NYCPR SURVEY OF NYCHA RESIDENTS

Mothers Against Abusive Policing formed in 2007 because residents in NYCHA housing were deeply concerned about community-police relations and police misconduct in the Thomas Jefferson Houses between First and Third Avenues and 112th and 115th Street in East Harlem.

Residents complained of frequent discourteous treatment by police officers who routinely patrol the inside and outside of their housing, inappropriate tickets and false arrests for alleged "trespass" by residents and guests, excessive force used when interacting with adults, teens and children, inappropriate stopping, questioning, and searching without probable cause, and worsening of tensions between community members and the police.

NYCPR's Community Oversight of Policing Project (COPP) investigated the allegations of police abuse, and provided technical assistance to the residents who are organizing to address these problems. We conducted a survey to document the residents' experiences and created a report.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME explains the results of interviews of 181 residents of the Jefferson Houses and the Walt Whitman Houses. A large number of residents reported poor police-community relations due to aggressive enforcement on NYCHA property.

Click here for related press coverage.

Click here for the lawsuit filed by members of NYCPR at the Legal Aid Society and the NAACP LDF which seeks to remedy this problem.