The frequency distribution of cops in the Propublica database is unsurprising. Half the officers with any complaints have 8 or fewer. The other half get quickly more extreme. The most allegations are against two officers, each with 75 (!) complaints.

The 99 officers with the most complaints — just 1/5 of 1% of the NYPD — account for an incredible 11.6% of all allegations to the CCRB.

This frequency chart looks very familiar! It's very similar to the chart of dangerous drivers in NYC https://twitter.com/guacamayan/status/971925538221764608

@propublica i did some meta-analysis on the database you put out. You might want to check my work and do something similar. These numbers are bonkers.

Takeaways:
- 99 cops responsible for 11.6% of all CCRB allegations over past 20 years
- in my local precinct (115th), one officer accounts for 54% of allegations 2017-19
- Over past 3 years, 96 officers account for 23.4% of allegations, and just 250 account for half

So it turns out it IS just a few bad apples. But because the contracts and laws are so protective of this tiny minority of awful cops, these bad apples *spoil the whole barrel*

250 cops on a force of 36,000 uniformed officers — that is 2/3 of 1% of the force — accounted for half of the allegations to the CCRB in 2017-19. NYPD's failure to purge itself of these "bad apples" is why the force is now facing a citywide loss of respect and authority.

To be clear, I agree that policing is structurally bad and that most of what we ask cops to do would be better done by unarmed public officials. But these numbers show that the most troublesome behavior is concentrated among a very few officers.