A commanding officer implicated in the 2009 NYPD whistleblowing scandal is apparently more concerned about a student film’s fictionalized account of his leadership’s effect on his reputation than the fact that he pressured his officers to take unnecessary and illegal action in order to meet their quotas. The New York Daily News reports that a lawyer for former NYPD Deputy Inspector Steven Mauriello contacted Adam Nelson, a Savannah College of Art & Design student and director of Schoolcraft: A Narrative Film, inquiring about his client’s depiction.
Adrian Schoolcraft was an officer at Bed-Stuy’s 81st Precinct who secretly recorded hundreds of hours of audio that documented corruption and inappropriate behavior. Mauriello is heard ordering superfluous arrests, saying things like “They’re underage? Fuck it. Bring ’em in.” Schoolcraft was eventually involuntarily committed to a mental hospital as an intimidation tactic after speaking out. He has a pending $50 million lawsuit against the city, in which Mauriello is a defendant. Mauriello filed a $2 million countersuit, claiming he’s been “scapegoated.”
The low-budget, not-yet-released short film depicts Schoolcraft’s story. Schoolcraft was not involved in its production.
Mauriello, whose reputation has already been irreparably damaged, has apparently never heard of the Streisand Effect, wherein little-known information is publicized by attempts to suppress it.
(Photo: Google)
