A police officer who responded to a dispute between a mom and her teenage daughter instantly grabbed the arm of the mom-of-four, shoved her into an residence wall and cuffed her.
A cop responding to a different home dispute, wherein a girl in her 60s locked out her husband, threatened to arrest them each, broken their entrance door together with his baton and shouted by means of it, “You fucking psycho, you let him in.”
An officer who investigators beforehand discovered had punched a suspect within the face whereas his colleagues restrained the person’s arms, and in addition used a prohibited chokehold, pushed a scooter driver in opposition to a van in The Bronx and warned him to “stop fucking bumping into me.”
The three cops had been charged with critical violations of NYPD laws that sometimes would have price them the lack of a minimum of 20 trip days.
As an alternative, theirs had been amongst 25 latest circumstances wherein NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch dismissed the fees and ordered all however one of many officers to endure coaching as an alternative, to which all of them agreed. The remaining officer misplaced 5 trip days.
Strikingly, Tisch acted on the suggestions of officers and prosecutors of the Civilian Criticism Evaluation Board, an impartial company that investigates police misconduct and has traditionally criticized the division for being too lax in holding its officers to account.
Tisch, too, has publicly signaled an curiosity in implementing harder self-discipline since Mayor Eric Adams appointed her as commissioner in November 2024 amid a corruption scandal that took down her predecessor. Her soon-to-be boss, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, favors bolstering accountability on the division, as nicely.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch attends a Metropolis Corridor press convention alongside Mayor Eric Adams about using translation apps, Dec. 8, 2025. Credit score: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
In choosing low-level penalties, Tisch and CCRB officers brushed apart the vary of prescribed sanctions in tips developed in January 2021 by means of what is named the disciplinary matrix.
The rules stipulate that solely in “extraordinary circumstances” ought to the penalties be pre-empted, and till this September that’s what came about.
Within the 4½ years between the launch of the matrix and this August, police commissioners wrote 15 such “deviation letters” — 10 fewer than Tisch signed between September and early December. Below prior commissioners, six of the deviations, all downward, had been proposed by the CCRB.
Tisch’s disciplinary insurance policies and decision-making are being carefully watched, notably as she strikes from reporting to Adams, a police captain who had a heavy hand within the division’s operations, to Mamdani, who has been a frequent critic of police conduct lately.
Inside the division she’s earned a status as a strict disciplinarian, actually when in comparison with former Commissioner Edward Caban. He employed quite a lot of instruments — together with merely taking circumstances away from CCRB prosecutors in a course of often known as “retention” — to dismiss disciplinary prices much more usually than Tisch has.
In a latest determination on a deadly police capturing case, nevertheless, Tisch overruled an administrative choose’s advice {that a} police officer be terminated — upsetting advocates and a few elected officers.
Former CCRB Board Chair Fred Davie stated Mamdani must work with Tisch and CCRB management, together with members Mamdani will appoint, to make sure there aren’t unjustified reversals of penalties.
“Crucial to public safety is ensuring the public has confidence officers will be held accountable for their actions,” stated Davie, who served as board chair from 2017 to 2022. “To do anything less makes a mockery of oversight and undermines public safety.”
‘Shaken Up’
The letters explaining the departures, that are required below an settlement between the CCRB and the police division, are periodically posted to an NYPD web site. However mistakenly, the names of misconduct victims weren’t redacted from a few of the incident summaries in latest postings. That enabled THE CITY to contact a lot of victims, two of whom stated they had been scarred by their encounters.
Jakeem McKenzie advised THE CITY that officers instantly surrounded him and a pregnant pal at gunpoint simply after he began his parked automotive in Crimson Hook, Brooklyn, in Might 2022. A search failed to show up the automotive’s registration and different points however a detective advised him he’d be let off with a summons.
When he requested a number of occasions why he was stopped, the detective stated, “Fuck it,” ordered him out of the automotive and arrested him in retaliation, in line with a CCRB abstract of the incident. The abstract makes no point out of the officers drawing their weapons.
McKenzie advised THE CITY he needed to combat varied prices stemming from the arrest for 3 to 4 months in courtroom, and needed to safe video footage to disprove considered one of them. He stated the encounter left him rattled.
