Res. No. 446 Title Resolution calling upon the appropriate committee of the Council of the City of New York to hold a hearing on the impact of the NYPD's disciplinary process on minorities within the Department, on the existence of a hostile work environment within the Department and cases of retaliation against minority officers for raising the issue of discrimination within the Department. Body By Council Members Monserrate, Baez, Barron, Brewer, Clarke, Comrie, Dilan, Foster, Jackson, Lopez, Martinez, Nelson, Perkins, Quinn, Reed, Rivera and Stewart Whereas, In April 1997, in response to allegations that the formal disciplinary system of the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") is biased against black and Hispanic officers, Police Commissioner Howard Safir established a Disciplinary Review Task Force to analyze these accusations, and reviewed data for the period 1986 through 1997; and Whereas, The report acknowledged that minority officers are more likely to face punishment for transgressions at internal disciplinary hearings than their white colleagues; according to the report, black male officers faced mandatory discipline charges two to four times as often as white male officers, and African American and Latino male officers, when compared with white male officers, were 1.9 times as likely to face these charges; and Whereas, As a result of this statistical disparity, as well as many instances of unequal treatment of minorities in the disciplinary process, the Latino Officers Association, a fraternal organization of current and former police officers, filed suit against the NYPD alleging unequal treatment of minorities in the disciplinary process; and Whereas, Using computerized data provided by the NYPD for the years 1995 through 2000, a statistician for the Latino Officers Association found that African American officers are 74% more likely to have formal charges brought against them than white officers, and Latinos are 47% more likely to have formal charges brought against them than white officers; and Whereas, According to the information compiled by the Latino Officers Association, white officers are 50% more likely to have the charges dismissed before trial and 50% more likely to be found "not guilty" after a trial than minority officers; and, where guilt of a violation is established, Latino and African American officers are, respectively, 63% and 38% more likely than whites to be terminated; and Whereas, In light of the disparities revealed by the NYPD's own statistics, it is important to investigate the reasons for such differences, as well as ways in which the disciplinary system can be amended; and Whereas, The Latino Officers Association has also documented numerous instances of acts against minority police officers at commands throughout the City which have created a hostile work environment for minority officers; and Whereas, The Latino Officers Association has also documented numerous instances of retaliation against minority officers who have complained about discrimination in the NYPD; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the appropriate committee of the Council of the City of New York to hold a hearing on the impact of the NYPD's disciplinary process on minorities within the Department, on the existence of a hostile work environment within the Department and cases of retaliation against minority officers for raising the issue of discrimination within the Department. TJB LS# 948