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View Full Version : NYPD ousts sex crimes chief who led Weinstein investigation



Common
11-17-2018, 07:51 AM
If you read this and know anything about Police Administration, this chief was a sacrificial lamb for the failings of the top brass. Happens regularly in big PDs

I believe there is very big money and some Powerful individuals outside law enforcement very much involved in Weinsteins case. There is influence peddling and money being dangled everywhere to try and exonerate this guy, im betting.

The police commander who led the effort to arrest Harvey Weinstein has been removed as the chief of New York City's special victims division, part of a shake-up that was months in the making after a city watchdog found the unit was stretched too thin to properly investigate sexual assault cases.
Deputy Chief Michael Osgood, whose final weeks were marred by allegations that a top detective had compromised the Weinstein case, will take on a leadership role in Staten Island. Deputy Chief Judith Harrison takes over the special victims division, the police department announced Friday.


"If we can get better, we will get better," Harrison said.

Police Commissioner James O'Neill signaled changes were coming back in April when he pledged a "top-to-bottom scrub" of the unit after a report by the city's Department of Investigation showed that the sex crimes caseload had ballooned by 65 percent since 2009, but staffing levels were nearly unchanged.

Department memos included in the report showed that Osgood had been asking for more staff for at least four years. He had also requested additional training for detectives and recommended starting a cold case squad.


The police department review was just wrapping up last month when evidence surfaced that Det. Nicholas DiGaudio, whom Osgood worked closely with on the Weinstein case, had coached a witness and told one of the movie producer's accusers to delete material from her cellphone. Weinstein's lawyers said last week that they want to question Osgood in court about DiGaudio's conduct.


DiGaudio's alleged coaching led prosecutors to drop one of Weinstein's charges. Afterward, police said he was no longer involved in the case. His union has said he "was simply trying to get to the truth" and wasn't trying to influence the investigation.


Weinstein denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex.

Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea, who led the police review of the special victims division, thanked Osgood for his "dedication and tremendous contributions" in his eight years in charge of the unit.

The head of Osgood's union said he was "not just the expert, but the innovative creator of modern day investigative techniques and policing of sex crimes offenses."


https://www.yahoo.com/news/nypd-ousts-sex-crimes-chief-led-weinstein-investigation-210039743.html