NYC Government Publication
An Investigation of NYPD's Compliance with Rules Governing Investigations of Political Activity
The Office of the Inspector General for the New York City Police Department (OIG-NYPD) issued a Report detailing the findings of its review of the New York City Police Department's (NYPD) compliance with the court-mandated rules governing the investigation of political activity. These rules, also known as the Handschu Guidelines, are codified in the NYPD Patrol Guide. In the course of this investigation, OIG-NYPD examined highly confidential intelligence files never before subject to review or available to non-police entities. OIG-NYPD's investigators examined, among other things, whether NYPD's Intelligence Bureau satisfied the established standard for opening investigations, met deadlines for extending investigations, and obtained necessary approvals for the use of human sources, which include confidential informants and undercover officers. The investigation found that the NYPD Intelligence Bureau failed to renew investigations before the authorization expired more than half of the time, resulting in investigations of political activity that continued without the requisite authorization. More than 25% of the extensions reviewed exceeded the required deadline by more than 31 days. Further, requests to use human sources were frequently approved despite failing to document the particularized role of confidential informants and undercover officers, as required. However, OIG-NYPD found that in all cases NYPD met the informational threshold required to open an investigation.
- Agency
- Subject
- Report type
- Report
- Date published
- 2016-08-23