Well, well, well,....it seems that the The Police Complaint Center, featured in the Dateline newsmagazine last week, has a motive in its attempt to show a failure in the civilian complaint procedure, especially in the NYPD! It seems that, according to "Copbusters" own Web Site, they charge enormous fees to those who are alledgedly abused by police to simply send a letter to the agency involved! Letters to the police agency are sent "via certified mail..." for $10. Each additional certified letter is an additional $10. That's quite a mark-up for a service that, if done by anyone else, would only cost $3 at the Post Office.
Besides mailing a letter for you, "Copbusters" also provides these other services, for a fee:
If you want the reply to your letter from the police agency sent to you, $30 (apparently, once you 'subscribe' to "Copbusters" services, you loose access to your letters and files unless you pay up!); if you want an additional letter sent to another agency, such as the District Attorney, the Dept. of Justice, or the local Civil Right Commission, $10; the reply from the Justice Dept, DA, etc, sent to you,$10; a one-year "maintenance fee" to keep your records filed at "Copbusters," $25; if you need your records from "Copbusters" within 48 hours, it'll cost you $50; they will also record your telephone conversations with the agency doing the investigation for $35, and an apparent video of your face-to-face interview with the agency has a varying cost!
Besides paying large fees, the complainant's complaint is held hostage by "Copbusters," unless you are willing to pay them additional money! They offer to maintain your records with them for one year for $25, but a serious complaint may go far beyond the one year, for $25 for each additional year. Then, if you need something right away---$50 up front!
It is surely apparent now why "Copbusters" needed a "better" result from its "research"...if they could convince enough people to (1) file complaints against cops, and (2) convince them that they would not be treated fairly or correctly at a majority of stationhouses, then the "advertisement" of their Web Site on Dateline could prove QUITE PROFITABLE!
While the fees are detailed on the Web Site, it is interesting that reporter Hockenberry never mentioned that these fees exist during the show. Imagine the income that could be generated if only a handful of NYC citizens decided that what they saw on Dateline was systemic throughout the NYPD, and the only alternative a "victim" has is to contact "Copbusters"?
Don't expect a clarification anytime soon from Hockenberry or Dateline!