“It impacted me a lot,” stated McKenzie, 33. “To this day I don’t trust the cops. Sometimes when I’m driving and a cop gets behind me, I get nervous or shaken up even though I’m not doing anything wrong.”
Requested concerning the specifics of a half-dozen of essentially the most critical circumstances, neither the CCRB nor NYPD would focus on what made them worthy of a full deviation from the disciplinary requirements, which already enable for elevating or decreasing the presumed penalty primarily based on elements equivalent to an officer’s disciplinary file and any complicating circumstances of an encounter.
An NYPD spokesperson, who didn’t present his or her identify, stated the NYPD gave deference to the CCRB’s suggestions because it was the board’s employees prosecuting the circumstances and proposing the penalties.
“After review of the case and CCRB’s recommendation, the department determined that there was no reasonable basis to disagree with CCRB’s recommendation and agreed with the penalty that the CCRB recommended,” the spokesperson stated.
Downgrades Going Up
The NYPD has not traditionally deferred to CCRB suggestions. The division’s settlement price with the board’s beneficial penalties was 56% in 2023, 30% in 2024 and 76% within the first half of 2025 below Tisch, in line with testimony by a police division lawyer at a latest Metropolis Council listening to.
CCRB officers didn’t describe what’s driving the latest improve in deviations, however they arrive at a time when the board’s prosecuting unit is dealing with a backlog that in September was approaching 900 circumstances awaiting disciplinary trial.
Among the many causes cited within the CCRB’s letters to Tisch proposing downward deviations from the disciplinary matrix are officers’ lack of a disciplinary historical past, optimistic evaluations, a excessive variety of “meritorious” or “excellent” responsibility awards, the volatility of the incidents concerned, and the brief length of the misconduct.
Police Benevolent Affiliation President Patrick Hendry cited the CCRB’s willingness to downgrade penalties throughout the 25 circumstances as proof the company prioritizes “quantity over quality.”
Police Benevolent Affiliation President Patrick Hendry speaks exterior Manhattan Civic Court docket forward of a listening to about 30 recently-hired NYPD officers who got 24 hours to resign, July 15, 2025. Credit score: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
“CCRB harvests as many frivolous and false complaints as possible and seeks the harshest penalty, then pleads them down when it is clear the case won’t hold up at trial,” he stated in an announcement.
CCRB spokesperson Dakota Gardner stated prosecutors do weigh the probability of prevailing at a disciplinary trial when negotiating plea offers, by means of which the board can get officers to cop to their misconduct — as occurred in 13 of the 25 circumstances.
A evaluation by THE CITY found that in some circumstances, nevertheless, CCRB prosecutors misstated an officer’s file or ignored main markers of their disciplinary historical past from its letters to Tisch.
Within the case of the cop who pushed the scooter driver in opposition to the van, CCRB officers stated he merited a reprieve partially due to his “lack of any prior disciplinary history,” in line with a March 2025 CCRB letter to Tisch.
Seven months earlier, nevertheless, data posted on-line present that CCRB officers had substantiated three prices of extreme drive in opposition to him, together with two punches to the face and a chokehold, and urged then-Commissioner Caban to self-discipline him for conduct they labeled “egregious.”
Caban ended up dismissing the fees, arguing that any contact to the suspect’s neck was incidental and that the officer had “utilized the necessary force to gain compliance.” However the prices, together with all CCRB findings of misconduct, stay listed within the board’s public disciplinary data. NYPD officers didn’t say how such disciplinary outcomes are famous within the division’s data.
In one other case, a sergeant dealing with the lack of 40 trip days for wrongfully arresting two passengers in a car that crashed in Brooklyn following an tried police automotive cease had amassed 54 allegations of misconduct, of which the CCRB substantiated seven.
He was additionally disciplined by the police division in 2016 with a 12 months’s probation, the best penalty wanting termination, for alerting a fellow cop concerning the imminent execution of a search warrant at a spot the colleague was identified to go to, in line with on-line data.
