It’s something that many people have suspected and now it has been proven by the New York Daily News. The NYPD has been using Staten Island as a dumping ground for bad cops. According to an article published by the newspaper, Staten Island has the highest number of most sued cops the city of New York.
The article goes on to state that “Seven of the city’s top 10 most-sued officers — and 14 of the city’s top 50 most-sued officers — are assigned to a Staten Island narcotics unit working in the territory of the 120th Precinct, a Daily News review has found. The unit has racked up a staggering amount of lawsuits despite being the smallest narcotics bureau in the city.”
The top seven officers sued are:
- Det. Vincent Orsini, age 44-Sued 21 times since 2003. The city has paid out $1,087,502
- Officer Michael Lopresti, age 39- Sued 17 times. The city has paid out $1,066,001
- Officer Steven Sposito, age 36- Sued 17 times. The City has paid out $823,750
- Sgt. Andrew Hillary, age 43-Sued 19 times. The city has paid out $704,001
- Lt. David Courtien, age 49- Sued 17 times. The city has paid out $614,850
- Det. Michael Rivera, age 39- Sued 17 times. The City has paid out $460,500
- Det. Christopher Schilling, age 36- Sued 17 times. The city has paid out $292,500
According to the Daily News nearly all of the cases cite false arrest for charges that ended up getting dismissed or sealed. The 120th Precinct also has the highest crime rate in the borough, the most use of the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk tactics in the borough, and is a leader in the number of substantiated police misconduct allegations to the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
