New York: An internal review ordered by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has exposed a years-long misuse of the department’s confidential vehicle fleet, with police executives driving around in souped-up undercover cars meant for detectives working dangerous investigations while frontline investigators were left scrambling for adequate transportation.
Tisch disclosed the findings during a City Council budget hearing, describing them as “galling.” She testified that the department had executives with three, four, and five such vehicles assigned to them personally. The vehicles in question belong to a unit known as the Confidential Rental and Leasing Office, or CRALO, a little-known fleet program established under former Commissioner Raymond Kelly specifically to give undercover officers and investigators access to vehicles that criminals would not associate with law enforcement.
The CRALO program was designed to give investigators, such as detectives and undercover officers, use of various types of leased vehicles, ranging from an ordinary sedan to a fancy sports car, that criminals do not typically associate with standard unmarked NYPD vehicles.
According to police sources, a number of CRALO vehicles had, in recent years, been assigned to higher-ranking officials who were not involved in investigations at all and were simply using them to commute to and from work. There were also vehicles assigned to units unrelated to confidential investigations.
The NYPD spent approximately $1.2 million per month in federal funds to lease vehicles for the CRALO fleet, which previously numbered around 1,000.
Perhaps the most damaging detail Tisch disclosed is what did not happen after the review. No one found to have improperly used a CRALO vehicle was disciplined because, as Tisch explained, the department sanctioned the abuse. She said it did not appear that executives were doing it under the radar. Their supervisors had allowed it.
Tisch said the department has fixed the issue after ordering the accounting of CRALO shortly after becoming commissioner in November 2024. Executives had their multiple vehicles removed, each was assigned a single car, and CRALO vehicles were restricted to investigative commands.
