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The New York Police Department will have a futuristic member in its ranks as a “robocop” will begin patrolling the subway station at Times Square.
As Gothamist reports, last Friday (Sept. 22) the Knightscope K5 Autonomous Security Robot was unveiled to the public at a press conference held underground at the 42nd Street-Times Square subway station. Mayor Eric Adams was on hand with the NYPD to announce that the city was launching a two-month program to test the K5 robot. “I’ve gone a long way from being a transit cop, to being next to a robot,” Adams said to reporters, grinning as he stood next to it. “We’re going to keep us safe no matter which way we do it.”
The K5 robot, shaped like a small rocket and painted white with glowing blue lights to indicate that it’s on and functioning, checks in at 5-foot-2 in height. Boasting a giant camera for a face, it will be accompanied as it roams throughout the station by officers who will be trained in its functions and introduce it to the public. The K5 has 360-degree vision and moves at 3 miles per hour. It won’t access the subway platforms.
“It will record video that can be viewed in case of an emergency or a crime. It will not record audio, and it will not use facial recognition. However, the K5 does have a button that connects you immediately to a live person that New Yorkers can utilize 24/7 with questions, concerns or to report an incident if needed,” said Mayor Adams. The K5’s camera will be part of the NYPD’s surveillance network in the subways.
Knightscope, the company behind the K5, states that their robot has been deployed in 10 states to 30 clients, including hospitals and shopping malls. There have been incidents where similar machines were attacked in other cities in Northern California including San Francisco. “If you come here and damage K5 or commit any crime in the subway system, prepare to be identified and arrested,” said NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper.
Mayor Adams also touted that it will be cost-effective to taxpayers as the city is leasing the robot for $9 an hour. “This is a good investment of taxpayer dollars,” he stated. “This is below minimum wage, no bathroom breaks, no meal breaks.” The K5 will operate from 12 A.M. to 6 A.M., with the city assessing its results after two months.
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A Bronx judge just threw out a gang of cases thanks to a narcotics police officer who has been accused of playing dirty in order to secure numerous drug busts.
According to Gothamist, a judge in the Boogie Down dismissed 67 cases that were linked to undercover narcotics detective Joseph Franco who was fired from the NYPD in 2020 for making false statements about his arrests. With the 67 cases thrown out, the courts in the Bronx have now thrown out 324 cases due to “potentially wrongful convictions.”
The Gothamist reports:
“Prosecutors had relied on evidence from someone with compromised credibility, and the district attorney cannot stand behind these convictions,” Bronx DA Darcel Clark said in a press release.
Neither the NYPD nor Franco’s attorney immediately responded to requests for comment.
The latest batch of dismissed cases involves people who were charged between 2011 and 2015, when Franco was a detective in the Bronx. Of the 67 convictions, 24 were for seventh-degree criminal possession of a substance — a low-level drug possession charge — and nine were for marijuana offenses that are no longer illegal in New York, according to the DA’s office. Others were for fourth-degree criminal facilitation — when someone helps another person to commit a crime — and for using drug paraphernalia.
Franco himself stood trial for perjury and misconduct earlier this year as prosecutors accused him of lying about drug sales he claimed to have witnessed on both police paperwork and in court. Armed with videos that they claim show it would have been impossible for Franco to have seen what he said he had witnessed, the DA’s office called him out in a court of law but Franco ultimately had the charges dismissed as prosecutors failed to give the defense all the evidence they had as is required by law.
“His lies were a poison that tainted any fair or legitimate case,” Assistant DA Samantha Dworken said during opening statements in January.
Franco’s defense attorney, Howard Evan Tanner, denied that the former detective lied and said any contradictions in his statements were unintentional.
“I think he was trying to do his job to the best of his ability,” Tanner said in court.
Of course you do, Mr. Tanner. Of course you do.
What do y’all think? Sound off in the comments section below.
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The sudden news of the New York Police Department planning to utilize drones to enact surveillance on Labor Day parties this weekend has sparked public concern.
At a press conference held on Thursday (August 31st) by the NYPD, it was announced that they would use surveillance drones during the course of the J’ouvert/Labor Day weekend. “We’re going to be utilizing technology, we’re going to be utilizing drones for this J’ouvert weekend. The drones are going to be responding to non-priority calls and priority calls,” said NYPD Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry. He followed up by stating that the drones would be active beginning on Thursday evening and cease operation on Monday morning. Daughtry also stated that the drones would monitor large outdoor gatherings and backyard parties. “If a caller states there is a large crowd, a large party in the backyard, we’re going to be utilizing our assets to go up, go check on the party,” he said.
