REVEALED: Brooklyn cop with 75 allegations of misconduct against him has cost the city $1.5million in payouts as newly released NYPD disciplinary records show at least 4,000 of its 36,000 cops have at least one complaint on file

One in nine police officers serving on the New York City Police Department's 36,000-strong force has at least one substantiated misconduct allegation in their personnel files, according to striking new data from the Civilian Complaint Review Board. 

Several officers have emerged as the undisputed leaders in complaints and payouts to victims, among them Lt Daniel Sbarra, of the Brooklyn North Narcotics Division, who over the course of his career in law enforcement has racked up 75 allegations of misconduct, 16 of which have been proven, and has been involved in a dozen lawsuits that have cost the city $1.5million in settlements. 

Information about Sbarra and nearly 4,000 of his colleagues who have been accused of professional misconduct was posted by ProPublica online last week, just days after a federal judge paused the public release of New York City police disciplinary records.  

In posting the bombshell database on July 26, ProPublica explained in a note to readers that it was not obligated to comply with Judge Katherine Polk Failla’s temporary restraining order because it was not a party to a police union lawsuit challenging the release of such records following a recent repeal of state law that for decades had prevented the disclosure of officers' disciplinary files.

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Nearly 4,000 officers, or 11 per cent of NYPD's 36,000-strong force, have at least one substantiated misconduct allegation in their records, according to newly released data 

Lt Sbarra joined the NYPD in 1997. Over the course of his service, he has faced at lease 29 complaints encompassing a total of 75 allegations, 16 of which have been substantiated.

Sbarra, who in 2018 drew an annual salary of $125,000, plus $45,000 in overtime pay, also has been involved in at least 12 lawsuits.

Data indicates that 58 of the civilians who have made complaints against Sbarra were black and 11 were Hispanic. The vast majority of the complainants were men and teenage boys, the youngest being just 15 years old.

The laundry-list of allegations against Sbarra includes various forms of abuse of authority, use of physical force, strip searches, offensives language, racial slurs and threats.

During one incident that took place in 2004, Lamel Robertson, a 28-year-old black barbershop owner, said he was driving home from work in Bushwick when Sbarra, then a sergeant, and another officer stopped him.

Robertson told New York Daily News that Sbarra and Officer Ralph Pacheco, who had their badge numbers covered with black tape, dragged him out of his car, pressed him against the vehicle, twisted his arm behind his back and repeatedly asked 'where the drugs and guns at.' 

Robertson also claimed that Sbarra and Pacheco called him the 'N-word' and summoned backup, before letting the man go without any charges.

The city ultimately paid the barbershop owner more than $19,000 to settle his lawsuit, with $1,000 coming directly from Sbarra.  

'It can't make up for the disrespect they did to me,' Robertson told the Daily News about the payout in 2013. 

The CCRB investigated and substantiated the complaint, and Sbarra was docked two vacation days after being found guilty of departmental charges stemming from the traffic stop.

Then-Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly later overturned the guilty verdict against Sbarra. 

In 2006, Sbarra and another officer stopped paralegal Mark Labrew, threw him against a gate and frisked him. He was then taken to the 81st Precinct, where Labrew, who is black, said he was called an animal and a 'r*****ed' monkey before Sbarra strip-searched him. The victim later received a $30,000 settlement for his lawsuit.  

Four years later, Robert Stephens, 56, a retired US Marine, accused Sbarra and other members of his division of stopping him on his way to a bodega, then heading to his apartment, breaking down the down front door with a battering ram and ransacking the residence in search of drugs, none of which were found.   

In 2012, Sbarra was promoted to lieutenant, but only after agreeing to plead guilty to departmental charges related to the 2010 incident with the Marine veteran. He was docked 20 vacation days for the unauthorized search of Stephens' home. 

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Information about cops who have been accused of professional misconduct was posted by ProPublica last week, just days after a federal judge paused the release of the records

Months later, the New York Daily News published a damning investigative report exposing his history of misconduct allegations from his time as a police officer in the early 2000s.

In response to the article, Sbarra was transferred to desk duty at the Organized Crime Control Bureau, where he was allowed to keep his six-figure salary.

He has kept a low profile and has not been investigated by the CCRB since 2012, according to the database.

DailyMail.com on Tuesday reached out to the New York City Law Department seeking comment about Sbarra's record and was awaiting a reply.  

Sbarra is only one of about 4,000 NYPD officers, or 11 per cent of the nation's largest police force, whose personnel files include confirmed misconduct allegations. 

Unions representing police officers and other public safety workers sued the city on July 15 to block Mayor Bill de Blasio from making good on a pledge to start posting misconduct complaints on a government website. The unions argue that allowing the public to see unproven or false complaints could sully officers’ reputations and compromise their safety.

A state judge who first handled the case had issued a narrower restraining order that temporarily blocked the public disclosure of records concerning unsubstantiated and non-finalized allegations or settlement agreements.

ProPublica said it excluded allegations that investigators deemed unfounded from the material it published. In all, the searchable database contains 12,056 complaints against 3,996 active NYPD officers.

'We understand the arguments against releasing this data. But we believe the public good it could do outweighs the potential harm,' ProPublica Editor-in-Chief Stephen Engelberg said. 'The database gives the people of New York City a glimpse at how allegations involving police misconduct have been handled, and allows journalists and ordinary citizens alike to look more deeply at the records of particular officers.'

Failla’s July 22 ruling blocks the CCRB, the police department and other entities from disclosing disciplinary records until at least August 18, when she’ll hear arguments in the case.       

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