NYPD Introduces Guidelines for Disciplining Officer Misconduct

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who will still have the final say on discipline, said it was important to have a “road map” so the public and officers know what to expect.

Development of the matrix was well underway when city council passed a law in June mandating its use.

The law also requires that the public be informed about how often Shea deviates from it.

Around the same time, state lawmakers sought to shed more light by repealing a decades-old law that had kept police disciplinary files secret. Police unions suing to block their release are appealing after a judge ruled last week that they should be made public.

A 48-page draft report lists presumptive penalties for dozens of forms of misconduct, including termination for using deadly physical force without justification, engaging in hate speech and making a false statement.

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Among the other items covered in the matrix: If an officer forgets to turn on his or her body camera while responding to an incident, he or she can be suspended or docked three days, but if it’s done intentionally, it’s a 20-day punishment.

Accessing confidential information can be punished with a 10-day suspension or loss of vacation days, while leaking confidential information to the news media can be punished with a 20-day suspension or loss of vacation days.

Chokeholds resulting in death and the intentional use of a chokehold are also grounds for firing.

The NYPD has long banned chokeholds and lawmakers recently passed laws explicitly outlawing the tactic.

One was named for Garner, who died in 2014 after then-Officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in a chokehold.

In developing a discipline matrix, the NYPD is fulfilling one of the last remaining recommendations from a panel of criminal justice experts that examined the disciplinary process on its behalf two years ago.

While the experts found that the disciplinary process generally worked well, they said a set of guidelines would help eliminate perceptions of favoritism or bias in officer punishment.

They also called for stiffer penalties for officers making false statements and committing domestic violence.

The department revised its domestic violence punishment guidelines last year, Pontillo said.