The news comes hours before the largest public celebration in New York City by its Black immigrant community from the West Indies. J’ouvert is the annual festival held before the Labor Day parade on Monday that honors those lost during enslavement and celebrates the traditions of the island nations. The move has caused observers and community advocates to voice their concerns. “It’s a troubling announcement and it flies in the face of the POST Act,” said Daniel Schwarz, a privacy and technology analyst with the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Deploying drones in this way is a sci-fi-inspired scenario.”
Observers note that the city’s POST Act requires the department to give 90 days’ notice before using such technology so citizens can weigh in, but it seems as if the department has been taking advantage of a loophole in the act where there is a review if new technology is an “enhancement” to existing policy. The NYPD has spoken about using drones before since 2018, with them being used 124 times this year, recently in the Union Square fracas caused by a botched Kai Cenat giveaway.
Mayor Eric Adams has been a highly vocal backer of using drones, particularly after his recent trip to Israel. “This is ripe for abuse,” surveillance lawyer Albert Fox Cahn said. “The mayor keeps doing this. Whenever there’s something that might generate a bad headline, he looks for some technological gimmick that can fix it.”
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A new report has found that the New York Police Department has committed thousands of pedestrian stops under Mayor Eric Adams – with only 5% of those stopped being white.
According to a report by the New York Civil Liberties Union, since Adams began his tenure as mayor, the NYPD’s renewed policy of stopping people is at its highest point since 2015 and trending upwards. While fewer people are being detained as a result of these stops, there is a starker racial disparity found in the breakdown of those stopped with white people only making up 5% of that group overall.
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The report shows that police stopped 8,502 people in the first half of 2023, a low number in comparison to the 700,000 that were registered during the height of the infamous “stop-and-frisk” era under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The policy was effectively abandoned once former Mayor Bill de Blasio was in office due to federal pressure. But a closer look does note some glaring issues, such as those found on the forms NYPD officers are required to fill out for every stop. 92% of those stops were apparently because someone “fit a relevant description” or “other”. The report also noted that precincts in The Bronx, Harlem along with Midtown Manhattan and the central and eastern areas of Brooklyn had the highest stop rates this year so far.
An NYPD spokesperson issued a statement that cited that officers make stops “with increasing levels of precision” based on their observations and that they carry out all of their duties “without consideration of race or ethnicity”. This conflicts with a New York Daily News article in June that obtained quotes from officers in five different commands that they were being urged to issue low-level summonses, potentially in line with Adams’ consistent strategy of using pedestrian stops for public safety.
“The good news is there are definitely fewer [stops] happening, but the alarming thing is that the racial disparities and the apparent racial profiling continues,” said NYCLU legal director Chris Dunn. “Many more Black and Latino people are being stopped without any justification whatsoever.” He estimates that NYPD officers aren’t documenting any civilian stops that don’t result in a summons or arrest.
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A Brooklyn teen has been arrested and charged as an adult in the murder of dancer O’Shae Sibley, and it has been deemed a hate crime.
On Saturday (Aug. 5), it was announced at a press conference held by the New York Police Department that they had detained the individual suspected in the fatal stabbing of O’Shae Sibley. NYPD Assistant Chief Joseph Kenny said that the suspect, who is 17, is being charged as an adult with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
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Kenny said that the suspect lives and goes to high school in Brooklyn and explained the reasoning behind the charges. Surveillance footage at the Coney Island Avenue gas station on July 29 showed Sibley dancing and vogueing as his friends were refueling their car before being confronted by another group of men in the parking lot. “They began to use derogatory names and homophobic slurs against them,” he said of the events leading up to the altercation. One person approached Sibley, stabbing him in his rib cage before fleeing in an SUV. “They also made anti-Black statements,” Kenny said.
“Parents lost a child, a child to something clearly that was a hate crime,” said Mayor Eric Adams at a press conference, which was held outside of the gas station in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. “It wasn’t as though someone turned themselves in out of the goodness of their heart,” he continued, crediting law enforcement and community involvement for the arrest. “It was out of the proper investigation and coordination that led to no other thing to do but to turn themselves in.”
The death of Sibley comes as attacks against those from the LGBTQ+ community have increased rapidly, sparking outrage from that community as well as protests and rallies. “He was doing nothing more than voguing and dancing,” said NYC Center for Black Pride chief Lee Soulja Simmons on Saturday. “He did not deserve to die in that way.” Simmons also said that Black queer people were emotionally struggling with Sibley’s killing. Representatives from Muslim community organizations were also present at the press conference to lend their support, as the suspect reportedly said at the outset of the incident: “I’m Muslim. I don’t want this here.”
