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| Glocks, Ammo, Night Vision Gear: How a City Agency Stockpiled Arms to Fight White-Collar Crime | Glocks, Ammo, Night Vision Gear: How a City Agency Stockpiled Arms to Fight White-Collar Crime |
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| From its Lower Manhattan headquarters three blocks north of Wall Street, an unlikely city agency seemed to be ramping up for battle. | From its Lower Manhattan headquarters three blocks north of Wall Street, an unlikely city agency seemed to be ramping up for battle. |
| It bought 140 Glock 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistols. It spent $155,000 on ammunition, $140,000 on body armor, more than $800,000 on two-way radios and $54,000 for night-vision goggles. There were discussions about buying assault rifles and even acquiring a decommissioned police boat. | It bought 140 Glock 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistols. It spent $155,000 on ammunition, $140,000 on body armor, more than $800,000 on two-way radios and $54,000 for night-vision goggles. There were discussions about buying assault rifles and even acquiring a decommissioned police boat. |
| Such an approach might be standard procedure for a front-line law enforcement agency like the Police Department, but it wasn’t exactly typical for the city’s Department of Investigation. | Such an approach might be standard procedure for a front-line law enforcement agency like the Police Department, but it wasn’t exactly typical for the city’s Department of Investigation. |
| The agency is charged with investigating waste, corruption and mismanagement in city government, where it has traditionally focused, in large measure, on white-collar crime. None of its employees have been shot at or assaulted in the line of duty, according to the agency, and officials could not recall a single instance in which an employee had fired a gun at a crime suspect. | The agency is charged with investigating waste, corruption and mismanagement in city government, where it has traditionally focused, in large measure, on white-collar crime. None of its employees have been shot at or assaulted in the line of duty, according to the agency, and officials could not recall a single instance in which an employee had fired a gun at a crime suspect. |
| But with little public discussion or oversight, Mark G. Peters, who was fired last month from his post as investigation commissioner, transformed the character of the agency, turning it into an armed force under his command. | But with little public discussion or oversight, Mark G. Peters, who was fired last month from his post as investigation commissioner, transformed the character of the agency, turning it into an armed force under his command. |
| Mr. Peters, who had clashed with Mayor Bill de Blasio throughout his tenure, was fired by the mayor after an independent investigator found that he retaliated against an office whistle-blower and was “cavalier with the truth.” | Mr. Peters, who had clashed with Mayor Bill de Blasio throughout his tenure, was fired by the mayor after an independent investigator found that he retaliated against an office whistle-blower and was “cavalier with the truth.” |
| The investigation stemmed from a move by Mr. Peters to seize control over a quasi-independent schools investigation office. When the office’s chief investigator, Anastasia Coleman, questioned his authority to do so, Mr. Peters fired her. She filed a whistle-blower complaint, leading to a report that found that Mr. Peters acted “in a manner indicating a lack of concern for following the law.” | |
| Now, with Mr. Peters out, his transformation of the agency, including the role of its armed officers, is being reviewed by his successor, Margaret Garnett, a former federal prosecutor and most recently New York State’s executive deputy attorney general. | Now, with Mr. Peters out, his transformation of the agency, including the role of its armed officers, is being reviewed by his successor, Margaret Garnett, a former federal prosecutor and most recently New York State’s executive deputy attorney general. |
| When Mr. Peters became commissioner in 2014, the agency owned no handguns. It had 75 designated peace officers with weapons permits (all of whom owned their own weapons), but their role in the agency was not emphasized. Mr. Peters changed all that. | When Mr. Peters became commissioner in 2014, the agency owned no handguns. It had 75 designated peace officers with weapons permits (all of whom owned their own weapons), but their role in the agency was not emphasized. Mr. Peters changed all that. |
| He spent $45,000 in federal forfeiture money to acquire a small arsenal of Glock handguns. He purchased 760,000 rounds of ammunition. He expanded the peace officer program, creating an academy within the agency to train and certify the peace officers, including through courses in weapons use and self-defense techniques. | He spent $45,000 in federal forfeiture money to acquire a small arsenal of Glock handguns. He purchased 760,000 rounds of ammunition. He expanded the peace officer program, creating an academy within the agency to train and certify the peace officers, including through courses in weapons use and self-defense techniques. |
| And as the agency grew under Mr. Peters, roughly doubling in size to more than 400 employees, the number of peace officers proportionally rose to 148. | And as the agency grew under Mr. Peters, roughly doubling in size to more than 400 employees, the number of peace officers proportionally rose to 148. |
| Mr. Peters, whose tenure was not without its successes, including hard-charging investigations that exposed serious flaws in city government like failures in lead paint inspections in public housing and shortcomings in the police department’s sex crimes unit, defended the spending. He said that any law enforcement agency needed to protect its agents. | Mr. Peters, whose tenure was not without its successes, including hard-charging investigations that exposed serious flaws in city government like failures in lead paint inspections in public housing and shortcomings in the police department’s sex crimes unit, defended the spending. He said that any law enforcement agency needed to protect its agents. |
