A dozen black and Hispanic police officers have sued the city and the NYPD, saying bosses forced them to carry out illegal arrest quotas “against their own minority community” — and one of those cops simultaneously filed a separate federal lawsuit claiming he faced retaliation from his fellow cops and police brass when he complained about the “racially discriminatory and illegal mandatory enforcement activity,” new court papers state.
Police officer Adhyl Polanco claims his locker was plastered over with pictures of police union president Patrick Lynch last year and that another officer called him a “f—— bitch” because of his scathing critiques, his Brooklyn federal court lawsuit states.
Meanwhile, Polanco and 11 other minority cops claimed in Manhattan federal court that the quotas disproportionately affect them — more than white cops — because they “are unwilling to perform racially discriminatory and unwarranted enforcement actions against the minority community.”
The Post exclusively reported on Polanco and allegations that quotas are discriminatory toward minorities in March.
By forcing minority cops to comply with the “illegal quota system,” the city and the NYPD are subjecting black and Latino cops to unfair evaluations and discipline, the suit states.
The suit also says the performance evaluation is unfair because it’s not evenly applied to all precincts and that cops in precincts with lots of minorities have to make more arrests and issue more tickets than cops in “a precinct located in a predominantly white residential area,” the suit states.
The 12 named plaintiffs in the suit are all black and Latino NYPD officers who claim to have been penalized for reporting and complaining about “the illegal quotas and its racially discriminatory application against the minority community,” the suit states.
The top NYPD spokesman said that the department doesn’t use quotas.
“There are no numerical enforcement quotas established by the NYPD,” police department spokesman Stephen Davis said in a statement.
“Performance evaluations are conducted for all department employees based on an assessment of their duties, responsibilities and specific conditions of their assignments.”
A city Law Department spokesman said the city would evaluate the merits of each of these claims and respond accordingly once they are served.
Polanco — who testified against the city in a federal high-profile stop-and-frisk case — joined the NYPD in 2005 and began blasting controversial department tactics to a host of media outlets beginning in 2009.
“The substance of officer Polanco’s statements was his opposition to the unfair, racially discriminatory and illegal mandatory enforcement activity which targets the minority African-American and Latino community to which officer Polanco belongs,” the suit states.
In addition to his media campaign, Polanco reported alleged departmental wrongdoing to the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau.
According to his Brooklyn federal court lawsuit against the city and the NYPD, Polanco contends that his whistleblowing quickly resulted in a sustained campaign of retaliation — including repeated suspensions, promotion denials and suggestions that he was mentally ill.
The measures included “1500 days suspension without pay, … over 1500 days on restricted duty psychological hold without cause, no vacation for four years, no overtime for four years” and other punishments.
“In January 2010, Officer Polanco was further retaliated against for his opposition to the racially discriminatory quota practices of the NYPD by being placed on modified assignment transfer out of command and placed on mental watch through 2015,” the suit states.
Polanco claims that his locker was “vandalized by being pasted over with photographs of PBA Union Leader Patrick Lynch” last year and that another cop called him a “f—— b—-” because of his demand for reforms.
He complained to internal affairs about the mistreatment but was ignored, the suit states.
“Plaintiff also requested a transfer out of this precinct as his safety is under threat in this environment but his request was not addressed,” the suit states.
Despite enjoying seniority over several counterparts, Polanco claims he has been given posts and assignments inferior to white colleagues’ “for failing to meet monthly summons and arrests quotas.”
Polanco claims that the retaliation intensified after he testified in several federal class-action suits against the city that opposed stop-and-frisk strategies.
“The discriminatory actions of the Defendants are ongoing and continue to this day,” the suit states.