New York Needs Special Prosecutor’s Office for Police Cases (Letter to the Editor)(The New York Times)
The New York Times, April 12, 1993
New York Needs Special Prosecutor’s Office for Police Cases (Letter to the Editor)
By John J. Kenney Chmn., Committee on Criminal Law Association of the Bar of the City of New York New York
The difficulties of the New York City Police Department in policing its own has led to creation of a special unit in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to handle only police cases (news article, March 26). Those difficulties also make a strong case for re-establishing the special prosecutor’s office for criminal justice to investigate and prosecute cases of police corruption more effectively.
Recent statistics show an alarming trend. In 1988, six police officers were dismissed for police brutality; in 1991 none were dismissed. Also in 1988, 19 officers were let go for official misconduct; three years later, only one was fired.
