DOJ accuses Mount Vernon, N.Y., police of systematic civil rights violations

Justice Department finds multiple civil rights violations against Mount Vernon police

The DOJ's three-year investigation found Mount Vernon officers used excessive force in numerous ways, including by unnecessarily escalating minor encounters and by overusing tasers and closed-fist strikes against individuals already on the ground.

Woman describes encounter with Mount Vernon police: 'No mercy on me'

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (PIX11) -- Mount Vernon resident Linda McNair detailed her 2020 encounter with Mount Vernon police, in which she was falsely accused of handing over cash to buy drugs.  It’s the same encounter described in the executive summary of a new scathing Department of Justice (DOJ) report on the Mount Vernon Police Department (MVPD), which found it engaged in a pattern of civil rights violations, including excessive force, strip, and c…

DOJ accuses Mount Vernon, N.Y., police of systematic civil rights violations

Federal prosecutors are accusing the Mount Vernon Police Department of committing civil rights violations, routinely using excessive force, making arbitrary arrests and conducting unlawful strip and body cavity searches.