Complaint #200302054,
March 15, 2003

Officer: Alvarez, Reinaldo
Complainant: Black Male, 47
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Command Discipline)
Officer: Costa, Marc
Complainant: Black Male, 47
Allegation: Discourtesy: Action
CCRB Investigator Recommendation: Exonerated
CCRB Board Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Alvarez, Reinaldo
Complainant: Black Male, 47
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Retaliatory summons
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Command Discipline)
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Board Conclusion
Alvarez, Reinaldo Black Male, 47 Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest Substantiated (Command Discipline)
Costa, Marc Black Male, 47 Discourtesy: Action Unsubstantiated
CCRB Investigator Recommendation: Exonerated
Alvarez, Reinaldo Black Male, 47 Abuse of Authority: Retaliatory summons Substantiated (Command Discipline)

Conclusion Meanings:

'Substantiated': The misconduct occurred and it violated the rules. The NYPD has discretion over what, if any, discipline is imposed.
'Unsubstantiated': or 'Unable to Determine' - The alleged conduct was investigated but could not determine both that the conduct occurred and that it broke the rules.

Further details on conclusions.


Penalty

Alvarez, Reinaldo
Command Discipline - A

Summary

He stated that on the afternoon of March 15, 2003, he pulled into a 'no standing' zone, in order to answer his cellular phone call from his girlfriend, [redacted] He had been scheduled to pick her up as she was shopping along Jamaica Avenue in Queens. As they spoke, a patrol vehicle pulled up right behind [redacted]s van. An officer, who was later identified as PO Costa, stepped out of the vehicle and began writing out summonses to other cars that were parked in "no standing" zones across the street. Though he was still on the phone with his girlfriend, [redacted] decided to move his car before he too was issued a summons. At that time the passenger, identified as PO Alvarez, got on the intercom and said, "don't move that vehicle". In an attempt to explain to the officer that he had pulled over to answer a short phone call, [redacted] opened the driver's side door of his van. However, PO Alvarez ordered him not to get out of the vehicle and he complied. Then PO Alvarez walked over to [redacted]s car and began issuing him a summons for standing in a no standing zone. When the officer completed the summons, [redacted] who was already agitated, stretched his hand out and said "officer give me the ticket". PO Alvarez looked at [redacted] and dropped the summons on the hood of the car instead of handing it to him, and started to make his way back to the vehicle. [redacted] then stepped out of the van and reviewed the summons. Then he loudly exclaimed that the ticket was "stupid", as he had noticed that the officer wrote 3:15 PM instead of the accurate time, which was 12:15 PM. PO Alvarez assumed that [redacted] was addressing him and returned to approach [redacted] He asked [redacted] whom he was calling stupid, and then asked him for his license and registration. [redacted] replied by asking why the officer needed his identification. He added that he had done nothing wrong and declined to provide the officer with the identification until he articulated what, if any, violation he had committed. PO Alvarez asked... Read report for details.


Details

Incident: March 15, 2003
Received: March 19, 2003
Closed: May 3, 2004

Reason for contact: Other
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD 103rd Precinct Queens
Outcome: Moving violation summons issued