U.S. Attorney Announces Successful Conclusion Of Agreement With City Of Yonkers And Yonkers Police Department To Ensure Commitment To Constitutional Policing

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, announced today the successful conclusion of the United States' long-running investigation into the Yonkers Police Department (YPD) under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. In November 2016, the U.S., the City, and YPD entered into an agreement to implement and improve upon policies and procedures in the areas of use of force, citizen complaints, use-of-force and misconduct investigations, supervisory oversight, and training. Today, the U.S. agreed to terminate the agreement and commends the City and YPD on their achievements.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: "Since the commencement of our investigation in 2007, the Yonkers Police Department has worked assiduously and cooperatively to implement significant reforms which ensure that its officers are well trained, well informed, and guided on appropriate uses of force, and that a thorough and robust review system is in place to identify potentially problematic incidents, officers, training, and tactics. The Yonkers Police Department has achieved substantial compliance with all provisions of the agreement and established policies and programs that demonstrate a dedication and commitment to serving the community and ensuring its safety and well-being. I commend the Yonkers Police Department for its efforts."

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said: "The success of Yonkers and the Yonkers Police Department under this agreement demonstrates the fundamental truth that fair, constitutional and effective policing can enhance public safety and promote trust between police and the community they are sworn to protect and serve. Through this agreement, the city and YPD have significantly decreased settlement payouts on excessive force claims, and from 2017 to 2023, violent crimes in Yonkers also fell substantially. We commend YPD leadership, including former YPD Commissioners Charles Gardner and John Mueller, current YPD Commissioner Christopher Sapienza, as well as civilian staff and officers for their commitment to ensure constitutional policing for the people of Yonkers. Our settlements with police departments are of little utility unless real work and effort is put in to ensure that reforms are brought to life and successfully implemented."

The successful conclusion of the agreement between the U.S., the City of Yonkers, and the YPD resolves a long-running investigation into YPD. In 2009, the U.S. issued a technical assistance letter highlighting concerns regarding the overall content and structure of YPD's policies and procedures manual, with specific focus on YPD's use-of-force policies, investigations of its officers' use of force, the lack of supervisory oversight, its training program and materials, community relations, and its recruitment and evaluation of personnel. After issuing the 2009 technical assistance letter, the U.S. conducted further reviews of YPD's revised policies and procedures, use-of-force reports, and citizen complaint investigations through early 2015. These reviews indicated that the concerns underlying the recommendations in the 2009 letter had not been sufficiently addressed.

Following extensive negotiations, in November 2016, the U.S., the City, and YPD entered into an agreement requiring YPD to: maintain and implement clear policies to avoid using excessive and unreasonable force; timely document and review uses of force; maintain and implement clear and appropriate policies on investigatory stops and detentions, as well as searches and arrests; develop a system to collect data on all investigatory stops and searches, except stops purely for traffic enforcement; ensure the transparency and accessibility of the misconduct complaint process and investigate all misconduct complaints fully and fairly; continue the development and implementation of a computerized risk management system to identify and respond to potentially problematic incidents, officers, units, training and tactics; continue to maintain and build community relationships and engage constructively with the community; develop a survey to measure officer outreach to a cross-section of community members in each precinct; and ensure that officers and supervisors receive appropriate levels of training in constitutional policing. The agreement also required YPD to ensure the First Amendment rights of onlookers or bystanders to witness, observe, record, and/or comment on officer conduct. The agreement further provided that consultants retained by the Justice Department would conduct compliance reviews to ensure that YPD has implemented the measures required by the agreement. Finally, the agreement provided for termination once the U.S. agreed that YPD had achieved substantial compliance with all provisions and had maintained substantial compliance for 12 months.

Since the agreement was executed, the U.S. and its consultant, Charles Reynolds, the former president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, have had full access to YPD and its records. The U.S. has requested, reviewed, and commented on: YPD's revised use-of-force policies and procedures, and policies protecting the public's right to observe and record officer conduct; use-of-force reporting and command-level reviews of use-of-force reports at all levels of force; misconduct complaint investigations; stop and search reports; the implementation and use of YPD's Risk Management System; training materials; and community policing initiatives.

Over the period the agreement has been in place, there are substantial indicia that the agreement has led to improvements in the constitutionality and effectiveness of YPD's policing. The City of Yonkers has experienced a significant reduction in excessive force settlement payouts due to a marked decrease in allegations of unlawful uses of force. Additionally, YPD's Internal Affairs Department has dramatically improved its average times to complete critical use-of-force investigations, from 245 days in 2019, down to 69 days in 2023. Similarly, YPD's Internal Affairs Department has significantly reduced its average times for completing civilian misconduct complaint investigations, from 236 days in 2019, to 72 days in 2023. The City of Yonkers has also experienced a 22% reduction in violent crimes over the last five years.

YPD has also implemented or enhanced programs beyond what is required by the agreement. In August 2020, YPD instituted a trial body-worn camera program, which has been expanded to require that all Field Services Division officers, as well as officers designated by the Commissioner, use body-worn cameras. YPD has also substantially increased the length of its Field Training Officer program, by mandating that recruits undergo 256 field training hours to be certified as an officer. YPD also maintains a Crisis Negotiation Team that is one of the largest of its kind in the New York City metropolitan area, and whose core mission is to use de-escalation techniques to resolve volatile life-threatening situations without the use of force. YPD's Community Affairs Division is also actively engaged in multiple programs, outreach, and community-based cooperative projects. YPD is currently engaged in over 40 outreach programs and participates in over 70 school events every year.

YPD's leadership has been instrumental in making these changes. U.S. Attorney Williams praised the work of former YPD Commissioners Charles Gardner and John Mueller, current YPD Commissioner Christopher Sapienza, and the civilian staff and sworn officers of the Yonkers Police Department.

The case is being handled by the Office's Civil Rights Unit in the Civil Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tomoko Onozawa is charge of the case.