New York Police Rejecting More of Watchdog’s Findings, Report Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/nyregion/nypd-ccrb-rejection-report.html
In New York City, the relationship between the Police Department and the Civilian Complaint Review Board is inherently contentious, a panel of outsiders serving as a watchdog over a formidable law enforcement agency that is fiercely protective of its image.
A new report by the board suggests that its relations with the department have become particularly strained, even as the board has sought in recent years to find a measure of common ground on disciplining officers for misconduct.
Last year, the Police Department contested more of the board’s recommendations in cases where board investigators found evidence to support allegations of abuse or misconduct, which in turn significantly lengthened the time before a final decision by the police commissioner.
In response, the board began more strictly enforcing a time limit on the challenges received more than 90 days after the initial decision. But the board’s recommendations are not binding on the commissioner, James P. O’Neill, and in more than than half of the board’s cases that he took final action on between January and June, he set aside or modified the conclusions, reversing a trend over the previous two years when the board and the police commissioner were increasingly in accord.
The report, to be released on Wednesday, is the first to look at how Commissioner O’Neill, who succeeded William J. Bratton in September 2016, has treated the review board’s findings and recommendations. Overall, Commissioner O’Neill imposed discipline on about three-quarters of the 251 officers for whom the review board had recommended punishment in the first six months of this year, a decline from 2016.
In a significant uptick, he rejected 27 percent of the review board’s findings in the first six months of 2017, compared to 17 percent in the same period last year, and he modified the board’s recommendations in 25 percent, up from 21 percent.
Christopher Dunn, the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the numbers showed the Police Department was “marginalizing” the review board. “When the N.Y.P.D. rejects over half of C.C.R.B. recommendations, that sends an emphatic message to the public and to police officers that the C.C.R.B. just doesn’t matter,” he said.
The report highlights another source of tension between the board and the department — body cameras, which the department began using this year as part of a court-ordered pilot program.
Even with only about 1,200 of the department’s 36,000 officers using body cameras, the review board has struggled to promptly secure footage for its inquiries. It requested video from the Police Department in three cases earlier this year, and the department took nearly three weeks to provide it, according to the report
The mayor has promoted body cameras as a way to curb excessive force complaints and increase police accountability and transparency. But in a statement, Jonathan Darche, the executive director of the review board, echoed concerns in the report that the delays in obtaining footage would grow longer as the program expanded, hampering investigations.
“The City of New York is moving toward a future in which video evidence will offer our investigators more definitive accounts of incidents,” Mr. Darche said. “It is critical for the timely completion of investigations that the C.C.R.B. gains access to body-worn camera footage in a fast and efficient manner as we anticipate an increase in the volume of video evidence.”
Unlike police oversight agencies in cities such as Washington, D.C., the review board does not have direct access to police body camera video. Instead it must go through what has turned out to be an often lengthy process to obtain video from the department.