DOI arrests tick up, but commissioner says broader focus still his priority

A year ago, the new head of New York City’s Department of Investigation was under fire for tallying fewer arrests and referrals for criminal prosecutions than his predecessor, as well as for declines on several other related measures.

Mark Peters, the commissioner of the Department of Investigation, told a skeptical City Council that his office was carrying out its broader mission instead of single-mindedly trying to boost arrests – and now that his numbers are improving, he hasn’t changed his tune.

Peters, who took office in early 2014, noted that his office made 311 arrests during that calendar year. In 2015, the number rose to 567.

“So it’s a much bigger number of arrests,” Peters told City & State. “Having said that, I’m not going to take a lot of credit for it because I’ll stand by what I said a year ago, which is while we certainly arrest a number of people, it is an important part of what we do … it is not itself a measure of progress.”

The rebound comes after a sharp drop-off in fiscal year 2014. Arrests resulting from DOI investigations fell by 68 percent over a four-month period, while referrals for criminal prosecution were down 67 percent, according to the 2015 Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report.

The updated 2016 report, issued in February, shows some improvement, but the figures still fall short of where they were under the Bloomberg administration. For example, arrests over the equivalent four-month period rose to 125 from 83, but were well below the 255 arrests made during the same period two years ago.

The agency is tasked with rooting out municipal corruption and examining systemic issues that undermine good government and New Yorkers’ access to services.

Peters cited his office’s December report on crimes committed on New York City Housing Authority property as an illustration of the advantages of his approach. An investigation found that the NYPD was not doing enough to notify the public housing agency when crimes were being committed on NYCHA property, and that when NYCHA was notified, it did a poor job of responding.

The investigation didn’t involve any arrests, Peters said, but it could have a more far-reaching impact in the long run.

“But the result of that report is that the NYPD and NYCHA are now meeting, in some instances around the clock, designing new data systems so that going forward, the NYPD will be delivering this data, and will be delivering it in an efficient way,” Peters said. “And NYCHA has agreed to hire additional staff to make sure they are in fact effectively getting repeat criminals out of NYCHA housing.”