Sunday, February 21, 2010

Trespass Suit Against NYPD & NYCHA

The NAACP LDF and the Legal Aid Society filed suit to challenge the NYPD and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) practices of allowing regular vertical patrols (uniformed officers conducting patrols in the interiors of buildings, up each stairwell to the roof and back down again) in public housing buildings in New York City. Many residents have complained that they were inappropriately stopped, searched, questioned, and falsely charged with offenses, including false charges of "trespass" coming in and out of their own homes.

The complaint is here, and cites the NYCPR report No Place Like Home -- which was delivered to officials in the NYPD and NYCHA in 2008 -- for the propositions that the NYPD knew that its police officers were engaging in these practices leading to illegal stops and false charges, and also for the results of the surveys of NYCHA residents in East Harlem and Brooklyn.