| “Are you suggesting it would have been better if we sent people out without bulletproof vests?” Mr. Peters said in an interview on Friday. “The N.Y.P.D. provides weapons to its officers. We are an independent law enforcement agency, among other things tasked with looking at the N.Y.P.D. For us to send people out into the field ill-equipped would put them in danger and would be irresponsible.” | “Are you suggesting it would have been better if we sent people out without bulletproof vests?” Mr. Peters said in an interview on Friday. “The N.Y.P.D. provides weapons to its officers. We are an independent law enforcement agency, among other things tasked with looking at the N.Y.P.D. For us to send people out into the field ill-equipped would put them in danger and would be irresponsible.” |
| Mr. Peters had also arranged for the city to find new, bigger offices to house his growing agency, and then insisted on a menu of costly upgrades that he justified as being needed for law enforcement purposes: an indoor running track, a room with a reinforced floor for self-defense training, a room for a firearms training simulator, a gym with fitness equipment and an ammunition storage room fortified by bulletproof walls and glass. | Mr. Peters had also arranged for the city to find new, bigger offices to house his growing agency, and then insisted on a menu of costly upgrades that he justified as being needed for law enforcement purposes: an indoor running track, a room with a reinforced floor for self-defense training, a room for a firearms training simulator, a gym with fitness equipment and an ammunition storage room fortified by bulletproof walls and glass. |
| The additional construction cost of the upgrades was nearly $3 million, according to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which handles city real estate. | The additional construction cost of the upgrades was nearly $3 million, according to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which handles city real estate. |
| Mr. Peters said the nature of the agency’s work required investigators to receive skill and safety training roughly the equivalent of what the Police Department provides for its officers. | Mr. Peters said the nature of the agency’s work required investigators to receive skill and safety training roughly the equivalent of what the Police Department provides for its officers. |
| “You don’t want people without good training going out into the field doing criminal investigations, especially when we were expanding the work we were doing in places like Rikers Island,” Mr. Peters said. “We suddenly were now charged with dealing with the Health and Hospitals Corporation, which included a lot of work with narcotics pill mills. Some of this is dangerous work and it needs to be done by people who are properly trained.” | “You don’t want people without good training going out into the field doing criminal investigations, especially when we were expanding the work we were doing in places like Rikers Island,” Mr. Peters said. “We suddenly were now charged with dealing with the Health and Hospitals Corporation, which included a lot of work with narcotics pill mills. Some of this is dangerous work and it needs to be done by people who are properly trained.” |
| Mr. Peters was able to act largely under the radar to arm and outfit his agency because the funds came from federal forfeiture money from the CityTime corruption scandal, a massive white-collar crime spree involving the modernization of the city’s payroll system. About six months before Mr. Peters became commissioner, the Investigation Department received $27 million in federal forfeiture funds related to CityTime, and the agency has been drawing down on that amount ever since. | Mr. Peters was able to act largely under the radar to arm and outfit his agency because the funds came from federal forfeiture money from the CityTime corruption scandal, a massive white-collar crime spree involving the modernization of the city’s payroll system. About six months before Mr. Peters became commissioner, the Investigation Department received $27 million in federal forfeiture funds related to CityTime, and the agency has been drawing down on that amount ever since. |
| From mid-2014 through mid-2017, the agency spent a total of $13.7 million in forfeiture money. | From mid-2014 through mid-2017, the agency spent a total of $13.7 million in forfeiture money. |
| The largest expenditures went to expanded office space, computer hardware and software, and vehicles. But the money was also used to equip the agency’s growing force of peace officers. Spending for guns, ammunition, bulletproof vests, gym equipment, a firearms training simulator, radios, night vision gear and ceremonial uniforms totaled more than $1.3 million, according to the agency. | |
| The agency has broad discretion in how it spends forfeiture money, which lacks the sort of scrutiny given to money allocated through the city budget. The department is required to make annual reports about the spending to the federal government, but they contain almost no detail to show exactly how the money was spent. | The agency has broad discretion in how it spends forfeiture money, which lacks the sort of scrutiny given to money allocated through the city budget. The department is required to make annual reports about the spending to the federal government, but they contain almost no detail to show exactly how the money was spent. |
| The federal reports were signed by Mr. Peters and Mayor de Blasio, but Eric F. Phillips, the mayor’s press secretary, said that the mayor was not aware of the specifics of the spending “since D.O.I. maintains a large measure of managerial and administrative independence.” | The federal reports were signed by Mr. Peters and Mayor de Blasio, but Eric F. Phillips, the mayor’s press secretary, said that the mayor was not aware of the specifics of the spending “since D.O.I. maintains a large measure of managerial and administrative independence.” |
