he said, what is he going to do now, go to work at pizza hut?
                Reminds me of the Mil. brass shuffling around asking for body counts.

[kerrymti]

Thanks Tahoe.  So, you think it is just being 'pilferred' by crooks...?