AdvertisementThey came up at a time when prosecutors were expected to be tough, and this was one of the toughest offices around: Queens under District Attorney Richard Brown. Back then, Queens prosecutors made sure to and they than anyone else in the city. And if some idealistic judge Brown’s rank-and-file were a little overzealous in their pursuit of justice and ordered a new trial? So be it. They could always try again. Discipline was called for.Brad Leventhal rose to serve as Brown’s top homicide prosecutor for more than a decade. He handled dozens of cases, including the...…AdvertisementThey came up at a time when prosecutors were expected to be tough, and this was one of the toughest offices around: Queens under District Attorney Richard Brown. Back then, Queens prosecutors made sure to and they than anyone else in the city. And if some idealistic judge Brown’s rank-and-file were a little overzealous in their pursuit of justice and ordered a new trial? So be it. They could always try again. Discipline was called for.Brad Leventhal rose to serve as Brown’s top homicide prosecutor for more than a decade. He handled dozens of cases, including the...WW…

Mount Vernon residents had alleged abuse by the police for years. But there was no viable recourse.This article is a partnership between Esquire and the public radio station WNYC. It has been published simultaneously by . Listen to the author discuss his reporting on WNYC's "The United States of Anxiety."One night in the spring of 2017, Michelle Campbell was in her kitchen, cooking hot dogs for a few friends, when she heard the boom of her front door breaking. It was the narcotics unit of the Mount Vernon, New York, police. They carried a search warrant and a battering ram. They swarmed in,...…Mount Vernon residents had alleged abuse by the police for years. But there was no viable recourse.This article is a partnership between Esquire and the public radio station WNYC. It has been published simultaneously by . Listen to the author discuss his reporting on WNYC's "The United States of Anxiety."One night in the spring of 2017, Michelle Campbell was in her kitchen, cooking hot dogs for a few friends, when she heard the boom of her front door breaking. It was the narcotics unit of the Mount Vernon, New York, police. They carried a search warrant and a battering ram. They swarmed in,...WW…

AdvertisementIn 2019, the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office quietly purchased software from Clearview AI, a controversial facial recognition company. Unlike traditional facial recognition tools, which draw on government databases of or , Clearview’s expansive program allows users to search for potential face matches from over three billion photos scraped from sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Venmo, and YouTube. Users the image of a person of interest, and the program returns photos deemed to look similar with links to the corresponding websites.According to Freedom of Information...…AdvertisementIn 2019, the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office quietly purchased software from Clearview AI, a controversial facial recognition company. Unlike traditional facial recognition tools, which draw on government databases of or , Clearview’s expansive program allows users to search for potential face matches from over three billion photos scraped from sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Venmo, and YouTube. Users the image of a person of interest, and the program returns photos deemed to look similar with links to the corresponding websites.According to Freedom of Information...WW…

AdvertisementJason Serrano and his ex-girlfriend were driving down Broad Avenue on Staten Island to get some Puerto Rican food when they got stopped by two NYPD officers for a broken taillight. Standing outside the passenger side window, one of the officers, Kyle Erickson, said he smelled marijuana. “You got ashes all over you, it smells like weed,” he said with his body camera rolling.Police ordered Serrano out of the car. After a brief argument over whether a search was necessary, Erickson and his partner Elmer Pastran pushed Serrano to the ground and cuffed him. Serrano, who was...…AdvertisementJason Serrano and his ex-girlfriend were driving down Broad Avenue on Staten Island to get some Puerto Rican food when they got stopped by two NYPD officers for a broken taillight. Standing outside the passenger side window, one of the officers, Kyle Erickson, said he smelled marijuana. “You got ashes all over you, it smells like weed,” he said with his body camera rolling.Police ordered Serrano out of the car. After a brief argument over whether a search was necessary, Erickson and his partner Elmer Pastran pushed Serrano to the ground and cuffed him. Serrano, who was...WW…