In 2019, Lt. Jonathan Rivera violated NYPD department guidelines when he killed Allan Feliz at a traffic stop. The NYPD’s own deputy commissioner of trials recommended firing the lieutenant following a disciplinary trial initiated by the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), which was in line with the NYPD’s discipline matrix.
However, Rivera is still on the job after Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch interceded to keep him on the force, despite her record of effectiveness and effort to increase accountability in the department. This decision to reject both the NYPD’s internal judicial protocols and the city’s police oversight board undermines public trust in the NYPD. It also badly underscores the need to continue to reform how our city ensures police accountability.
Zohran Mamdani, if elected mayor, has a crucial opportunity to enact significant changes to deepen confidence in civil oversight of law enforcement in New York, and thereby continue to mend the relationship between officers and the communities they serve.
The first step that must be taken is to codify NYPD guidelines for penalties and infractions, mandating the police commissioner to follow their guidance except in extraordinary circumstances. When I chaired the CCRB, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea and I signed such an agreement under the de Blasio administration.
The Adams administration has since reversed course on this positive: reform advocates say accountability has been dialed back, and a revised disciplinary matrix issued in September 2024 significantly lowered the penalties officers face.
Mamdani can reinstate this measure, secure the City Council’s endorsement, and make it legally binding. By standardizing penalties for violations of police guidelines, the department would avoid arbitrary — or seemingly abusive — discipline and remove any incentive to let politics determine who gets sanctioned for which infraction.
When a public servant like Rivera breaks internal guidelines, causes grievous harm, and keeps his job, everyone suffers — citizens and officers alike. This change in policy would make the disciplinary process simpler and swifter.
The second step Mamdani should take is to make CCRB disciplinary decisions final unless there are extraordinary reasons to act otherwise. While in Rivera’s case the internal guidelines and CCRB decision both recommended termination, there are many instances in which the CCRB recommends the punishment or dismissal of an officer, contrary to the NYPD’s own internal investigation.
In those situations, the NYPD routinely disregards CCRB recommendations. This must end: In a democracy, police departments should be beholden and subject to the city — not the other way around.
When a public commission, after detailed and thorough investigation, offers disciplinary guidance about an infraction, their ruling should not be seen as a suggestion, but the will of the people and their representatives.
Finally, Mamdani and the public advocate must come together with the Council to commit to CCRB appointments being made in a timely manner. Any failure by the mayor, Council, or public advocate to make swift appointments hinders the work of the agency. If vacancy is unfilled within 90 days, a majority of CCRB board members should be able to approve interim replacements.
Currently, the CCRB is handicapped in its effectiveness with a less than full complement of board members. While changing this may require Council approval or even amending the CCRB’s own charter, it would ensure that vacancies will not impede the board’s essential work.
New York’s public police oversight is an incredible accomplishment and can be a model for how the rest of the country reforms policing, but we must invest in the CCRB’s capacities and expand its authority. A supervisory body whose decisions are not binding swiftly becomes a voice the police commissioner can feel free to disregard.
Similarly, department penalties for police misconduct lose their teeth when they are treated as rough suggestions instead of hard and fast sanctions. In addition to keeping abusive officers on the job, this also creates a system where enforcement is unequal and sporadic — subject to outside circumstances like how much press coverage a particular case receives, or the influence from personal relationships.
Police officers deserve clarity on what is expected from them on the job and the consequences of transgressing those rules. New Yorkers deserve the security of knowing that official misconduct will be addressed in a transparent and timely manner. A Mayor Mamdani will have an opportunity and mandate to advance regulations that deliver on these needs — for Allan Feliz’s family and for a city that deserves better from the systems entrusted to keep us safe.
Davie, a former chair of CCRB, is the senior executive vice president of Union Seminary.
