We fabricated drug charges against innocent people to meet arrest quotas, former detective testifies

BY John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Willie Anderson/News

Former Detective Stephen Anderson, seen here in 2009, is testifying under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors.

A former NYPD narcotics detective snared in a corruption scandal testified it was common practice to fabricate drug charges against innocent people to meet arrest quotas.

The bombshell testimony from Stephen Anderson is the first public account of the twisted culture behind the false arrests in the Brooklyn South and Queens narc squads, which led to the arrests of eight cops and a massive shakeup.

Anderson, testifying under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, was busted for planting cocaine, a practice known as "flaking," on four men in a Queens bar in 2008 to help out fellow cop Henry Tavarez, whose buy-and-bust activity had been low.

"Tavarez was ... was worried about getting sent back [to patrol] and, you know, the supervisors getting on his case," he recounted at the corruption trial of Brooklyn South narcotics Detective Jason Arbeeny.

"I had decided to give him [Tavarez] the drugs to help him out so that he could say he had a buy," Anderson testified last week in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

He made clear he wasn't about to pass off the two legit arrests he had made in the bar to Tavarez.

"As a detective, you still have a number to reach while you are in the narcotics division," he said.

NYPD officials did not respond to a request for comment.

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Comment by Sweettina2 on October 20, 2011 at 1:28am: Makes me so mad I cant see straight!

Comment by Alan K on October 19, 2011 at 11:16am: Misty its a lot bigger than most people know or even care about.Yeah cops all over the country do this sort of thing on a regular basis. For one thing they have to keep the jails full or they dont get paid,empty beds dont get them any money. For another thing they like to keep the prisons full to,for the same reason,money.Another thing is that they aresst people all the time with no record at all for miniscule amounts of drugs.Say enough pot to roll one or 2 joints,or enough coke to maybe get one or 2 lines out of it.Now these people have a record,it goes on their background checks,its now a part of their history.

Bottom line is the gov. and police dont likeus,they will do whatever it takes to put us down so they can have their perfect society.Its been going on for many many years and they arent going to stop,So no theres not much we can do,like they say it is what it is. If we really wanted to do anything about this we would have started many years ago.

The struggle goes on................

Comment by Nota Khan on October 19, 2011 at 12:49am: Isn't this the rule and the exception? Let's not forget these two confessing does not mean this sort of acts are "rare" -- only confessions are. Who doesn't know about planting of evidence by the cops? IT IS STANDARD PRACTICE by most police departments every where...

Comment by Misty on October 18, 2011 at 6:50pm: Those two in the picture need to be in Prison - just look at them they Look like they belong in PRISON! Not as Guards but as INMATES!

Comment by Misty on October 18, 2011 at 6:48pm: So we have crooks that our taxes pay for who work for the Police Department and Government !

What are we doing and Why are we allowing this to Happen!

OK i get it what it really comes down to is this - NO ONE REALLY CARES!

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