The NYPD has quietly reduced the suggested punishment for cops guilty of abusing authority, using offensive language, failing to take a civilian complaint, and conducting an unlawful search, THE CITY has learned.
The changes to what’s called the disciplinary matrix are dated Sept. 9, just three days before now former Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned in the middle of a federal corruption probe that has touched several members of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
The police commissioner has total control over the penalty guidelines and the mostly watered down version took effect this past Monday.
“With each revision of the matrix, we strive to maintain a fair, balanced, and just process that appropriately addresses allegations of police misconduct,” Caban wrote in an introduction letter announcing the new suggested rules.
The categories of downgraded punishments include: violations of department rules and regulations; abuse of authority; discourtesy and offensive language; firearm-related incidents; off-duty misconduct; and prohibited conduct.
In many of those cases, the so-called mitigated punishment went from the loss of five vacation days or a five-day suspension to merely “additional training,” according to the new 59-page matrix.
The “mitigated punishment” is given to officers who are either first time offenders or have some related excuse for the transgression.
“Some of these changes adjust the mitigated penalties to better account for those extenuating circumstances, while leaving the presumptive penalties in place,” Caban’s letter said.
‘Really Concerning’
Critics of the department contend the changes are just one more example of police leadership going easy on cops found guilty of serious misconduct.
“With misconduct complaints against the NYPD at their highest level in over a decade, the department is again doubling down on its already watered-down disciplinary system, reinforcing the NYPD’s culture of impunity,” said Lupe Aguirre, a senior staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“Weakening the disciplinary matrix once again reinforces that the NYPD is not serious about discipline or accountability,” she added. “This is particularly concerning given the administration’s embrace of broken windows policing which targets Black and brown communities while doing nothing to advance real public safety.”
Under the new rules, a cop guilty of an “unlawful search of premises” now can get a punishment that is nothing more than additional “training.”
“Some of the presumptive penalties that they reduced were a little alarming,” said Jennvine Wong, an attorney with the Cop Accountability Project at the Legal Aid Society.
“They basically violated someone’s Fourth Amendment rights but now the presumptive penalty has been reduced from five days to training,” she added.
The “presumptive” punishment is the baseline suggested discipline for an officer who doesn’t have some mitigating excuse or has a history of prior bad behavior.
Caban made an identical change for officers who are found guilty of failing to process a civilian complaint.
“That is also really concerning because that seems like they’re not taking seriously any kind of obstruction from an officer which is not great for overall accountability,” Wong added.
The new rules aren’t all reducing suggested punishments.
The reloaded matrix also added a few new categories of misconduct such as “improper relationships” and “corruption reporting.”
Routinely Ignored
Still, the new penalty guidelines mark the second time a police commissioner has largely downgraded suggested punishments for bad behavior since the broad guidelines were first introduced in January 2021.
Adams’ first police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, touted how she planned to reduce penalties to some offenses which she found “manifestly unfair.”
In February 2022, she watered down discipline for cops who violated the Right to Know Act, which obligates cops to give business cards to people they interact with upon request.
Police faced up to 10 days of disciplinary action under the previous guidelines but Sewell changed the maximum penalty to five days.
Sewell, however, also added “strangulation to a number of violent acts in domestic situations” with a recommended firing.
Penalty enforcement, or the lack thereof, was ultimately what made her leave.
THE CITY reported she resigned in June 2023 after refusing Adams’ request to not to discipline his longtime friend, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, for voiding the arrest of a former colleague.
The first matrix was compiled by former Police Commissioner Dermot Shea in 2021, in part as a response to calls for police reforms following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The catalog of disciplinary actions was designed to shed light on the process and standardize punishments. For years, cops with high-ranking connections were given lighter penalties — or none at all.
The commissioner still has final say over all disciplinary matters and has routinely blown off suggested punishments by the Civilian Complaint Review Board, ProPublica reported in June.
All told, Caban blocked the disciplinary cases of 54 officers from going to an internal trial during his first year as top cop. By contrast, his predecessor, Sewell, prevented eight cases, according to ProPublica’s analysis.
“There’s a larger issue with the disciplinary matrix, which is the police commissioner deviating from final recommendations,” Wong.
And on Wednesday, ProPublica reported that Caban had ignored hundreds of complaints detailing police misconduct that were probed and substantiated by the Civilian Complaint Review Board
As for the matrix changes, in his letter describing the new rules, Caban said they were adjusted based on a “review of patterns and trends that arise through the administration of the disciplinary process.”
He also said they were the result of “feedback from various stakeholders, including external oversight entities.”
The Civilian Complaint Review Board had just one meeting about the proposed changes with police brass, according to a source at the oversight agency.
Caban, who has now been replaced with former federal agent Thomas Donlon, defended the new rules in his letter and called the effort a work in progress.
“I believe that these changes continue us on the path of a fair and just discipline system,” he wrote. “The matrix was always intended to exist as a living document and will continue to evolve in the years ahead.”
Criminal justice reformers see it differently.
“They are eroding things,” said Wong, “It’s death by a thousand cuts.”
The police department did not return requests for comment.
