by Kandiss Edwards
April 23, 2026
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard expressed his displeasure at officers serving with out the right gear.
The New York Police Division (NYPD) has revealed that the detectives concerned in a viral Brooklyn arrest weren’t geared up with physique cameras and utilized the messaging app WhatsApp to coordinate backup.
The incident, which happened exterior a Bedford-Stuyvesant liquor retailer, gained nationwide consideration after footage confirmed 34-year-old Andre Williams being forcefully detained by officers who had mistaken him for a drug seller. Regardless of Williams’ audible pleas that he was not resisting, he was pinned to the bottom and handcuffed earlier than being launched with out prices.
In a follow-up investigation into the ways used through the encounter, the NYPD confirmed that the detectives had been a part of a specialised unit. The unit is at the moment exempt from the division’s normal body-camera mandate, Fox 5 reported. NYPD patrol officers have been required to put on cameras since 2019. Nevertheless, many undercover and plainclothes models stay unequipped.
Additional overview of video proof obtained by Fox 5 revealed that the detectives didn’t use customary police radio frequencies to contact again up. As a substitute, officers utilized a WhatsApp group name to alert close by models. The supplied video reveals an unidentified detective complaining concerning the mode of communication.
Simply as disturbing because the NYPD Commissioner says she discovered this video, how concerning the final 10 seconds of the video the place what seems to be one other narcotics officer says “Any of those guys don’t get a radio ASAP, I’m making an enormous fuc*ing downside. Not doing this WhatsApp shi* no… https://t.co/KR4WH0MInX
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 15, 2026
“Any of those guys don’t get a radio ASAP, I’m making an enormous f***ing downside. I’m not doing this WhatsApp s*** no extra,” the detective mentioned. He added, “How are these f***ing guys coming to work unprepared? Nobody does something.”
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard expressed his displeasure at officers serving with out the right gear. He additionally acknowledged that the arrest was unwarranted.
“If this had been the fitting man, and he had a firearm on him, they must use WhatsApp to name or backup. That’s insane,” Sheppard mentioned. “You must have a radio on you to get assist whenever you want it, and as you see, that was the issue right here,” Sheppard mentioned. “It took so lengthy for them to search out the place their guys had been, and to have the ability to talk.”
The NYPD maintains that the detectives acted inside present pointers, given the character of their task.
RELATED CONTENT: ‘I’m Not Resisting’: NYPD Beats Brooklyn Man They Allegedly Profiled As A Drug Seller
