U.S. Justice Department investigating NYPD's Special Victims Unit

NEW YORK - The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the NYPD's Special Victims Unit, which handles sex crimes. 

The allegations span decades, and include shaming abuse survivors and retraumatizing them during investigations. 

CBS2's Alice Gainer has reaction from the NYPD. 

The U.S. Justice Department is looking into the NYPD's Special Victims division and its treatment of sex crime victims, and whether or not it engages in a pattern or practice of gender-biased policing. This comes after reports of deficiencies for more than a decade. 

"This is very good news for all New Yorkers, for all women, and for all sexual assault survivors here in our city," said Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women - New York City. 

Ossorio says a survey they conducted in 2020 found "the quality of investigations varied widely, and that's a problem." 

In 2018, the city's inspector general issued a report saying the division was understaffed and undertrained, among other things. 

In a 2019 lawsuit, two women claimed that had been mistreated, with one alleging detectives brushed off her report of being raped by someone she had been involved with, instead marking down "dispute" instead of sex crime. 

The Justice Department will be reaching out to community groups and the public to hear about their interactions, and reviewing policies, procedures and training. They'll also check to see if staffing shortages have been addressed. 

Justice officials say the NYPD has taken some steps to address issues. 

The NYPD says it "welcomes the review," with the commissioner pointing to an independent review they released last month that said the division had sufficient staffing, prompt follow-up, and consistent officially document reports. 

But it also found "investigative strategies and approaches were not consistently tailored to the needs of the case or the victim" and "in-persons suspect interviews were underutilized," "some personnel needed improvement in how they interacted with victims and conducted investigations," and "investigative strategies and approaches were not consistently tailored to the needs of the case or the victim." 

"We are going to be supportive. We're supporting whatever information they need from our agency," Mayor Eric Adams said. 

Authorities want to ensure sex crime victims get fair treatment from now on. 

After the 2019 lawsuit, the NYPD appointed a woman, Judith Harrison, to lead the division, but she moved to a different position within two years. 

In 2020, they appointed Michael King, a veteran investigator and forensic nurse, but he was removed from the job amid complaints.