NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk Defense: We're Too Lazy

Cops criticize rank-and-file as 'complete malcontents' in trial
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 30, 2013 10:17 AM CDT
NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk Defense: We're Too Lazy
In this file photo, Det. Anthony Mannuzza, left, and Police Officer Robert Martin, right, simulate a street stop during a training session at a New York Police Department training facility.   (AP Photo/Colleen Long, File)

New York police have been accused of stopping people simply to fill quotas—but that's silly, officers say: They're far too lazy for that kind of effort. Some 10% of cops "are complete malcontents that will do as little as possible no matter how well you treat them," says a former top officer. They won't work hard unless they're getting paid overtime, he tells the court in the department's stop-and-frisk trial; that's when tickets get written up.

"I think we’re charged with trying to get the police officers to work, do the things that they’re getting paid for," says a deputy commissioner. A deputy inspector, meanwhile, went so far as to play a secret tape to the court of a sergeant chastising his team for lack of effort, the New York Times reports. The trial has examined a police policy that says, "Department managers can and must set performance goals." Asked how he interpreted the policy, one officer replied: "It says, quota, quota, quota, quota, and quota." Click for the full piece. (More police stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X