© Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen
Syndication: DesMoines
NEW YORK (77WABC) — The New York City Department of Investigation released a report Thursday detailing how Mayor Bill de Blasio used his NYPD-provided security detail — treating it like a “concierge service” that drove around his family members, staff and guests even when he was not in the car.
The 49-page report that was issued by Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett — also explains how de Blasio’s security helped his daughter move out of her apartment.
“There is no written threat assessment or security analysis, no documentation regarding the de Blasio children’s declination of their security details, and no written policies or procedures regarding any episodic or ad hoc use of NYPD resources following the dissolution of their standing details,” the report says. “As a result, irrespective of the Intelligence Bureau’s unwritten assessment of their security needs, their use of security detail resources has, in practice, operated as a matter of personal preference and convenience, combined with availability of NYPD resources, divorced from any meaningful evaluation of their security needs or the threat associated with any particular situation or even broad categories of daily activities.”
“NYPD transportation of other non-protectees outside the presence of designated protectees (e.g., guests of the Mayor, official visitors to Gracie Mansion, or mayoral staff) also appears to have no security rationale whatsoever and is, instead, viewed merely as a resource that can be called upon as a ‘courtesy’,” the report adds.
The report also slams the mayor for not reimbursing more than $300,000 on his security detail that he spent on travel outside of New York City during de Blasio’s unsuccessful run for president in the 2020 election.
“DOI determined that the City of New York expended $319,794 for the members of Mayor de Blasio’s security detail to travel on the Mayor’s presidential campaign trips,” the report details. “Mayor de Blasio has not reimbursed the City for these expenses, either personally or through his campaign. DOI also found that, during these campaign trips, EPU members occasionally transported Mayor de Blasio’s campaign staffers while driving the Mayor.”
“Both reflect a use of NYPD resources for political purposes,” it adds.
