Oversight Agency Catching More Cops in a Lie

The Civilian Complaint Review Board is finding more evidence of police officers lying, according to an annual report the agency released Wednesday.

In one case, an officer claimed he pulled his gun on a civilian out of fear for his safety and that he didn't remember swearing. But a recording showed the officer yelling a racial slur and pointing his gun at someone merely holding a cellphone.

Richard Emery, Chair of the CCRB, said, ”the advent and the prevalence of videotape” is making it easier to spot when a cop isn't telling the truth.

Still, the numbers are low when compared to the size of the department, which has about 35,000 officers. The CCRB found 26 instances of cops possibly making false official statements in 2014. That's up from 13 the year before and just two in 2010.

Overall, the Civilian Complaint Review Board is getting fewer complaints against NYPD officers and completing its investigations quicker, according to the report.

Civilians filed less than 5,000 complaints last year, an 11 percent decrease from 2013. The drop coincides with the NYPD’s lessened reliance on Stop and Frisk as a tactic.

The average time to investigate a case was 271 days last year, down from 329 days the year before. Last year, the NYPD disciplined officers in 73 percent of the cases where the CCRB found evidence of misconduct. That's up from 57 percent in 2013.

 The NYPD released a statement in response to the report.

“We are currently reviewing the report and we look forward to continuing to work alongside CCRB in order to improve the overall process,” according to the statement.