‘You can’t have cops watching cops’ — NYPD officer, ex-cop lawyer sue NYC – by Queens Daily Eagle

This is the beginning of an article that was published May 20, 2019 by the Queens Daily Eagle. Link to full article posted below.

By David Brand

An NYPD sergeant who uncovered blatant corruption in the 109th Precinct during the course of an 18-month undercover operation says top brass ignored his findings and then engaged in a “campaign to harass” him. The attorney representing him is an ex-cop who says he can relate.

Sgt. Steven Lee filed a lawsuit against the city and the NYPD in Queens Supreme Court last month. In the suit, Lee claims that Internal Affairs ignored his secret audio tapes, which exposed bribery, prostitution and drug dealing at Flushing karaoke bars. The NYPD elected not to pursue the protection racket that Lee says involved high-ranking cops in the 109th, organized crime figures and an ex-cop who coerced bars into contracting with his security firm, he said.

“You can’t have cops watching cops,” Lee said. “It’s sad to say, but it’s like a gang. You come in, you get initiated and if you don’t ride along with the program you get picked on and you get pressured to do what everyone else is doing.”

Rather than reward him for his work, the department began to systematically mistreat him, belittle him and analyze his every move, Lee said.

Lee sought an attorney to represent him in disciplinary proceedings and, later, the lawsuit, and connected with Joe Murray, a retired NYPD officer in the 115th Precinct. Murray said he too experienced harassment after he challenged authority and refused to toe the company line.

“[Lee] really struck me because I remember everyone being against me,” Murray told the Eagle. “It’s like I’m reliving it.”

Full Article can be read here: https://queenseagle.com/all/cops-corruption-harassment-nypd-lawsuit-lee-murray