Former Gothamist reporter George Joseph who now works for THE CITY joins Black Westchester’s Damon K Jones and AJ Woodson for a special edition of the Black Westchester Power Hour to discuss the Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah seeking to vacate two dozen plus convictions following the release of MVPD Whistleblower’s secret recordings. Joe Murray, Attorney for Sgt Bovell (the whistleblower cop) also joins the conversation. (see entire discussion in video below)
As a result to the combines coverage of Black Westchester and George Joseph and the secret Bovell Tapes, the Justice Department launch an investigation into the patterns and practices of the Mount Vernon Police Department. Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division held a press conference 1pm Friday, December 3 at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, located at 1 St. Andrew’s Plaza to announce the civil pattern or practice investigation into the City of Mount Vernon and the Mount Vernon Police Department,
Black Westchester and the Gothamist have extensively covered many of the case the DOJ referred to in their press conference, but the coverage fell on deaf ears of the former District Attorney. Unlike her predecessor, Anthony Scarpino, who appeared to turn a blind eye, Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah commended DOJ for opening this investigation. Rocah looked into what Scarpino ignored and found enough to refer practices of the MVPD to the DOJ in addition to creating a Conviction Review Unit conducted to perform an exhaustive examination.
Since Bovell’s attorney Joseph Murray mentioned his thoughts of MVPD Commissioner Glenn Scott’s handling of the situation during the conversation, we planned to reach out to the commissioner. Immediately following the show, we received a statement posted on Facebook from Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard announcing the retirement of Commissioner Scott.
Stay tuned to Black Westchester for more on this developing story!