Under the law in New York State, the suspect faces a mandatory sentence of 20 years to life if he’s to be tried as an adult. The Brooklyn District Attorney could change the charges once they take over.
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A man has come forward claiming proof of the New York Police Department’s involvement in the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965.
On Tuesday (July 25th), Mustafa Hassan appeared alongside attorney Benjamin Crump at a press conference where he detailed overhearing a comment made as NYPD officers were restraining Talmadge X Hayer, one of the assassins of Malcolm X outside of the Audubon Ballroom that confirmed to him that the department, as well as the FBI, knew that there would be an attempt on his life beforehand.
Hassan, 84, recounted the events of what took place at the Audubon, now The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. He was a member of the Organization of African American Unity, formed by Malcolm X in 1964, and a member of his security detail. He recalled that after the shooting, he managed to knock down Hayer. After checking on Malcolm X, he went outside to find Hagan being beaten up by crowd members and NYPD officers trying to step in. Hassan then said he heard one officer ask, “Is he one of us?”, referencing Hagan.
For Hassan, that confirmed the NYPD’s involvement. “No doubt in my mind,” he said. He also related from his sworn court affidavit that Eugene Roberts, a police undercover agent and informant had detailed seeing a “dry run” on Malcolm’s life just a week prior to the assassination. “The government was involved in the conspiracy to kill Malcolm X,” Crump said, going on to say that the comment may give Malcolm X’s family the basis behind their legal claim against the NYPD and federal government for damages. “It tells us they knew something was going down. They were saying is this guy with us because they knew they had planted Black people in there who were informants.
Two of the activist’s daughters, Ilyasah Shabazz and Quibilah Shabazz were also present at the press conference. Both were present at the time of the assassination. While Quibilah declined to comment, Ilyasah Shabazz said “We want the truth to be known. And justice to be served.” Crump stated that he hoped Hassan’s statement would compel the Biden administration to re-open the investigation into Malcolm X’s murder and how much of a role the federal government had in the incident. He also referenced the city’s $36 million settlement last October with Muhammad Aziz, and Khalil Islam, two men wrongfully convicted of the murder and exonerated.
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The city of New York is poised to settle a lawsuit brought against them by protesters in the Bronx over the New York Police Department tactics involving “kettling” at a protest for George Floyd in 2020.
According to reports, the city is preparing to pay a large sum of money to settle a class action suit brought on by individuals who were part of a racial justice protest in the Mott Haven neighborhood in the Bronx on June 4, 2020. In the documents filed in federal court, the sum ranges between $4 million and $6 million. Each person of the hundreds involved could receive $21,500. Those who were issued desk appearance summons could net an additional $2,500, and the plaintiffs named who brought the suit could get another $21,500.
The city will also shell out $2,550,000 to pay the fees of the attorneys involved. Amali Sierra, one of the lead plaintiffs, spoke about the settlement in a statement: “This settlement serves as testimony of the wrongdoing by the hands of the NYPD. It is a reminder that this institution is not built to protect Black and Brown communities.”
Sierra and her sister, Samira, were among the group of over 300 people protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the direction of then-Chief of Department Terence Monahan in coordination with the NYPD’s legal team, officers on the scene at E.136th Street cornered the protesters preventing them from leaving until after the imposed 8 p.m. curfew that was in effect at the time.
NYPD officers then proceeded to pepper spray the protesters and strike them with batons before arresting them en masse. Legal observers from the Legal Aid Society and the National Lawyers Guild were also detained and handcuffed along with those passing by. The Legal Aid Society sent out word of the incident via Twitter at the time, which was responded to with video footage.
A spokesperson for the NYPD issued a statement denying any wrongdoing by the department: “It was a challenging moment for the department as officers who themselves were suffering under the strains of a global pandemic did their utmost to help facilitate people’s rights to peaceful expression while addressing acts of lawlessness including wide-scale rioting, mass chaos, violence, and destruction.”
The spokesperson followed up by adding that they’ve “re-envisioned” their policies since 2020. The news comes as the city is currently seeking to settle more lawsuits over the department’s behavior that year.
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After a wave of violent robberies, the New York Police Department is suggesting that businesses should ask people entering to unmask as a safety measure.
