Harlem's 32nd Precinct Tops Manhattan In Allegations Against Cops

HARLEM, NY — Central Harlem's 32nd NYPD Precinct has amassed more police misconduct claims than any other precinct in Manhattan, according to a new database logging misconduct allegations and disciplinary records for active-duty members of the NYPD.

Seventy-two officers currently assigned to the 32nd Precinct have faced 130 complaints containing 352 misconduct allegations, according to the new database published by ProPublica. A single complaint can carry more than one allegation of misconduct.

State lawmakers voted in June to repeal the decades-old 50-a statute that kept NYPD disciplinary records under lock-and-key. Repealing 50-a was part of a larger package of police reforms enacted following nationwide protest following the killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd. Floyd died in police custody after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes while responding to an alleged minor crime.

ProPublica built its database using disciplinary records from the Civilian Complaint Review Board. The database includes information for all closed investigations, including whether allegations were substantiated and if the officers faced discipline.

Inspector Vincent Greany, the commanding officer of Harlem's 32nd Precinct, referred Patch's request to comment to the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner for Public Information. The 32nd Precinct spans areas in Central Harlem between Fifth and St. Nicholas avenues between 127th and 155th streets.

East Harlem's 23rd and 25th precincts followed just behind the 32nd with 326 and 325 allegations of police misconduct. Rounding out Manhattan's top five precincts for misconduct allegations are uptown's 34th and 33rd precincts with 270 and 226 allegations.

About 4,000 members of the NYPD's 36,000-member force have had allegations against them substantiated by the Civilian Complaint Review Board, according to ProPublica's report. These allegations were substantiated despite the CCRB's limited powers to investigate police conduct, according to ProPublica.

See ProPublica's full database here.