146 NYC police committed misconduct in 2020 protests: Report
Nearly 150 New York City police officers committed misconduct, including using excessive force, while responding to the 2020 protests over the killing of George Floyd, according to a report released Monday by a civilian review board.
The city's Civilian Complaint Review Board, or CCRB, also found that many officers disciplined by the police department received punishment that was less than the panel recommended, and in some cases officers found to have committed misconduct were not disciplined at all.
Investigations into more than 600 complaints about police conduct during the protests had to be closed because officers could not be identified. In many cases that was because police purposely wore mourning bands over their badges or refused to provide their names, or because the department failed to track where officers were deployed, the 590-page report says.
The board received 321 complaints during the protests that were determined to be within its jurisdiction and 226 were investigated.
The document describes, for example, police actions during one protest in Brooklyn on May 30, 2020, that drew numerous complaints.
An officer drove a police vehicle into the crowd and knocked protesters to the ground. Another officer pulled down a demonstrator’s coronvirus-protecting mask and pepper sprayed him in the face. On the Brooklyn Bridge that day, officers tackled protestors and hit them in the head with batons, the report says.
The panel substantiated 269 allegations of misconduct against 146 officers, including 140 allegations of excessive force and 72 claims of abuse of authority, including officers refusing to provide their names or obstructing their badges. The allegations that were sustained included 34 for improperly striking people with batons and 28 for improperly...