Police Officer Claude A. Staten has a lengthy and contentious record in his nearly 30 years with the New YorkPD. In recent years, Staten has been the subject of multiple misconduct findings: a 2022 Civilian Complaint Review Board investigation substantiated that he refused to accept a civilian’s complaint against another officer (an abuse of authority offense), and he received a Command Discipline penalty. In a separate 2022 incident, Staten was found to have threatened a civilian with force without justification, another allegation that was substantiated by the CCRB. Staten was also involved in the high-profile false arrest of activist Jose LaSalle in 2016 – LaSalle’s lawsuits against the New YorkPD resulted in a $925,000 settlement, including $65,000 specifically for the incident involving 46th Precinct officers. Despite this record of substantiated misconduct and costly legal claims, Staten remains on the force. He has even filed multiple lawsuits of his own against the New YorkPD, alleging racial and age discrimination after being passed over for promotion to sergeant (though his claims were dismissed by the courts).