Crime & Safety
NYPD Disciplines Cops Who Called West Indian Paradegoers 'Savages,' 'Animals'
Seventeen officers have received reprimands or punishment so far, with four awaiting departmental trials.
Seventeen NYPD officers have been disciplined for making racist comments on a Facebook page, according to the New York Times.
The "No More West Indian Day Parade Detail" Facebook group had included 70 pages of primarily racist comments, such as calling parade participants such names as “animals,” “savages,” and “filth.” One comment said, “Let them kill each other,” and another, "drop a bomb and wipe them all out."
According to the Times, which first reported the Facebook page in December, at least 60 percent of the groups' 150 commenters matched the names of members of New York's finest
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In December, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the NYPD .
So far, 17 officers have been disciplined, with four awaiting departmental triasl for “conduct prejudicial to the good order of the Police Department,” the Times reported. Seven have received a reprimand, and six others received a “command discipline,” which could lead to those cops losing as many as 10 days of vacation.
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Councilwoman Letitia James, praised the NYPD for their actions.
“These comments were deeply offensive, specifically to the elected officials who every year work with the NYPD to address safety concerns related to the West Indian Day Parade,” she said in a written statement. “I commend the NYPD for addressing this unacceptable behavior.”
The annual that marches down Eastern Parkway was particularly violent in 2011, with at least five people shot and two dead, including while sitting on a stoop with her 13-year-old daughter on Park Place near Franklin Avenue.
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