These 134 Harlem Cops Have Committed Misconduct, New Database Shows

HARLEM, NY — Well over 100 police officers who patrol Harlem have committed some form of misconduct in the past, according to a new trove of NYPD records.

The finding comes from the "Law Enforcement Lookup" database unveiled Monday by the Legal Aid Society, a legal advocacy group, who describe it as the most comprehensive collection of city police misconduct files ever released.

It shows that 134 officers and detectives assigned to Harlem's six precincts have had complaints against them substantiated by the Civilian Complaint Review Board — meaning the watchdog agency found enough evidence to suggest that the alleged act happened.

Spanning between 2002 and 2021, the substantiated complaints range from sexual harassment to unlawful frisks and strip-searches to excessive force in the use of a chokehold, records show.

Despite the substantiated findings, 19 of the Harlem officers managed to avoid any penalty, which is ultimately decided by the NYPD. Others had to forfeit vacation time, go through additional training, receive a verbal reprimand or serve a 30-day suspension.

In some cases, the database shows details about an individual instance of misconduct.

In October 2015, for example, the CCRB substantiated charges against four officers for strip-searching and unlawfully detaining two men at the 32nd Precinct station house on 135th Street.

The men, who were arrested after police suspected them of smoking marijuana in a car parked on Lenox Avenue, were held for two hours by officers Melanie Pagan-Merritt and Kendo Kinsey, who lacked reasonable suspicion to detain them that long, according to an investigation.

Sergeants John Keane and Alfred Gallichio then strip-searched the two men at the precinct, despite having no reasonable suspicion that the men were concealing contraband, investigators found.

In another case, in October 2019, Officer Jeffrey Martin approached a man getting into his car in Central Harlem, tased him, and pepper-sprayed him — using excessive force, an investigation found.

In total, 317 complaints have been substantiated against the 134 Harlem officers, some of whom faced multiple complaints for the same incident.

Use the searchable table below to see each substantiated complaint against a Harlem officer:

(The table displays best on web browsers; if you have trouble viewing it, click this link.)

Legal Aid describes its new database as a tool that New Yorkers can use to get information about officers they encounter on the street.

An everyday New Yorker who had what they believe was a "bad" traffic stop, for example, can use the database to delve into the officer’s past, said Jennvine Wong, a staff attorney with The Legal Aid Society’s Cop Accountability Project.

"It’s a one-stop lookup tool," she said.

Pat Lynch, the president of the powerful Police Benevolent Association union, blasted the database as nothing new, given most of it has already been publicly available.

"This isn’t really about 'transparency' – it’s about advancing the anti-police narrative and making it easier for cop-haters to target individual police officers," he said in a statement. "It’s yet another reason that New York City police officers are quitting at record rates."

The database includes, according to The Legal Aid Society:

• more than 18,000 lawsuits filed against more than 14,000 NYPD officers between 2013 and June 30, 2022;
• more than 190,000 Civilian Complaint Review Board records of allegations made against NYPD officers, including more than 1,000 full investigation closing reports obtained through FOIL requests and from partner organizations;
• about 9,000 NYPD internal misconduct records, including NYPD trial decisions and NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau records;
• nearly 15,000 District Attorney and judicial records, including Brady and Giglio disclosures from prosecutors, and DA “adverse credibility” records from four New York City counties;
• NYPD and DOC payroll and roster data for all currently employed members of service;
• more than 1,000 archived media articles concerning NYPD officer misconduct; and
• hundreds of DOC staff discipline records.

Matt Troutman contributed to this report.