The New York Daily News by Rocco Parascandola - October 15, 2010
Five cops from a Brooklyn precinct have been hit with departmental charges accusing them of manipulating crime statistics, police sources said Friday. Deputy Inspector Steven Mauriello, the former commanding officer of the 81st Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant, is among those charged. The Daily News first revealed allegations of number fudging in the precinct in an explosive report in February. Officer Adrian Schoolcraft told NYPD investigators that supervisors in the precinct were badgering or ignoring crime victims. He said they also designated some felonies as misdemeanors. The systematic cooking of the books was done to make the crime rate appear lower. Mauriello is charged with tampering with grand larceny and stolen vehicle reports. He's also charged with misleading investigators. He couldn't be reached for comment. Roy Richter, head of the Captains Endowment Association, which represents captains and above, said Mauriello "feels abandoned by the department he has faithfully served for over two decades." The four other cops charged include two police officers and two sergeants. One sergeant is accused of failing to verify that two patrol officers filed a robbery complaint. The two patrol officers are charged with not filing the complaint in the first place. Details on the charges against another sergeant weren't immediately available. That sergeant will be served next week, and all five cops will remain on full duty for the time being. Schoolcraft has filed a $50 million federal lawsuit against the NYPD, accusing his bosses of suspending him and forcing him into a mental institution against his will because he reported wrongdoing. "The problem is citywide," his lawyer Jon Norinsberg said. "It's not just the 81st Precinct."
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