DOI ISSUES CALENDAR YEAREND 2018 STATISTICS

   MARGARET GARNETT, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced the agency’s statistics for Calendar Yearend (“CY”) 2018, which showed steady outcomes in several areas, specifically, arrests, current and closed investigations, and policy and procedure recommendations. In CY 2018:

DOI made 720 arrests, comparable to CY 2017, when DOI’s investigations resulted in 738 arrests. 

There were more than 15,000 complaints to DOI in CY 2018, an increase from 12,440 in CY 2017.  

DOI had approximately 2,073 investigations on its docket in CY 2018, similar to the previous calendar year, when it had 2,023. 

DOI closed 1,439 investigations in CY 2018, as compared to 1,344 closed investigations in CY 2017. 

DOI issued an estimated 1,871 policy and procedure recommendations in CY 2018, an increase from the 1,118 the agency issued in CY 2017.

“Numbers are important as an introduction to the larger story of this agency,” said DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett. “But numbers should not be viewed in isolation and must be understood in the context of the types of investigations, arrests and reforms that result from DOI’s work. Holding public officials and City agencies accountable; finding and fixing problems that impair the City’s ability to be effective; protecting public funds and the safety of New Yorkers: these are the tangible results of DOI’s work and the meaningful outcomes that make these statistics matter. I commend the staff at DOI for their hard work in 2018.”

Some highlights of DOI cases from 2018 include:

A former Brooklyn Assemblywoman was charged, pleaded guilty, and sentenced to prison for multiple fraud schemes and witness tampering. DOI worked with the office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) on the investigation. 

The arrest of 17 certified asbestos investigators on charges of filing documents that falsely stated planned construction at dozens of properties in Manhattan and Staten Island would not disturb asbestos. DOI worked with the District Attorney offices for Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, as well as the City Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”). The investigation resulted from concerns brought to DOI by DEP asbestos enforcement staff. Separately, DOI worked with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office on an investigation that led to the indictment of five people and two businesses in connection with the illegal renovation of four properties in the borough, allegedly conspiring to bypass safety protocols, including asbestos abatement, using forged documents and falsifying business records to maximize profits. 

A year-long investigation that found the Police Department’s Special Victims Division (“SVD”), which investigates cases involving sexual assaults, was understaffed and under-resourced. Following this investigation, the Police Department added over 60 new investigators to the SVD squads that investigate adult sex-crimes. Upgrades to current SVD facilities are underway and new facilities are being planned. And the prioritization of stranger rape over acquaintance rape has ended.

A joint investigation with the Manhattan District Attorney and other law enforcement partners resulted in the indictment of 13 individuals and nine companies on charges of engaging in three separate schemes that involved bribery, business fraud and misrepresentations about political campaign contributions. The investigation also revealed how a City employee and contractors corrupted the integrity of the City’s procurement and minority business enterprise program. Read DOI’s report on the investigation.

DOI continued its focus on rooting out contraband smuggling and other corruption from the City’s jails, making a dozen separate arrests of Correction Officers and other City Department of Correction personnel on contraband, assault, false filing and other charges. In December 2018, DOI was part of the joint investigation that resulted in the indictment of 29 alleged Mac Balla gang members and associates on crimes that included attempted murder, assault and smuggling scalpels into jails. 

A DOI investigation found that the City Department of Homeless Services (“DHS”) did not adequately screen for criminality before placing homeless families with children at commercial hotels. The investigation led DOI to issue recommendations that called for strengthening DHS protocols for vetting potential hotel sites and mitigate risks associated with ongoing criminal activity.

Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.