Justice Department Opens Civil Rights Probe of Mount Vernon Police Department
Federal investigators have opened a civil rights probe into New York’s Mount Vernon Police Department. Mount Vernon Police Department photo.
Federal investigators have opened a civil rights probe into the Mount Vernon Police Department, the law enforcement agency that serves a mostly-Black community in the New York City suburb north of the Bronx.
Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, announced Friday morning that their investigation would assess whether the law enforcement agency has engaged in a pattern of discriminatory policing.
Investigators also will determine how well the department handles evidence and whether Mount Vernon Police officers misuse force, strip searches, and body cavity searches, according to the announcement. Other issues to be reviewed include how well the police department takes citizens’ complaints, investigates allegations, and disciplines personnel.
“Police officers have tough jobs, and so many do their work honorably, lawfully, and with distinction, respecting the rights of the citizens they have sworn to protect,” Williams said in the announcement. “But when officers break the law, they violate their oath and undermine a community’s trust.”
The federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 bans state and local governments from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of rights protected by the Constitution or federal statutes.
Justice Department officials said they’d alerted Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, Police Chief Marcel Olifiers, City Council President Marcus A. Griffith, Commissioner of Public Safety Glenn Scott, and Corporation Counsel Brian Johnson about the investigation.
Friday afternoon, Olifiers’ department told Coffee or Die Magazine that Olifiers was unavailable for comment. City Hall officials did not respond to Coffee or Die’s messages seeking comment.
Read next:
Carl Prine is a former senior editor at Coffee or Die Magazine. He has worked at Navy Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He served in the Marine Corps and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His awards include the Joseph Galloway Award for Distinguished Reporting on the military, a first prize from Investigative Reporters & Editors, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Fort Bragg shed its Confederate namesake Friday to become Fort Liberty in a ceremony some veterans s...
It’s less than two weeks until Father’s Day, and last-minute gifts for Dad are harder to come by tha...
The Air Force announced the permanent location for many more U.S. Space Force units Wednesday — and ...
Who exactly was Gen. Curtis LeMay? And how did he become the commander who razed more than 60 Japanese cities during World War II?
President Joe Biden has nominated a highly decorated Marine officer who has been involved in the transformation of the force to be the next Marine Corps commandant.
When the USS Arizona sank, it took 1,177 crew members with it. Today it remains beneath the water as a memorial to all those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor.
A pair of U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew low over Sarajevo and several other Bosnian cities...
Lockheed Martin’s SR-71 Blackbird was a government secret for years. Now retired, a newer version plans to take its place.
