NYPD tries to silence Insider podcast

Metro

exclusive

by rich calder

NYPD chiefs are pressuring police departments not to listen to a popular podcast that criticizes the agency's bureaucracy, and are hunting down those who access it on social media while watching the city's clock. There is. A former police lieutenant who runs the facility claims so.

John Macari Jr. is angry about complaints filed by NYPD higher-ups on the whistleblower complaint, so much so that he appears on “New York's Finest: He said police were “targeting” retirees and unfiltered podcasts. General Affairs Bureau in January.

Both retirees have reportedly received online threats against their families from some officers as part of a massive department-led “smear campaign” against the show's content, including several within the NYPD. Topics included “nepotism,'' “weak leadership,'' and an increase in crime. .

Macari cited a “reliable high-level NYPD source” who said executives and union representatives told officers not to be guests on podcasts and not to listen during the broadcast. He also claimed that he had instructed them not to even “like” the show's social media posts. New York City Police Hours.

“They're basically wasting taxpayer money targeting small podcasts,” Macari told the Post. “Obviously, you're now allowed to do certain things during your shift, but it's OK to sit in your patrol car and listen to the radio or read the New York Post or the Daily News. So why would they specifically target our podcast? ”

Macari said the show, which started last year, receives about 20,000 downloads each month.

The NYPD did not return messages.