Statement from New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer on Changes to the Civilian Complaint Review Board

 

 “Granting the CCRB unfettered access to body camera footage and disciplinary records is a welcome and long overdue change.

“However, this is a half-measure. As long as the Police Commissioner maintains final say on discipline, so-called civilian oversight will remain toothless. The Police Commissioner has overturned CCRB disciplinary recommendations in more than 70% of serious infractions in the last two decades, and only one CCRB investigation has resulted in the termination of an officer between January 2014 and May 2020.

“As I have called for, the City must end the Police Commissioner’s authority to treat CCRB investigations and recommendations as advisory — and instead grant the CCRB power to make final disciplinary decisions.

“The NYPD Office of Trials should be removed from Police Department jurisdiction and its judges should no longer be appointed by the Commissioner. The powers of the CCRB’s Administrative Prosecution Unit should be codified into law, the findings of all investigations should be fully transparent to the public, and the NYPD’s new disciplinary matrix must be amended so that the “presumptive penalty” for serious offenses is termination.

“We need to shake up, commit resources to, and actually empower the CCRB if we want real accountability.”