Rachel Moran, professor of law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and a scholar of police accountability, was quoted in a New York Times investigation examining how the New York State Police handle officer misconduct. Moran described it as troubling that a large law enforcement agency lacks a systematic process for determining when discipline is warranted and how severe it should be, noting that weak oversight and inconsistent penalties undermine accountability and risk enabling further abuses of power.
From the article:
An investigator with the New York State Police helped get a friend’s traffic tickets reduced “in exchange” for her sexually explicit photos, according to a disciplinary letter from 2017.
Another stunned a combative suspect with his Taser in 2020 and held down the trigger for 33 seconds, twice the amount of time widely considered dangerous and potentially fatal.
Some officers with the agency neglected their duties; others had sex while on duty. Some used their badges to elicit favors; others to settle personal scores. Some failed to call for medical aid when needed; others lied in police reports.
The circumstances of any case of officer misconduct vary. Still, most large police agencies in New York State thoroughly outline steps to be taken in their investigative processes and have explicit disciplinary guidelines that recommend specific punishments – in some cases, even firing – for these types of offenses. ...
Rachel Moran, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law who studies police accountability, called it “troubling” that some cases she viewed as serious were investigated at the troop level.
“When you see such a large agency that doesn’t even have a systematic way of deciding when discipline is appropriate and at what level,” she said, “it suggests a lack of attention to the issue of accountability entirely.”
In 2022, a trooper responding to a “shots-fired” call missed a loaded revolver in a suspect’s pocket, allowing the suspect to bring the weapon into the police station.