Nonetheless, in a letter to Tisch in March 2025 that excluded that historical past, a chief prosecutor for the CCRB credited the sergeant for his 15 years of service, a 7 out of 10 on a latest analysis — thought of ranking — and dozens of commendations from the division.
Tisch agreed in September to impose a penalty of coaching. The NYPD press workplace stated coaching can happen at an officer’s command, on the police academy or by means of the authorized bureau, however didn’t present an outline of what the coaching entails for varied offenses.
Among the officers awarded leniency had clear work data or dedicated comparatively minor misconduct.
One officer within the foyer of an residence constructing responded to a tenant who referred to as a gaggle of officers “stupid” by saying partially, “Yeah, call yourself stupid.” He was dealing with the lack of 20 trip days for an offensive language cost, together with discourtesy, earlier than Tisch signed off on a plea deal proposed by the CCRB.
However that officer’s penalty — coaching — was additionally agreed to in circumstances the place officers used extreme drive, offered inaccurate statements to investigators, or responded inappropriately to home incidents. In 5 of the circumstances, the negotiated penalty resolved two unrelated misconduct circumstances introduced by the board in opposition to a single officer.
‘I Felt Abused’
Round midnight on a Saturday in Might 2023, Yuberkis, a single mom of 4, awoke to loud banging on her Washington Heights residence door.
On the opposite facet, in line with Ring digicam footage considered by THE CITY, had been two officers from the thirty third Precinct and her then-17-year-old daughter, who had been staying out late and advised cops that she’d been locked out of the residence, Yuberkis advised THE CITY.
Yuberkis, who requested to be recognized by a nickname to keep up privateness, had withheld an residence key from her daughter in an effort to achieve some measure of management over her whereabouts. She stated it was a call she felt as a mum or dad was hers to make.
She recalled that nearly instantly after she opened the door, Officer Carlos Arrecis started arguing along with her, saying, “You have to give her the key.”
NYPD officer Carlos Arrecis, middle, arrives at a Washington Heights residence in 2023 with a locked-out teen forward of arresting the teenager’s mom on youngster endangerment prices, which had been later dropped. Credit score: Screengrab through Safety Footage
When Yuberkis tried to clarify her latest challenges along with her daughter, she stated Arrecis reduce her off and stated, “Give me your hands.”
When she questioned why, she advised THE CITY, he grabbed her arm and pushed her into the residence, the place her again struck an inside wall.
“At that point I didn’t even know what was happening,” she advised THE CITY. “I felt abused.”
She was taken to the native precinct, charged with endangering the welfare of a kid and different crimes after which transferred to central reserving in Decrease Manhattan.
After she was detained for a mixed 16 hours, the Manhattan District Legal professional’s Workplace dropped the fees with out her even showing earlier than a choose, in line with paperwork she confirmed THE CITY.
However her issues weren’t over. The arrest triggered the opening of an investigation of her therapy of her eldest daughter by the town’s Administration for Youngsters’s Companies, a selected problem for Yuberkis, who runs a day care program out of her residence. She stated the investigation was closed later that 12 months, and famous that her relationship along with her daughter is now a lot better.
Her jail time additionally triggered her to overlook a day of labor at her job on weekends as a house well being aide. She works seven days every week.
In October 2024, the Civilian Criticism Evaluation Board substantiated disciplinary prices in opposition to Arrecis for improper use of drive and abuse of authority for coming into the residence with out consent. A message left on a cellphone quantity believed to be Arrecis’ wasn’t returned, and the PBA didn’t reply to a request for touch upon particular person circumstances.
Yuberkis discovered solely lately, from a reporter for THE CITY, that the departmental prices had been dismissed final month below the settlement with the CCRB accredited by Tisch.
Arrecis, who was dealing with a presumed penalty of 20 trip days, was assigned to coaching, an consequence that Yuberkis referred to as “unjust.”
She stated within the three months following her arrest she was scared to depart her residence out of worry she’d run into him, and that she nonetheless will get nervous when she sees a police officer.
“The trauma and abuse I suffered are something no one can undo,” she stated.
