Complaint #201603740,
April 27, 2016

Officer: Kim, Taejoong
Complainant: Asian Male, 45
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Officer: Cordero, Angel
Complainant: Asian Male, 45
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Refusal to process civilian complaint
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Kim, Taejoong
Complainant: Asian Male, 45
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Other
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Officer: Kim, Taejoong
Complainant: Asian Male, 45
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Stop
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Officer: Kim, Taejoong
Complainant: Asian Male, 45
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of force (verbal or physical)
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Kim, Taejoong
Complainant: Asian Male, 45
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Electronic device information deletion
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Kim, Taejoong Asian Male, 45 Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Cordero, Angel Asian Male, 45 Abuse of Authority: Refusal to process civilian complaint Unsubstantiated
Kim, Taejoong Asian Male, 45 Abuse of Authority: Other Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Kim, Taejoong Asian Male, 45 Abuse of Authority: Stop Substantiated (Formalized Training)
Kim, Taejoong Asian Male, 45 Abuse of Authority: Threat of force (verbal or physical) Unsubstantiated
Kim, Taejoong Asian Male, 45 Abuse of Authority: Electronic device information deletion Substantiated (Formalized Training)

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

Kim, Taejoong
Formalized Training

Summary

On April 27, 2016, approximately 6:30 p.m., [redacted] was seated in Tous Les Jour drinking a coffee. After noticing Police Officer Taejoong Kim, Police Officer John Ko, Police Officer George Braun, and Sgt. Yaudy Fernandez enter the café, [redacted] asked the manager of the café why the officers were there. When the manager explained to [redacted] that an uninvolved individual, [redacted] stole from the café, [redacted] approached the interaction between the officers and [redacted] to take pictures with his cell phone.
Minutes later PO Kim approached [redacted] who was standing approximately 10 feet away from the interaction. PO Kim asked [redacted] if he took photos of the interaction, to which [redacted] said yes. PO Kim then told [redacted] that he cannot take photos of the interaction because [redacted] was a minor, and he had to delete the photos that he took. After [redacted] decided against deleting the photos, PO Kim said, "If you do not delete them, I will arrest you" (Allegation A). PO Kim then took [redacted]'s cell phone from his hand (Allegation B), navigated through [redacted]'s photos (Allegation C), and deleted the photos taken of the interaction (Allegation D) from [redacted]'s cell phone. [redacted] attempted to walk away from PO Kim, but PO Kim asked [redacted] for a form of identification (Continuation of Allegation B). After [redacted] told PO Kim that he did not have identification with him, PO Kim requested [redacted]'s phone number, date of birth, and address. [redacted] provided his date of birth and address. PO Kim responded by telling [redacted] that if he did not provide his phone number, PO Kim would shoot [redacted] (Allegation E). [redacted] provided his phone number then walked away from PO Kim.
On April 29, 2016, between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., [redacted] went to the 109th Precinct stationhouse to file a complaint against PO Kim. [redacted] spoke to Sgt. Angel Cordero who was seated at the desk. [redacted] told Sgt. Cordero that he wanted to file a complaint,... Read report for details.


Details

Incident: April 27, 2016
Received: May 2, 2016
Closed: August 29, 2016

Reason for contact: C/V intervened on behalf of/observed encounter w/3rd party
Location: Commercial building
In NYPD 109th Precinct Queens
Outcome: No arrest made or summons issued

Video evidence collected