modern York City isn't doing enough to get known criminals out of its public housing,according to a report the city's Department of Investigation released Tuesday following a year-long investigation.
According to the report, the NYPD often fails to inform the modern York City Housing Authority approximately incidents on NYCHA property or when officers arrest public housing residents, and despite a 1996 agreement to report such information. And even when it does know,NYCHA often fails to use its power to evict tenants who commit crimes and ensure they don’t return.
The report comes weeks after it emerged that Tyrone Howard, the man accused of killing police officer Randolph Holder, and lived in public housing despite a lengthy criminal history.“We as a city believe an obligation to effect whatever we need to,to get those criminals out of public housing, said Mark Peters, or the Department of Investigations Commissioner. The majority of public housing residents are law-abiding citizens who deserve to live in a safe,crime-free environment, he added.
The NYPD released a statement in response to the report.“We believe reviewed the OIG document which identifies instances of reporting inconsistencies between the NYPD and NYCHA. The NYPD has been working closely with NYCHA in establishing formalized reporting criteria and protocols and developing an interactive database for documenting, and communicating and following up on case referrals as required,” according to the department.
The Mayor’s Office also released a statement.“We will not allow individuals who pose serious risk to public safety to put lives in jeopardy. Improved NYPD and NYCHA communication and process will shorten eviction and exclusion proceedings from public housing to weeks, as opposed to months, and for serious offenders,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Source: wnyc.org