At a press conference held Tuesday (Feb. 28), NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey was asked about the rise in violent robberies in the city and a recent case where a 79-year-old woman was brutally assaulted at a jewelry store in Flushing, Queens. The police have gone on record saying that they have had difficulty identifying suspects due to them wearing masks. “We are asking the businesses to make this a condition of entry, that people when they come in, they show their face, they should identify themselves,” Maddrey said.
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Before the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses would ask that patrons remove their masks when entering. As the pandemic raged on, they have been requesting patrons mask up. “We’re seeing far too often where people are coming up to our businesses, sometimes with masks, sometimes masks, hoods, and latex gloves, and they’re being allowed, they’re being buzzed in and allowed to enter the store and we have a robbery,” Maddrey continued. “We need our businesses to be proactive and do their due diligence. We need to make sure people are identifying themselves.”
The robbery at the Diamonds Direct store Feb. 21 occurred when the woman, who was watching the store for her daughter when she went out to lunch, buzzed in three people including one who pretended to be an Amazon delivery driver. The daughter, an immigrant from Taiwan who owns the store, feels they were professional thieves.
“They scheduled a delivery, make sure you are on your premises — you open your door and they will come to make a fake delivery,” she said to a local news network. “It could happen to anybody, older people, parents, kids at home. You’re expecting delivery on Amazon, UPS, maybe Con Edison, the people dressed in uniform.”
The NYPD has said that there have been 11 robberies at jewelry stores this year so far. Last year, robberies spiked to a rate of over 30% when compared to the previous two years. They have stated that they will begin to offer free security assessments to local businesses.
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A new report discloses that the majority of stops made by the New York Police Department last year consisted of Black & Latino drivers, furthering concern from social justice advocates.
According to reports, findings from a comprehensive compilation of data from the New York Civil Liberties Union showed that NYPD officers stopped, searched, and arrested Black & Latino drivers at a far higher rate than white drivers last year. The report showed that more than over 670,000 drivers were stopped last year. 15,000 of those stops led to arrests, with 49% of those drivers being Black and 39% being Latino.
“Race plays a big role in what happens to motorists after they get stopped and that number just jumps off the page,” NYCLU Legal Director Chris Dunn said. “Something is wrong when you see 9 out of ten people getting arrested are Black or Latino.” The report also detailed how the amount of those stopped was equal to the amount recorded at the height of the city’s stop-and-frisk era under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2011.
The data revealed more disturbing facts about these stops by law enforcement. The Policing Project, a research group founded at New York University, found that the NYPD only recorded data concerning the race of the driver for just over 620,000 of the stops. Another fact was that in those stops where force was used and race was recorded, 92% of the cases reported involved Black and Latino drivers. It was also found that arrests occurred only 2.2% of the time after these stops.
The news comes as the NYPD is being criticized for its actions during these traffic stops, with reports of excessive force being inflicted and civilians being shot as they’re taking place. The Civilian Complaint Review Board has investigated numerous complaints by civilians over their treatment during these stops and substantiated hundreds of them by charging officers with violating policy.
“We know that doesn’t work. We know that does not fix crime problems and we see year after year, very few people are getting arrested as a result of stop and frisk,” Dunn concluded. “Most people are getting stopped and frisked are innocent people and they’re Black and brown New Yorkers.”
More scrutiny of this report comes weeks after the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis after he was detained at a traffic stop on January 7th. To date, five officers involved in the beating that led to his death are currently awaiting trial after being fired, then indicted. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has defended the stops in the past on several occasions.
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The family of Malcolm X announced on Tuesday (Feb. 21) intentions to file a $100 million lawsuit against the FBI, CIA, and NYPD for conspiring to kill the great civil rights leader. Filed under the guidance of civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, the lawsuit was announced on the very day that Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965.
ABC7 reports that members of the family of Malcolm X gathered at the Shabazz Educational Center, which was formerly the Audobon Ballroom where the leader was shot and killed. Flanked by the family, Crump stated their intentions on gaining justice for their fallen loved one.
“Many things that will be put forth in our lawsuit that speaks to this factual evidence,” Crump said at a press conference held at the center. “We believe that now it could be substantiated based on the recent exonerations of those who were wrongfully convicted.
Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, two of the trio convicted in the death of Malcolm X, were exonerated of their crimes in 2021 after years of imprisonment. It was later revealed by former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance that an investigation headed by Vance and the attorneys for Aziz and Islam uncovered facts that the FBI and NYPD withheld evidence that would have cleared their clients of any wrongdoing.
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