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“He pulled down their pants in public, exposing their genitals. Used his fingers to search for drugs inside their anal cavities. One man was “told to get on all fours while naked” before he was probed.” Lt. McCormack is now the 4th highest ranking in NYPD. https://www.propublica.org/article/over-a-dozen-black-and-latino-men-accused-a-cop-of-humiliating-invasive-strip-searches-the-nypd-kept-promoting-him
“The man shivered because he said McCormack’s hands were so cold on the man’s testicles. Serrano said he found it especially strange that McCormack was doing this as a deputy inspector, when most commanding officers began to spend more time behind a desk.”
“McCormack is part of an effort to dominate & publicly humiliate Black men, part of a legacy of mistreatment by law enforcement and citizen mobs dating back to Reconstruction. “It’s about power. It’s about the police demonstrating their dominance of the streets.”
More than half of officers in the lowest rank are people of color, the higher ranks are more than 75% white. A dozen of those have 3 or more substantiated allegations. 10 are white. 5 have reached the rank of deputy inspectors. All are white.
“The higher you go up in rank, the more untouchable,” said former Internal Affairs Bureau investigator. “You never see captains or inspectors get hammered or thrown out, even for criminal matters; things a regular cop, or detective, would get fired for, these guys get shielded.”
“McCormack has been accused of misconduct in at least 16 lawsuits, 11 of which settled for a combined $415k. The allegations ranged from racial discrimination to strip-searches to false arrests.” The NYPD didn’t pay a dime. McCormack didn’t pay anything. NYC taxpayers did.
The $300 million to settle NYPD lawsuits over the last five years could instead fund proven non-police violence interruption programs and summer youth employment in every neighborhood in NYC for the next 5 years. We http://Need-To-Talk.com .
The $327 million per year that NYC residents pay for police in schools with no impact on public safety, could instead fund full four-year scholarships for over 4000 students to attend NY state colleges. We http://Need-To-Talk.com
The $635 million NYC residents pay in just overtime for NYPD could instead house every single one of the 14k homeless families now in NYC. And then pay a year’s worth of rent for 7k families out of work and at risk of eviction because of the pandemic. We http://Need-To-Talk.com
Today. There is a billboard now up in Times Square. Directly across from the NYPD station. With this message: “Hey NYPD. It’s us. NYC residents. The ones who pay your salary. We paid $300 million to settle your lawsuits. You paid nothing. We need to talk.”
The billboard directs people to http://Need-To-Talk.com , a simple, yet powerful site that asks people to imagine a better way to prevent violence, support our youth, and remedy homelessness.
Take Action: Visit Times Square, film the billboard, & then share on social media with your take on the issue. Here is detailed information on where to go and what to do. The billboard is up through the end of September. Instructions: http://Need-To-Talk.com/act
