Justice Department to probe work of NYPD sex crimes unit
The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe of the New York Police Department unit that investigates sex crimes following years of complaints about the way it treats crime victims.
The civil rights investigation announced Thursday will review the department’s Special Victims Division to examine whether it engages in a pattern of gender-biased policing, officials said.
“Survivors of sexual assault should expect effective, trauma-informed and victim-centered investigations by police departments,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. New York City’s two U.S. attorneys joined her in announcing the probe.