From [HERE] Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. Thursday moved to vacate 188 misdemeanor convictions tied to eight New York City Police Department officers. This request represents part of an ongoing review by the DA Office’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit of more than 1,100 cases connected to a list of 22 former NYPD officers. Bragg noted that the dismissals are “an important step forward, but we know there is a lot more work to do, and our investigation remains ongoing.” The names of the officers under investigation were provided to the DA’s Office in 2021 by public defenders and advocacy groups.

Speaking on the decision, Bragg emphasised:

Trust and confidence are essential to achieving public safety. New Yorkers must know that everyone is acting with the utmost integrity in the pursuit of equal justice under the law. Without that belief, our criminal justice system will never be able to deliver real and lasting safety that every community deserves.

The arrests in question occurred between 2001 and 2016, and more than half of the sentences resulted in fines or incarceration. The officers involved were convicted of various crimes including planting drugs, receiving bribes, lying under oath and official misconduct for releasing an 18-year-old woman from custody in exchange for sexual favors.