Addressing Allegations of Police Misconduct
“Justice cannot be for one side alone but must be for both.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
Executive Summary
The current system for investigating police misconduct is broken—failing both officers and New Yorkers. As Mayor, I will replace the ineffective Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) with a truly independent and empowered agency, which will require a revision of the NYC Charter.
This new agency will ensure due process rights for officers and bring transparency and fairness. It will also have unflinching consequences for serious misconduct while protecting innocent officers and restoring NYPD morale.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board isn’t working for anyone
Under current law, allegations of police misconduct are handled by the CCRB. Although well intentioned, the CCRB has been plagued by embedded weaknesses that deprive both New Yorkers and their police force of what they each deserve—a fair, robust and clear process to address alleged misconduct. Current problems include (1) unfounded complaints remaining on officers’ records forever and (2) a dysfunctional process that leads to a quiet quashing of meritorious cases.
Our police force is currently disincentivized
All law-abiding New Yorkers want motivated police officers to be able to diligently carry out their duties to protect us. When there is potential misconduct by cops, the public and the police want a system to ensure the complaint process is fair, independent and unbiased—one that protects innocent officers and punishes guilty ones. As Mayor, I must ensure a proper balance is set and maintained. The CCRB does not strike the right balance.
CCRB complaints, even for cases determined to be wholly unfounded—in other words, where misconduct did not occur—remain as a dark stain on the accused officer’s public record. It is patently unfair to those officers. We would never allow this for ordinary citizens. We shouldn’t allow it only against cops.
The police deserve due process of law, too. The current system erodes morale and leads to an “us against them” perspective. That leads, in turn, to officers being hesitant to carry out their assigned duties. This problem is systemic within the CCRB, which too often looks only for evidence that substantiates civilian complaints and none about exculpatory or mitigating evidence. This is terrible policy for any criminal-justice system. The unfairness of the process remains a top reason that many cops don’t want to engage with the public at all and many cops are leaving NYPD altogether.
The CCRB process also covers police actions falling well short of official misconduct. Allegations of offensive language, for example, are subject to official CCRB investigations. These types of allegations should be handled by internal NYPD processes.
CCRB is hamstrung and toothless
In addition to being unfair to officers, the CCRB is perennially underfunded and ineffective. Its problems are legion. NYPD still exercises too much influence on the process. Positions (even board-level positions) remain vacant. Investigators often are lured away by better-paying positions. Evidence is difficult for them to gather. Investigations are delayed, some for years. Even when complaints are substantiated and the CCRB makes recommendations for discipline, the final say on discipline rests with the Police Commissioner. Successive Commissioners have been reluctant to impose discipline for misconduct or have imposed light discipline, which creates no disincentive for such behavior.
All these shortcomings undoubtedly mean that bad cops are left on the force when they should be removed entirely
A comprehensive solution to the problem
To combat misconduct and corruption, I have already announced my intention to create a Citywide Department of Public Integrity (CDPI), which will be the exclusive office in city government for investigating allegedly corrupt agencies and employees. Today, I announce that CDPI, once formed, will take over the role of CCRB for serious cases.
CDPI will have the power to prosecute offenders and ban them from holding jobs in city government. And transparency will be added with a newly created Citywide Corruption Court to fast-track cases. Once added through a Charter revision, CDPI will enjoy complete independence. CDPI will handle the CCRB’s work with respect to allegations of corruption, excessive force or abuse of authority. NYPD’s internal administrative system will handle less serious allegations.
A truly independent Commissioner
As Mayor, I will not need a Charter revision to create the CDPI—I’ll need one only to give its Commissioner legal independence from City Hall. Pending a Charter revision, I will take maximum steps to ensure independence from me and my administration.
A blue-ribbon panel will interview candidates and provide me with three options based solely on merit: I will choose one. Candidates for Commissioner must have 10 years of experience prosecuting corruption cases. No campaign contributor will be permitted to apply. This will assure everyone that I am not picking Commissioners based on personal considerations or repaying favors.
After the Commissioner is in place, I will publish a Memorandum of Understanding with CDPI, delegating the Mayor’s power as Magistrate under the Charter to the Commissioner and waiving my right to review or alter any prosecutorial decisions.
A truly independent Agency
Once the CDPI is in place, self-policing in city agencies, including the NYPD, will end. Thus, I will dismantle NYPD Internal Affairs. No city agency, including the NYPD, will be permitted to self-investigate allegations of corruption or serious misconduct by its employees.
There will be no more delay and stonewalling of investigations by CDPI, as employees will be required to fully cooperate with CDPI investigations upon the threat of termination. CDPI will have broad power to suspend suspects during its investigations. In appropriate cases, CDPI will coordinate with federal and state prosecutors and investigative agencies.
In addition to corruption allegations, excessive force allegations currently referred to CCRB will also be handled by CDPI. Its investigations will be confidential, meaning the investigations will not be made public and will not go onto NYPD members’ personnel records unless formal charges are filed. If they are convicted, justice will be swift and, if they are acquitted, their records will be expunged. That is the way it should be for everyone, cops included.
This new process will have real teeth and permit us to deal with the few bad officers —so that the overwhelming numbers of good cops can perform their jobs without being unfairly tarnished. In the event of convictions, disciplinary actions—up to and including termination, permanent bans from city employment and, where appropriate, loss of benefits—will be available. These decisions will be made by the independent NYC Corruption Court judges, not by the Police Commissioner or the Mayor.
Lesser allegations, such as for a lack of courtesy or employing offensive language, will revert to the NYPD to be handled by independent Administrative Law Judges, empowered with disciplinary mandates if the civilian complaint is substantiated.
Transparency
CDPI’s work will be public, so that any indicted officer shall be prosecuted in public proceedings. If CDPI resolves substantiated cases without prosecutions (i.e., through a non-prosecution agreement or “NPA”), the NPAs will be publicly available and remain so for at least 3 years after the resolution. Thereafter, the Commissioner may remove NPAs from public view only if the officer successfully completes the conditions of the NPA.
To be clear, there will be a backward-looking impact on old CCRB complaints. Old, unsubstantiated allegations will be purged from every officer’s record as of the effective date of the CDPI. Old, substantiated complaints will be available only for active-duty cops—but only for 1 year after the effective date of the CDPI.[1]
The Bottom Line
As I have stressed throughout my candidacy, integrity matters. In fact, it is the foundation on which everything stands. I will work tirelessly to give CDPI best-in-class tools and ample funding. My administration will innovate to create maximum deterrence. We will leave no stone unturned until we have a system that the public can take pride in and fully trust. Officers too. My plan will increase accountability in this critical process and ensure confidence among the public and the police that the new process will be robust, impartial and fair.
New Yorkers deserve real leadership, not half-measures and excuses.
Jim Walden,
Candidate for Mayor
[1] To the extent this change will require a change in the law, I will work with City Council and Albany to get it done.