NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Members of the City Council have issued a subpoena to the Health Department after a review by the agency reportedly found the number of people killed in NYPD-related incidents was more than double the number previously known.
The City Council rarely issues subpoenas, but Oversight and Investigations Chair Ritchie Torres said they're doing it to get their hands on the report's startling findings—which almost no one from city government had known about until a recent New York Times report.
"We all have an interest in knowing the truth. And if there is an internal report revealing that the number of police-involved deaths is much higher than has been reported, the public has a right to know the truth," Torres said.
He said the public deserves answers after the Times reported that an unreleased draft by the Health Department in 2017 found only 46 of the 105 police-related deaths in the city between 2010 and 2015 were made public.
"We find it outrageous that the Health Department would withhold a report about police-involved deaths," Torres said.
A review of the deaths was reportedly started by former Health Commissioner Mary Basset with help from the NYPD and the city's chief medical examiner; it includes bystanders and traffic deaths related to police pursuits.
Bassett told the Times she didn't tell City Hall about the review because, "I thought they would tell us to stop."
De Blasio just learned about the report from Basset recently, according to a statement from his spokeswoman, Freddi Goldstein.
"Dr. Bassett sat on this information for five years and only told the mayor a few weeks ago," Goldstein said. "He immediately responded to her and in the weeks since our Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services has been in touch with her. We are now digging into the findings to determine next steps."
In a statement, the NYPD said it's committed to transparency.
"A recent New York Times opinion column neglects to include key facts and suggests that the Police Department chose not to participate in a worthy Department of Health project and may have had a hand in keeping critical information from the public. This is false," the statement reads.
"When the Health Department identified their data tracking issues, the NYPD shared five years of information," the NYPD's statement continues. "The agreement between the NYPD and Department of Health explicitly stated that the NYPD had no editorial oversight other than to review for confidential information."
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