A Showdown at a Parked Automobile
McKenzie, the Brooklyn man who described to THE CITY his anguish over his encounter with police, stated the incident started after he picked up a pregnant pal in Crimson Hook in Might 2022. He stated he left his black Chevy Impala for lower than quarter-hour in a spot the place parking was prohibited.
He stated that when he returned and turned on the car’s headlights he was surrounded by cops with weapons drawn yelling for him and his pal to place up their palms and for him to supply his license and registration.
An outline of the incident contained in a letter from a CCRB prosecutor to Tisch in April 2025 stated the cops finally decided the car wasn’t registered and lacked an inspection sticker, amongst different points.
A couple of minutes into the encounter, Detective Damien Clarke advised McKenzie he was letting him off with a summons, however McKenzie advised THE CITY that, nonetheless shaken, he requested the officer why that they had approached him.
“I wasn’t being combative, I was just generally concerned. I just wanted to know why,” McKenzie advised THE CITY. “Y’all put a gun to my face and two minutes later you’re willing to let me go?”
He stated that appeared to agitate Clarke.
In accordance with the CCRB letter, body-worn digicam footage of the incident exhibits that Clarke responded to McKenzie’s questions by saying “Fuck it.” He then ordered him out of the automotive and positioned him below arrest, resulting in the months of courtroom appearances for McKenzie.
Reached by cellphone, Clarke declined to remark.
An lawyer for the detectives’ union, James Moschella, famous that in Clarke’s case and practically a dozen others with lowered penalties, the members hadn’t been discovered responsible at an administrative trial or pleaded responsible, and that the penalties make extra sense given the absence of confirmed misconduct.
He additionally famous that the deviations had been proposed by the CCRB, which he stated has change into too fast to degree extra critical prices in opposition to officers lately, a lot in order that maybe the board is now implicitly acknowledging having gone too far in some circumstances.
“We could have pled not guilty and gone to an administrative trial but a disposition like this, it’s a fair and reasonable way out,” Moschella advised THE CITY. “CCRB doesn’t have to admit that the charges were unjustified, the detective’s not admitting to committing any misconduct and he’s agreeing to go to training.”
The CCRB letter stated that Clarke may have acquired a presumed penalty of 20 trip days for the retaliatory arrest alone, however cited his 21 years of service and a latest job efficiency analysis rating of 8 out of 10 as its cause for recommending coaching as an alternative.
In October, Tisch accredited the deal, however McKenzie advised THE CITY his ordeal merited a harder response.
“I feel like it should be a heavy penalty,” he stated. “It’s just a slap on the wrist.”
An Eruption on Staten Island
The home encounter on Staten Island wherein Officer Frederick Daley referred to as a girl in her 60s a “fucking psycho” started when her husband advised a 911 operator she had locked him out of their shared residence, in line with a February 2025 letter from the CCRB to Tisch.
Physique-worn digicam footage confirmed Daley and a associate telling the girl, who spoke to them from a terrace on the residence, that she could be arrested if she didn’t let her husband in, in line with a CCRB investigators’ report. She stated she didn’t need to as a result of he had anger points.
The footage additionally captured Daley saying to the girl later within the confrontation, “You fucking psycho,” which he advised CCRB investigators he stated out of frustration at being on the residence for 2 hours.
It additionally exhibits him forcefully banging on the door together with his fist after which switching to an expandable baton, whereas twisting the doorknob. Daley advised investigators the baton might need left indentations on the door, in line with the report.
The CCRB letter asserted that Daley additionally stated they might each be arrested if police needed to come again, and stated that “Neither civilian had committed any crime, and it was inappropriate for Officer Daley to threaten them with arrest.”
Daley’s prices included discourtesy, offensive language, two counts of improper menace to arrest and property harm. The foul language alone carries a presumed penalty of the lack of 20 trip days.
However the CCRB prosecutor stated the board was proposing a penalty of coaching due to Daley’s 13 years of service, a 9 out of 10 on a latest analysis, and the excessive volatility of the incident to which he was responding.
In September, Tisch wrote that she concurred with the proposal “for the reasons articulated by CCRB.”
Neither Daley nor the couple may very well be reached for remark.
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