More than 300 NYPD officers kept jobs despite fireable offenses, report says

Hundreds of New York Police Department officers and staff who committed offenses serious enough to merit firing have been allowed to keep their jobs through a probationary program that provides barely any punishment, BuzzFeed News reported.

The media outlet said it obtained files from 2011 to 2015 revealing details on more than 300 officers who lied, cheated, stole or assaulted city residents — and still kept their jobs.

Dozens of the employees lied on official reports, under oath or during an internal affairs investigation, according to the files.

The police commissioner, who has final authority on discipline, assigned the officers to dismissal probation, a penalty with “few practical consequences,” BuzzFeed said.

The program temporarily bans promotion but allows officers to receive their normal salary — and, after a year, the probation ends.

During the same five-year period, 463 officers were forced to leave or resigned, BuzzFeed said.

BuzzFeed said it obtained NYPD records from a source who requested anonymity. The media outlet said it verified the information through more than 100 calls to NYPD employees, visits to officers’ homes, interviews with lawyers and a review of thousands of court records.

One of the officers in the report has been sued multiple times, with the city settling three lawsuits for a total of more than $900,000.

New York is one of about two dozen states where police disciplinary records are essentially confidential. fi