Complaint #201508205,
May 19, 2015

Officer: Justinico, Hector
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Search (of person)
CCRB Investigator Recommendation: Substantiated
CCRB Board Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Justinico, Hector
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Frisk
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Formalized Training)
NYPD Disposition: Formalized Training
Officer: Justinico, Hector
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Formalized Training)
NYPD Disposition: Instructions
Officer: Francis, Marcel
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Investigator Recommendation: Substantiated
CCRB Board Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Justinico, Hector
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Refusal to provide name/shield number
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Coyle, John
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Refusal to provide name/shield number
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Coyle, John
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Vehicle stop
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Francis, Marcel
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Refusal to provide name/shield number
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Francis, Marcel
Complainant: Black Male, 25
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Vehicle search
CCRB Investigator Recommendation: Substantiated
CCRB Board Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Board Conclusion
Justinico, Hector Black Male, 25 Abuse of Authority: Search (of person) Unsubstantiated
CCRB Investigator Recommendation: Substantiated
Justinico, Hector Black Male, 25 Abuse of Authority: Frisk Substantiated (Formalized Training)
NYPD Disposition: Formalized Training
Justinico, Hector Black Male, 25 Discourtesy: Word Substantiated (Formalized Training)
NYPD Disposition: Instructions
Francis, Marcel Black Male, 25 Discourtesy: Word Unsubstantiated
CCRB Investigator Recommendation: Substantiated
Justinico, Hector Black Male, 25 Abuse of Authority: Refusal to provide name/shield number Unsubstantiated
Coyle, John Black Male, 25 Abuse of Authority: Refusal to provide name/shield number Unsubstantiated
Coyle, John Black Male, 25 Abuse of Authority: Vehicle stop Exonerated
Francis, Marcel Black Male, 25 Abuse of Authority: Refusal to provide name/shield number Unsubstantiated
Francis, Marcel Black Male, 25 Abuse of Authority: Vehicle search Unsubstantiated
CCRB Investigator Recommendation: Substantiated

Conclusion Meanings:

'Exonerated': or 'Within NYPD Guidelines' - The conduct occurred but did not violate the NYPD's own rules, which often give officers significant discretion.
'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

Justinico, Hector
Formalized Training

Summary

On May 19, 2015, at approximately 11:40 p.m., [redacted]'s vehicle was stopped in the vicinity of Boerum Street and Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn by Sgt. John Coyle, PO Marcel Francis, and PO Hector Justinico of Patrol Borough Brooklyn North's Anti-Crime Unit (Allegation A). PO Justinico approached [redacted]'s driver-side window and informed [redacted] that his vehicle was stopped because his window tints were too dark and requested his identification, to which [redacted] provided his New Jersey driver license. Without conducting a warrant check, PO Justinico returned [redacted]'s license and directed him to exit his vehicle. Once [redacted] exited his vehicle, PO Justinico directed him to turn around and place his hands on top of his vehicle. PO Justinico proceeded to frisk [redacted]'s arms, torso, waistband, legs, and all four of his pants pockets (Allegation B). PO Justinico also searched inside all four of [redacted]'s pants pockets (Allegation C). Once the frisk and search were concluded, PO Justinico escorted [redacted] to the rear of his vehicle where Sgt. Coyle was standing. [redacted] then observed PO Francis searching inside his vehicle's glove compartment, center console, door panels, and underneath the front and back seats (Allegation D). [redacted] told the officers that he did not provide any consent for his vehicle to be searched and in response, PO Justinico stated, "Stop being a smart ass. As long as you're going to be a wise ass, where did you get your fucking law degree fam?" (Allegation E). [redacted] asked why his vehicle was being searched if he was pulled over for his window tints, but none of the officers provided a response. PO Francis exited [redacted]'s vehicle with a roll of parking ticket envelopes and asked [redacted] whether his record would show anything about his parking tickets. [redacted] told the officers that they could check his record if they wanted to, but he was already on a payment plan for the parking tickets. PO Francis returned the roll of parking ticket envelopes... Read report for details.


Details

Incident: May 19, 2015
Received: September 28, 2015
Closed: January 12, 2016

Reason for contact: Other violation of VTL
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD 90th Precinct Brooklyn
Outcome: No arrest made or summons issued

Video evidence collected