Criminal Law
The Justice Department Launches an Investigation Into the NYPD Sex Crimes Unit
The U.S. Justice Department has launched a sweeping inquiry into the New York Police Department’s famed sex crimes investigators following years of complaints about the way they treat crime victims.
The civil rights investigation, announced Thursday and spurred by a letter last year from appalled victims, will examine whether the NYPD’s Special Victims Division engages in a pattern of gender-biased policing, officials said.
“Survivors of sexual assault should expect effective, trauma-informed and victim-centered investigations by police departments,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. New York City’s two U.S. attorneys joined her in announcing the inquiry.
