The New York City Police Department will pay $600,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a police officer it had locked up in a psychiatric ward after he accused his fellow cops of following a quota system for arrests and summonses. Adrian Schoolcraft (aptly named) claimed his fellow police officers had him locked up at Jamaica Hospital's psychiatric ward for almost a week in 2010, which he claimed was retaliation for exposing a Brooklyn police precinct's use of quotas and their practice of downgrading crimes to make crime statistics more favorable.
Schoolcraft's complaint about the practice employed by police in the Brooklyn precinct led to internal disciplinary actions being taken against four police officers for fudging crime statistics and misleading investigators. Police went to Schoolcraft's home in Queens, handcuffed him and had him admitted to the psychiatric ward at Jamaica Hospital based upon false claims that he was "emotionally disturbed." "This action seeks redress for a coordinated and concentrated effort by high-ranking officials within the NYPD to silence, intimidate, threaten and retaliate against Schoolcraft for his documentation and disclosure of corruption with the NYPD,” Schoolcraft's 2010 suit stated. Schoolcraft still has an outstanding lawsuit against Jamaica Hospital, which is accused of participating in the conspiracy to discredit the whistle blower police officer.
Advance Indiana has good reason to believe this practice of psychological warfare against police whistle blowers was introduced into IMPD by former Public Safety Director Frank Straub. Straub similarly implemented a revised system for recording crime statistics to make the City's crime rate appear more favorable. People brought into the department by Straub to implement his policies remain in high-level positions after his forced resignation in 2012 and are believed to be employing some of Straub's same practices against any dissenters within the department. Tragically, the Fraternal Order of Police is doing little to protect its fellow police officers from retaliatory actions; it's too busy helping the department provide cover to and defend the bad cops within the department.
Straub quickly employed his practice against an interim police chief who preceded him in Spokane. Scott Stephenson sued the City of Spokane after he was first demoted and then required to submit to a mental fitness examination after he says Straub and other police falsely accused him of theatening to "go postal" following his demotion. The City of Spokane settled Stephens' lawsuit for $190,000. Straub was forced out of his job as Spokane police chief a little more than a week ago amidst allegations he used scare tactics, retaliation, character degradation and threats regarding employment and position against police officers he viewed as dissenters to his management. Are you listening Chief Hite?
5 comments:
You can't win a lawsuit like that in Indiana. The judges are just cops in different uniforms. The entire system sticks together there. In Indiana, the government can literally do whatever it wants.
I agree with Anon 8:35. Indiana is a provincial little fiefdom. That, and not RFRA, is what will destroy this dump. Ironically, the average Hoosier will whine about it but not do a bloody thing to change it. That's the difference between this place and, say, California. Corruption exists everywhere, but elsewhere people have the courage to demand change. Not here. Not even a little.
I can personally vouch for the dearth of support in this state and city for people who are fighting for changes. Apparently all of the people with financial means to support such efforts are on the other side profiting at the public's expense.
To add to your 9:24, or are afraid of making enemies of those on the take.
In soviet union, people critical of regime often found themselves under "psychiatric care". Stalin lives on in the hearts of tyrants everywhere, maybe even in the hearts of your local police.
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