Mar 5, 2018

Hundreds of NYPD employees got away with egregious misbehavior

Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty

Between 2011 and 2015, at least 319 New York Police Department employees who lied on reports or under oath, cheated, stole, assaulted New Yorkers, unnecessarily fired their gun, drove under the influence or sexually harassed someone, among other misbehavior, were allowed to keep their jobs, according to secret files obtained by BuzzFeed News.

Why it matters: Despite egregious wrongdoing, these officers were given "dismissal probation" from the police commissioner, which allows them to continue working as usual with no pay cut. And all disciplinary records are kept secret in New York.

Big picture: In the same time period, at least 777 officers in addition to other employees received "dismissal probation," while 463 officers resigned while disciplinary action was pending or were fired.

Go deeper: With BuzzFeed's full piece as they plan to "publish a database with information about the NYPD officers and civilian employees who have received dismissal probation."

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Rebecca Falconer
Updated 2 mins ago - World

China says U.S. is "endangering peace" with high-level visit to Taiwan

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar during a June briefing in Washington, DC. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Tuesday night he will lead a delegation to Taiwan "in the coming days."

Why it matters: It's the highest-level visit by a U.S. cabinet official to Taiwan since 1979. Azar is also the first U.S. Cabinet member to visit the island state in six years. The visit has angered China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory. Chinese officials accused the U.S. early Wednesday of "endangering peace" with the visit, AFP reports.

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Axios
Updated 46 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 a.m. ET: 18,543,662 — Total deaths: 700,714 — Total recoveries — 11,143,031— Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 a.m. ET: 4,771,236 — Total deaths: 156,807 — Total recoveries: 1,528,979 — Total tests: 57,543,852 — Map.
  3. States: New York City health commissioner resigns in protest of De Blasio's coronavirus response — Local governments go to war over schools.
  4. Public health: 59% of Americans support nationwide 2-week stay-at-home order in NPR poll.
  5. Politics: Trump's national security adviser returns to work after coronavirus recovery — Republicans push to expand small business loan program.
  6. Sports: Indy 500 to be held without fans — Rafael Nadal opts out of U.S. Open.
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Dave Lawler
Updated 2 hours ago - World

At least 100 killed, 4,000 injured after massive explosion rocks Beirut

Photo: Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

A major explosion has slammed central Beirut, Lebanon, damaging buildings as far as several miles away and injuring scores of people.

Driving the news: At least 100 people have been killed and over 4,000 injured in the blast — and the death toll is likely to rise, the Lebanese Red Cross said, per AP. Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the explosions occurred at a warehouse that had been storing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate for the past six years.

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