| “The mayor was supportive of D.O.I. growing and doing more, but he wasn’t micromanaging the equipment purchases,” Mr. Phillips said in an emailed statement. | “The mayor was supportive of D.O.I. growing and doing more, but he wasn’t micromanaging the equipment purchases,” Mr. Phillips said in an emailed statement. |
| Mr. Peters also took steps to heighten the importance of the armed peace officers within the agency. He issued an order mandating that in most cases, only armed peace officers could leave the agency’s office in Lower Manhattan to conduct interviews as part of investigations, a change that troubled some veteran investigators who had not undergone weapons training and considered it an unnecessary limitation on their work. | Mr. Peters also took steps to heighten the importance of the armed peace officers within the agency. He issued an order mandating that in most cases, only armed peace officers could leave the agency’s office in Lower Manhattan to conduct interviews as part of investigations, a change that troubled some veteran investigators who had not undergone weapons training and considered it an unnecessary limitation on their work. |
| Mr. Peters also spent more than $100,000 to dress his troops in uniforms, including duty uniforms for day-to-day work and ceremonial uniforms for special occasions. | Mr. Peters also spent more than $100,000 to dress his troops in uniforms, including duty uniforms for day-to-day work and ceremonial uniforms for special occasions. |
| Ms. Struzzi said that the changes were done as part of an effort to professionalize the peace officer program, improve training and safety and better prepare the department to carry out its law enforcement duties. She said that the new academy, created in 2015, includes a 14-week program with more rigorous and standardized training. | Ms. Struzzi said that the changes were done as part of an effort to professionalize the peace officer program, improve training and safety and better prepare the department to carry out its law enforcement duties. She said that the new academy, created in 2015, includes a 14-week program with more rigorous and standardized training. |
| Yet there was little public discussion of these changes at the agency and whether or not they were necessary, such as weapons purchases and the emphasis on arming investigators. | Yet there was little public discussion of these changes at the agency and whether or not they were necessary, such as weapons purchases and the emphasis on arming investigators. |
| “Commissioner Garnett and her executives are currently evaluating D.O.I.’s policies and procedures, including those associated with the peace officers,” said the department’s director of communications, Diane Struzzi. | “Commissioner Garnett and her executives are currently evaluating D.O.I.’s policies and procedures, including those associated with the peace officers,” said the department’s director of communications, Diane Struzzi. |
| Ms. Struzzi acknowledged that the agency had also discussed acquiring assault weapons, such as the AR-15, “due to D.O.I.’s participation in task forces where long arms are used.” She said that the weapons were not purchased and that Ms. Garnett had ruled out buying assault weapons. | |
| She said that the agency had also considered acquiring a decommissioned police boat, at no cost, but never did so. “D.O.I. oversees several city agencies that maintain a nautical fleet and the boat was intended to further its mission and expand its field operational capabilities,” Ms. Struzzi said. | She said that the agency had also considered acquiring a decommissioned police boat, at no cost, but never did so. “D.O.I. oversees several city agencies that maintain a nautical fleet and the boat was intended to further its mission and expand its field operational capabilities,” Ms. Struzzi said. |
| There were indications that Mr. Peters relished the greater emphasis on armed officers. | There were indications that Mr. Peters relished the greater emphasis on armed officers. |
| A document prepared in April by the city’s Law Department said that Mr. Peters once telephoned the office of the city’s budget director and threatened to have his staff go to the official’s office “with ‘guns and handcuffs’ and bring him to a meeting.” | A document prepared in April by the city’s Law Department said that Mr. Peters once telephoned the office of the city’s budget director and threatened to have his staff go to the official’s office “with ‘guns and handcuffs’ and bring him to a meeting.” |
| On another occasion, when Mr. Peters was angry over the pace of renovations for the agency’s new offices, he threatened a group of city officials and others “by stating that he had ‘people with guns in the room’ who could make arrests,” according to the law department. | On another occasion, when Mr. Peters was angry over the pace of renovations for the agency’s new offices, he threatened a group of city officials and others “by stating that he had ‘people with guns in the room’ who could make arrests,” according to the law department. |
| Those allegations are now the subject of a city investigation. | Those allegations are now the subject of a city investigation. |
| In another series of incidents, Mr. Peters was accompanied by two armed peace officers when he told Ms. Coleman, the schools investigator, that she was fired, according to a report on the matter. The next day he met with her staff to inform them of the firing. According to people who were present, there were two armed peace officers posted at the conference room door. | In another series of incidents, Mr. Peters was accompanied by two armed peace officers when he told Ms. Coleman, the schools investigator, that she was fired, according to a report on the matter. The next day he met with her staff to inform them of the firing. According to people who were present, there were two armed peace officers posted at the conference room door. |