Lack of Police Control Blamed in N.Y. Park Riot

A deputy police chief resigned under fire Wednesday as the police commissioner issued a report blaming him and other officials for a riot at a park that led to 100 complaints of police brutality.

Deputy Chief Thomas Darcy, a 31-year police veteran, commanded hundreds of police officers who were deployed to defuse a demonstration at Tompkins Square Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Aug. 6.

The demonstration--against a 1 a.m. curfew at the park--turned violent and more than 50 people were hurt in clashes between police and protesters. More than 100 charges of police brutality were later filed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Commissioner Benjamin Ward’s report said that a lack of supervision was responsible for “the appalling behavior of some members of the department.”

Control Not Regained

“The control of the situation was lost during the first confrontation between police and demonstrators and never sufficiently regained,” wrote Chief of Department Robert J. Johnston, who prepared the 16-page report.

“For this Chief Darcy, the highest-ranking member of the department at the scene, must be held accountable,” the report said.

The other two supervisory officers at the confrontation, Deputy Inspector Joseph Wodarski and Capt. Gerald McNamara, also were disciplined.

Wodarski was reassigned from his post as commanding officer of the Midtown South Precinct to another, as yet unknown command. McNamara will be temporarily removed from his job commanding the 9th Precinct for a six- to seven-month retraining period.