NYPD Whistle-Blower Testifies In Stop-And-Frisk Trial
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Testimony continued Wednesday in the case that has brought the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy to court.
Whistle blower officer Adhyl Polanco secretly recorded precinct roll calls at the 41st Precinct in the Bronx in 2009.
Those tapes are now in evidence as proof of a quota system that required officers to give out 20 summonses or make one arrest on each tour of duty.
NYPD Whistleblower Testifies In Stop-And-Frisk Trial
A union delegate is heard lecturing the cops, telling them, "This comes from higher up. If they want 20 give them 20, or you're a zero."
A zero, Polanco explained, is a cop who doesn't meet the quota. He said that, at one point, a supervisor told officers to make their quotas by stopping and frisking anyone they saw riding a bike or carrying a bag.
He complained that the quota system was leading to improper stop-and-frisk activity, but said a union delegate told him, "You're fighting the current."
Polanco claimed they said he was a minority officer going against the whole department and that, next to his name on the police roster, cops had written the word "rat."
Polanco did say that he believes stop-and-frisk is a great police tool.
"We need it," he said. "And I have no problem harassing criminals."
He said he's also not in denial about Hispanics and blacks committing most of the crimes.
But what brought him to court as a whistle-blower was the police department brass turning stop-and-frisk into a money-making business and setting quotas to do it.
The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of some of the stops, with lawyers arguing the policy unfairly targets minorities.
It seeks a court-appointed monitor to oversee the execution of the policy.
