NEW YORK - Candidate for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio today joined a diverse coalition of elected officials, criminal justice advocates, LGBT community leaders, and clergy and civic leaders to propose sweeping reforms to give the City's Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) greater power to prosecute cases and increased independence from the New York Police Department (NYPD). Last week, de Blasio initiated the first step in this reform process by introducing legislation in the Council to make the CCRB and other watchdog Citywide offices and agencies independently budgeted.
"We want and need a City where we have real community policing; this is in the best interest of all New Yorkers and the NYPD. Right now, the Civilian Complaint Review Board has become more of a lapdog than a watchdog. I have great respect for our City's police officers, the vast majority of who put their lives on the line and do their job correctly every day. But we must build real reforms within the CCRB to create a City where all New Yorkers are safe and heard," said Bill de Blasio.
According to its own 2008 Status Report, the CCRB has a history of only substantiating a small number of the complaints it hears each year - approximately 161 cases or 7% in 2008, only 19 of which then went to an NYPD administrative trial. As the Center for Constitutional Rights reported this year, from 2005 to 2008, Black and Latino New Yorkers comprised 80% of stop and frisks, while they make up 25 percent and 28 percent of New York City's total population, respectively. From 2007 to 2008, the number of stop and frisks across the City rose by 13%.
"We cannot look the other way when a police officer violates the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or any other New Yorker. The Civilian Complaint Review Board needs to be reformed so that all communities know their complaints will be heard and acted on. I applaud Bill de Blasio for his courageous step forward to protect our most basic rights," said State Senator Thomas K. Duane.
"The revision of the Civilian Complaint Review Board is long overdue. Since its inception it has been nothing more than a toothless tiger joined at the hip to the New York Police Department," said Graham Weatherspoon, Director of Research and Public Relations for the Black Law Enforcement Alliance.
"The best way to preserve and maintain public safety is to secure the public's trust and confidence in our system of law. Currently, that trust has been compromised by a biased civilian complaint process that fails to abide by its own standards and purpose. CCRB reform could be the catalyst to restoring the credibility of our law enforcement system, our judicial processes and our overall system of justice. I fully support this proposal because it is a practical and well balanced approach to achieving what we all aspire to achieve: public safety," said Dr. Divine Pryor, Deputy Executive Director for the NuLeadership Policy Group
"LGBT communities are one of the least likely groups to report being victims of crime and police misconduct due to institutionalized oppression. The excellent relationship that the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) has with the NYPD does not erase the fact that we cannot ignore the significant problems with the CCRB, and it would be a disservice to our community and the NYPD. The New York City Anti-Violence Project fully supports proposals for significant reform of CCRB, which would allow our clients and the LGBT communities we serve a more fair and just recourse in addressing police misconduct," said Jarad Ringer, Coordinator of the Hate Violence and Police Relations Program for the Gay & Lesbian Anti Violence Project.
"The current CCRB is flawed and works against victims of police brutality and excessive force. A real CCRB is an independent and responsible body, accountable to the public and not the police department or the mayor. Without the CCRB's ability to initiate its own investigations, the people are at a tremendous disadvantage. In order to uphold the integrity of the NYPD to the standards that are the right of every citizen, the CCRB must be reconstituted and reformed to provide a sense of balance for every resident of New York," said the Rev. Al Sharpton.
De Blasio's proposed reforms would augment the powers of the CCRB, while maintaining the NYPD Commissioner's decision-making role in disciplining officers. Many of the proposed reforms could be implemented via administrative action or local law, which would be subject to a referendum in some cases, while others might require state legislation.
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