A study of data concerning NYPD stop and frisk practices was released by the Rand Corporation last Tuesday. Reactions to the report were so varied that it's difficult to say if Rand came to any conclusive findings whatsoever. The New York Times lede indicates that police are biased against blacks and Hispanics. "Whites and members of minorities have a roughly equal chance of being stopped by police officers and questioned on the street in New......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a two alarm fire at 80 Washington St in Lower Manhattan; an aircraft emergency at JFK this morning; two pedestrians struck on E. 53rd St.; and a "possible A.I. job" (whatever that is) in Woodhaven. The NYCLU objected yesterday to the number of cases the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated. The board, which investigates police misconduct, only substantiated 5% of the cases, but that's actually higher than that of......

The New York Times reports that the NYPD may be easing up on disciplining officers accused of substantiated accounts of misconduct. During the four months between March 1 and June 30, the department declined to seek internal departmental trials against 31 officers. The Times compares this to the five-year period between between 2002 and 2006, when the department only declined such trials against 49 officers. Most of the 31 officers were found by the Civilian......

The sex trial that almost had director Steven Soderbergh as a juror heard testimony from one of the prosecution's star witnesses. The Manhattan DA's office says that former Montessori school principal Lina Sinha had affairs with two very underage male students. One of the victims, now a 24-year-old police officer, testified that Sinha kissed him when he was upset after losing an academic competition in 1995. He was 13 at the time, while Sinha was......

At the podium with his highest approval ratings ever, Mayor Mike gave his annual State of the City address and outlined an agenda that will dictate his last three years in office and most likely, his legacy. Some of these items include passing $1 billion in tax cuts (including $750 million in property tax and eliminating sales tax on clothing and shoes), improving the school system, pursuing anti-gun laws, and continuing development projects across......

Remember last year's crazy Borough Park riot when police arrested a 75 year old Hasidic man for talking on a cellphone while driving? The police tried to arrested Arthur Schick, who resisted, and other Hasids got involved, started a protest and fires and trapped a cop in a car? Many Hasids were arrested, two cops were injured, and there were claims that police used racial epithets ("This is how we treat niggers" and "Get......

The Civilian Complaint Review Board issued a report that finds many police officers are only getting "slaps on the wrist" versus actual punishment after the CCRB brings cases against them. For instance, 75% of police officer who are "reprimanded for such offenses as improper searches usually got instructions on improving their conduct," which is 34% higher than three years ago. The "lenient" punishment is doled out when the offenses do not involve weapons or physical......

The Civilian Complaint Review Board says that police cannot seize people's "police union courtesy cards" when people possess them lawfully. The CCRB found that 11 police officers were wrong to confiscate the cards, which many people believe will help them out if they are stopped by the police. "Effectiveness" of the cards aside, the CCRB's suggestion is for the police force to better educate officers about the cards. At the same time, the New York......

Videotape is used in all sorts of police investigations. In fact, business owners (like bar owners) are encouraged to install video cameras in order to capture activity in case there is a crime. But what's interesting is that the police don't like the cameras - video or otherwise - pointed at them and seem to get upset when they see them. WCBS 2 did a report this dynamic. You can watch the video here, but......

Mayor Bloomberg released the 2006 Fiscal Year Mayor's Management Report yesterday. The MMR is the Mayor's way of being accountable for city initiatives and agencies, and during the press conference, the Mayor felt that there was still work to be done, saying, "Two-thirds of the things are going in the right direction. A third aren't going as fast as I'd like, or in the right direction.": Like what? The quality of streets has declined (which......

It's been two years since the MTA tried to propose a ban on subway photography and it's been over a year since the MTA and NYPD decided not to impose a ban. And it's been five months since the MTA said they would work on making sure police officers wouldn't harrass photographs for taking photographs in subway and train stations. And yet... reader Jarid emailed us about getting stopped by a police after taking......

Ah, one of the emerging marvels of MySpace is getting fired over what you've posted on it. But this firing makes sense: An investigator on the Civilian Complaint Review Board - the organization that looks at people's complaints against the police - was let go after he posted about a "truck driver n----r." Twenty-two year old Chris Macchia had gotten into a fight with a truck driver, and naturally, he shared it on MySpace. Then......

The NYCLU is working with the FBI as the federal agency investigates whether the NYPD violated civil rights of protesters during the Republican National Convention in 2004. The FBI only confirmed they did send a letter to the NYCLU, but luckily the NYCLU has a PDF of the letter here. The FBI is looking for Dennis Kyne, whose arrest was thrown out after "videotape contradicted" the police officer's account. Interesting - and we're sure......

Yesterday, the NY Times revealed that the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board, the agency that investigates complaints against the NYPD, criticized two deputy chiefs for prompting "unnecessary arrests" of protesters during the Republican Convention. Needless to say, Police Commissioner Kelly had to respond, saying that they acted properly as demonstrators didn't have a permit to protest and that the NYPD allowed thousands of people to protest without incident. The NYCCCRB letter found that deputy chiefs......

Ooh: Apparently a relative of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly wants to sue the city over the NYPD's aggressive behavior! The Daily News says that Arthur Heller, who is the son of Kelly's first cousin, tried to swipe his Metrocard at the 43rd Street and Eighth Avenue subway entrance, but was having problems (Metrotardation?), so he kept swiping. Which then aroused police suspicions - which makes Gothamist concerned about the middle-aged lady this morning who hogged......

It's become an expected refrian: Crime in the city is still dropping, down 6% from last year. The NY Post reports that murders are down 16% versus the same first-five-months-of-the-year period last year, while rape is down 8.8% and bank robberies have declined by almost 50% (except at Commerce Banks, probably). Also: 20% more DWI arrests, leading to 13% less DWI-related accidents and 25% less DWI-related deaths, and crime in "impact zones," the targeted neighborhoods,......