The 30 rookie NYPD cops the department wants to fire after determining they were never qualified to join the force in the first place have checkered histories that include arrests, drug abuse, hiring prostitutes and “serious disregard for rules and consequences,” recently released court documents reveal.
One probationary officer, who was told he was disqualified but was hired anyway, “freely admitted to a history of arrests and violations of law,” the NYPD said in court papers filed Monday demanding a judge dismiss a court order obtained by the Police Benevolent Association union blocking the department from proceeding with the terminations.
A hearing on the court order is scheduled in Manhattan Supreme Court this afternoon.
A second officer the NYPD said was unqualified to serve — who is now sporting a gun, shield and NYPD patch — “reported using LSD and marijuana to cope with stress,” while a third showed “an extensive history of poor decision-making and recklessness,” the NYPD indicated in court papers without naming the officers.
Another officer “openly discussed arguments and conflicts with other people in a boastful manner” during an NYPD psychological interview and said that when she received a failing grade from a college professor she told the teacher “no one likes you, I don’t like you, your students don’t like you.”
“Then I told him he was balding. Stupid,” she said proudly. “When people do me wrong, I feel I should pay them back just on principle.”
Still another officer was disqualified because “he had a prior history of paying prostitutes for sexual favors,” court documents reveal.
All of the 30 probationary officers the NYPD wants to dismiss were disqualified following phycological exams and background checks. Six appealed their disqualifications but none of the disqualifications were overturned, the NYPD said in court papers. Yet somehow they were hired by the department, sworn in, and sent to the Police Academy.
Union officials hoping to block the terminations said the officers described in the court documents were just a small portion of the 30 officers targeted for termination, many of whom had worked for various city and law enforcement agencies in the past. One had worked as a correction officer for 10 years and another had worked as an investigator for the Brooklyn D.A.’s office before being hired by the NYPD, union officials said.
PBA President Patrick Hendry said singling out certain officers in court documents amounted to a “shameful smear campaign” against the entire group.
“(It) doesn’t change the fact that the NYPD chose to hire them,” Hendry said. “They were qualified when they were sworn in and trained for six months. And they have been relied upon to serve this city and protect their communities, which they have done with pride and distinction. They deserve a fair process, not summary termination.”
On Thursday, the affected probationary officers, all of whom were hired within the past 18 months, with some still in the academy, were told they should resign or face being fired before the PBA’s court order put the firings on hold.
“(These officers) were not qualified to serve and were wrongfully appointed,” the NYPD said in court papers. “Given that (they) were found unqualified to serve as NYPD police officers, the police commissioner has a duty to the public to remove them from the force.”
“Because of the public trust placed in the NYPD and the sensitivity of many issues faced regularly by police officers, the police commissioner must have the ability to demand a high degree of character and fitness from police officers and certainly must demand that they be qualified under the appointment standards for the position,” department attorneys noted.
Earlier this year, the head of the NYPD’s Candidate Assessment Division, Inspector Terrell Anderson, was transferred to another unit and stripped of his gun and shield after investigators learned he allowed unqualified candidates to continue with the hiring process, according to NYPD officials.
He was found to have pushed through about 80 candidates who had failed the department’s psychological exam, officials said. The 30 officers the NYPD wants to terminate are among that group.
Capt. Chris Monahan, president of the Captains’ Endowment Association, the union that represents NYPD captains and inspectors, staunchly defended Anderson on Thursday.
“Inspector Anderson had the authority under previous administrations to hire candidates,” Monahan said. “He was under tremendous pressure to fill NYPD recruit classes. He had a careful review process and didn’t place candidates with diagnosed mental health issues in any classes.”
Earlier this year, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department is in a “hiring crisis” and significantly reduced the number of college credits required to join the force to broaden the candidate pool.
