How the N.Y.P.D. Quietly Shuts Down Discipline Cases Against Officers
The New York Times
Police Commissioner Edward Caban has often relied on an obscure authority to intervene when officers are accused of serious wrongdoing, often handing out little to no punishment.
Brianna Villafane was in Lower Manhattan protesting police violence in the summer of 2020, when officers charged into the crowd. One of them gripped her hair and yanked her to the ground.
“I felt someone on top of me and it was hard to breathe,” she said. “I felt like I was being crushed.”
The New York City civilian oversight agency that examines allegations of police abuse investigated and concluded that the officer had engaged in such serious misconduct that it could constitute a crime.
Ms. Villafane received a letter from the oversight agency about its conclusions. “I was happy and I was relieved,” she recalled. The next step would be a disciplinary trial overseen by the New York Police Department, during which prosecutors from the oversight agency would present evidence and question the officer in a public forum.
Then last fall, the police commissioner intervened.
Exercising a little-known authority called “retention,” the commissioner, Edward Caban, ensured the case would never go to trial.
The Constitution sets a two-term limit for presidents. Still, Donald J. Trump has repeatedly floated the idea that he might like to stay in the White House beyond his next term.
In other testimony, law enforcement witnesses placed the suspect, José Ibarra, at the scene of Ms. Riley’s killing, mainly through cellphone and GPS tracking data.
The warning, which extends beyond the city to include 10 other counties in New York state, was announced as wildfires burned and residents continued to await meaningful rainfall.
A new curriculum would focus on Christianity more than other religions. A kindergarten lesson on the Golden Rule, for example, would teach about Jesus and his Sermon on the Mount.
A suspect was arrested Monday morning in connection with the stabbings, which occurred across a broad swath of the borough over several hours and left a third person critically injured.
The 99-year-old house on Boston’s North Shore is battered and uninhabited. And yet, it is beloved by artists and locals — so much that they helped pause its demolition.
Slashing the original $15 toll raises questions about whether a smaller revenue stream could delay projects or lead to higher costs for New York’s public transit agency.
The group’s actions in Columbus on Saturday, part of a recent pattern of white supremacist incidents in the country, were condemned by officials around the state.
As a Senate recount plays out, at least four counties are ignoring an order from the State Supreme Court that undated or misdated mail ballots cannot be counted.
The voluntary evacuation plan was put in place in areas affected by the Jennings Creek wildfire. Officials encouraged residents of 165 homes to move out temporarily.
In a court filing, the judge said the conviction of Melissa Lucio, whose scheduled execution in 2022 was halted, should be overturned. The state’s highest criminal court will now decide.