In Brooklyn, Precinct's Practice Called Into Question

Members of a Brooklyn community gathered Wednesday night to discuss allegations that their local precinct has been fudging its numbers when it comes to crime. The meeting, which was held at a church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was organized by City Councilman Albert Vann. It comes as officials with the New York City Police Department continue to look into whether or not the 81st Precinct has been under reporting crimes in order to improve statistics. One man who attended the meeting talked about how one police officer from the 81st gave him a ticket then told him how to beat it. Many are still reeling after an officer from the precinct went public with secretly recorded roll call meetings, revealing that officers were threatened by superiors to meet quotas when it came to tickets, arrests and stop and frisks. "We cannot accept, we cannot tolerate the civil rights of anybody in America being violated under the guise of police in the community," Vann said. Juanita Holmes, the precinct's new deputy inspector, also attended the meeting. She replaces inspector Steven Mauriello, who was quietly reassigned earlier this month amid the controversy. "Trust me, I work for you. That's my job. I took an oath 24 years ago to serve the community. That's what I'm known for and that's what I project to the people that work for me," Holmes said. The NYPD's quality assurance division is investigating the practices of the 81st precinct. The department refused to comment on the status of that investigation.