The Legal Aid Society condemned the NYPD’s insensitive and tone-deaf promotion of officers who have substantial records of misconduct complaints to command positions in recent months. The promotions come after a summer of social upheaval in which questions of police misconduct and accountability came to the fore following the killing of George Floyd.

Two officers highlighted in the piece – Captain Carlos Fabara of Queens and Deputy Inspector Osvaldo Nuñez of the Bronx – each had literally dozens of complaints, including various allegations of abuse of authority and improper conduct.

“It’s a part of the larger problem of the culture of impunity within the NYPD that officers with dozens [of CCRB complaints] can rise up the ranks,” said Molly Griffard, Legal Aid Society Cop Accountability Project legal fellow. “And it certainly sends a message that this kind of misconduct is tolerated and that these complaints are not taken seriously enough.”