Mayor Adams on Tuesday announced the last-minute appointment of a police-union-backed candidate to head the agency responsible for providing independent oversight of the NYPD.
The decision to name former journalist Pat Smith as the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s interim chair drew outrage from anti-police-violence advocates, who said the pro-cop board member’s promotion signals “a green light for unchecked NYPD abuse.”
“Smith has long positioned himself as an adversary of oversight,” said Yul-san Liem, deputy director of the Justice Committee. “He has repeatedly discouraged New Yorkers from filing complaints, even when they’ve faced serious NYPD abuses.
“Putting Smith in charge of the overburdened and under-resourced agency guarantees more harm to the communities most targeted by NYPD and even less accountability for the abuses they endure.”
In denouncing Smith, Liem cited a Hellgate report stating the former NY Post editor and columnist routinely overturned findings of abuse flagged by CCRB investigators, and discouraged civilian complaints against police.
The appointment of Smith, a current member of the CCRB, follows last month’s resignation of former CCRB chair Dr. Mohammad Khalid, who stepped down in response to what he described as “Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry’s campaign of lies against my character.”
“He has lied about me and my record with the CCRB,” Khalid wrote in his resignation letter to Mayor Adams. “He has accused me of being anti-cop, which is absolutely not the case. He even tried to link me to the political agenda of [Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani], for no apparent reason beyond perhaps our shared faith.”
Barry Williams/ New York Daily News
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
In a statement Tuesday, Hendry cheered Smith’s appointment as signaling a return to fairness for the CCRB.
“Pat Smith’s voting record demonstrates that he is one of the few CCRB board members who is willing to review cases fairly and independently,” Hendry said. “While we don’t always agree with his decisions, other CCRB board members are voting almost 100% of the time to rubber-stamp allegations against police officers.
“As interim chair, we hope he will steer CCRB towards the fairness required by the City Charter.”
Though his decision to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch indicated a softening of his position against the department, Mamdani frequently clashed with the patrolmen’s union during his campaign for mayor, when he made statements calling to “defund the police” and to prioritize non-police responses to certain emergency situations with a new Department of Community Safety.
It remains unclear if Mamdani will retain Smith as CCRB chair after taking office on Jan. 1. Mamdani’s transition team did not immediately return a request for comment
