It's Time to Hold the NYPD Accountable
By Shaun Abreu
A few weeks ago, New York Attorney General Letitia James told a federal court what people in my city have known for nearly a year now: that New Yorkers peacefully protesting for Black Lives and against police abuse last summer were met with more police abuse. Her groundbreaking lawsuit, which details the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) “unlawful” and “unconstitutional” policing tactics during the protests, should put to rest the argument that my city’s police force can be trusted to address misconduct in their ranks.
Unfortunately, police misconduct has been allowed to fester in my city for too long. As the lawsuit makes clear, since 2013, there have been 471 substantiated complaints of excessive use of force filed against the NYPD. In fact, there are over 700 such substantiated complaints filed against NYPD officers still active in the force today.
But the tide is turning.
Earlier this month, the City Council, led by Speaker Corey Johnson and Criminal Justice Committee Chair Keith Powers, introduced a slate of 11 bills to put in place new police accountability mechanisms. Last week, a federal appeals court rejected the NYPD’s challenge to a new state transparency law that was meant to ensure public access to police disciplinary records. A New York Times analysis of three-decades worth of disciplinary records released to the public under this law demonstrated how the NYPD has consistently resisted disciplining officers in its ranks for misconduct.
Meaningful reform will only come when we reassert independent, democratic control over the police. This will require three simple changes.
First, we reign in the mayor’s power to unilaterally appoint a police commissioner, without any public hearings or community input.
Rather, as with national security officials appointed at the federal level, the commissioner should be subject to public input or public hearings and an up-or-down vote in the City Council. The Mayor just announced that communities will have a say when it comes to selecting the head of each precinct, so why not give the public a voice in the Commissioner?
Second, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), which is meant to act as a watchdog over the police, needs to be given real bite.
The City Council should enact legislation granting the CCRB legally binding authority on police misconduct and excessive use of force findings. This means that the CCRB must be able to render final disciplinary decisions, including but not limited to termination.
The CCRB also needs real investigatory powers. Currently, if the CCRB wants to examine video footage, it must sometimes wait up to a month, and in many instances they never get them at all. The CCRB should be empowered to receive evidence when requested.
The City Council will need to fully fund the CCRB to make sure it has the resources it needs to fully exercise any new fact-finding powers. In addition, in order to protect the Board’s integrity, it should be internally reorganized so that its fact-finding and disciplinary functions are fully independent of each other.
Importantly, we must ensure that the CCRB remains independent of the NYPD. Currently, the police commissioner designates 20% of the Board’s members. The City Council should make those appointments instead so as to ensure that the CCRB reflects the composition of New York City.
Finally, we need to make sure that our police officers are part of our communities. This means that, like other public servants in New York City, they should be required to reside in our city.
These three proposals are common-sense reforms that everyone, including the NYPD, should welcome. Implementing these reforms would allow the NYPD to finally begin moving past the painful memory of decades of abusive police tactics to become a national example of how democratic accountability and just policing can go hand in hand.
Shaun Abreu is a tenants’ rights attorney representing low-income families from Northern Manhattan in Housing Court, and a candidate for City Council in Manhattan’s District 7.