Nienke's blog

Brooklyn Prosecutors Seek to Throw Out Scores of Convictions

“These convictions continue to hang around people and impact them in all kinds of ways,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “Had we known about these officers, we would never have brought these cases.” Prosecutors in Brooklyn are seeking to throw out 378 criminal convictions, dating to 1999, that relied on 13 former New York Police Department officers because these officers were later convicted of crimes related to their work. This movement would be among the largest mass dismissal of convictions in the country. They are even expecting the total to rise to 496 cases that will be dismissed.

The Brooklyn cases that were involved in this dismissal of convictions originated from arrests that took place between 1999 and 2017. Nobody is currently incarcerated as a result of these convictions and none of the 13 officers that were involved in these cases remain on the force. “Quick hits with little oversight,” said Charles Linehan, a former Manhattan prosecutor who has run the Brooklyn district attorney’s conviction review unit since January. “They almost do more damage in terms of eroding people’s trust and confidence in the system.”

The office spent 10 months reviewing every Brooklyn conviction in which the 13 former officers were involved, flagging for dismissal cases in which they served as the primary witnesses.

It is very common to hear that people do not trust police officers or the policing system, and this article mentions a big reason as to why that is. However, this article is trying to show people that the Police Department is trying to earn that trust back. And that is what makes this news article very newsworthy. The article shows a flaw in the policing system which not only has a negative impact on the Police Department’s reputation, but also on the people that were convicted in the cases in question. The good thing about this article is that they are being honest about the flaw that the found and that they are giving examples of what went wrong in these cases. And to add another positive factor to this article, it also mentions the Police Department’s solution in trying to fix the mistakes that have been made. Because the officers that handled these cases were not treating these cases in a fair way, a lot of people have been impacted negatively in the process. With trying to dismiss all these unfair convictions, the Police Department is trying to set this all right and earn back the trust of the people.

Comments RSS