The NYPD Tapes: Inside Bed-Stuy's 81st Precinct - Police Expose

[astro]

The NYPD Tapes: Inside Bed-Stuy’s 81st Precinct

Interesting expose of the real world of policing in New York City.

Two years ago, a police officer in a Brooklyn precinct became gravely concerned about how the public was being served. To document his concerns, he began carrying around a digital sound recorder, secretly recording his colleagues and superiors.

He recorded precinct roll calls. He recorded his precinct commander and other supervisors. He recorded street encounters. He recorded small talk and stationhouse banter. In all, he surreptitiously collected hundreds of hours of cops talking about their jobs.

Made without the knowledge or approval of the NYPD, the tapes—made between June 1, 2008, and October 31, 2009, in the 81st Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant and obtained exclusively by the Voice—provide an unprecedented portrait of what it’s like to work as a cop in this city.

[Chicagojeff]

WOW… and the pope is catholic… This goes on in my dept… this went on in my last dept… this went on in the first dept i worked for. Police work became about the numbers sometime in the early 90’s late 80’s. I blame crack… it made for crappy one two rock arrests which count as felonies.
I read the first five pages… if the Voice thinks that’s shocking… then I’m shocked that they’re shocked!! That’s every other roll call I’ve ever had the last few years… Guys… pick up the pace… we need more dui’s. the stats are low… i need you to produce… then its How’d you like to fuckin go to afternoon shift. you guys keep fuckin me. and I’ll fuck you…
I had a Major state that we were simply assembly line guys like at Ford… if you won’t put the lugs nuts in… I’ll find someone who will. The system sucks… I almost punched a guy who asked me if my son would follow in my footsteps…

[joebuck20]

@Chicagojeff

WOW… and the pope is catholic… This goes on in my dept… this went on in my last dept… this went on in the first dept i worked for. Police work became about the numbers sometime in the early 90’s late 80’s. I blame crack… it made for crappy one two rock arrests which count as felonies.
I read the first five pages… if the Voice thinks that’s shocking… then I’m shocked that they’re shocked!! That’s every other roll call I’ve ever had the last few years… Guys… pick up the pace… we need more dui’s. the stats are low… i need you to produce… then its How’d you like to fuckin go to afternoon shift. you guys keep fuckin me. and I’ll fuck you…
I had a Major state that we were simply assembly line guys like at Ford… if you won’t put the lugs nuts in… I’ll find someone who will. The system sucks… I almost punched a guy who asked me if my son would follow in my footsteps…

Exactly. Apparently they’ve never seen “The Wire.”

[Saintly_Loser]

Old news. At least here in NYC. I remember, in the bad old days of the late 70s and early 80s, having police flatly refuse to take reports of crimes. You’d go into the precinct, and the desk sergeant (who more often than not would have taken his badge and name tag off) would simply say “no.” Or tell you that the shift was about to change and that you’d have to come back on the next shift. Of course, the next sergeant would tell you the same thing.

As I said, old news. But it’s nice to see it documented and published.

[Llama_Llogophile]

After reading through the whole article, I’m left with a question applicable to just about any profession: How do you structure a workplace in such a way that assuring accountability doesn’t become the overall goal, eclipsing the basic intent of the job?

I ran into this dilemma when I was a teacher. We can all probably agree that some sort of accountability is good and necessary. But the vibe came to be that satisfying the bureaucratic requirements of accountability took precedence over actually teaching kids.

If I knew the answer to my own question, I’d set myself up as a consultant and make a lot of money. What does everyone else say?