The NYPD has long been regarded as one of the best trained and most professional law enforcement agencies in the country. Recently mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani proposed shifting the authority for imposing discipline in the department from the police commissioner to the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB).
Such a move would not only undermine the police commissioner’s authority and ability to lead the department, but the need for such a measure isn’t supported by any factual evidence. Those who advocate to defund or abolish policing would have you believe that the department is filled with rogue officers who regularly violate people’s rights with impunity. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Let’s look at the facts. In the first six months of this year, NYPD officers responded to nearly 3.5 million calls for service, made 143,487 arrests and recovered 24,219 weapons. Force was used in 6,317 of those encounters, less than 4% of all arrests. In that same period, and those millions of interactions between the police and the public, the CCRB filed 2,778 complaints against officers. Historically, the majority of complaints would fall into the category of “abuse of authority” which includes conduct such as failing to offer a person a business card.
Who makes up the CCRB and what is their expertise in judging the officers’ actions in these complaints? As per the City Charter, the CCRB is governed by a 15-member board. Five seats are appointed by the mayor, five are appointed by the City Council, three are designated by the police commissioner and one is appointed by the public advocate.
The board chair is jointly appointed by the mayor and the speaker of the City Council. No member of the board may have a law enforcement background, except those designated by the police commissioner. Put simply, the board is comprised of political appointees, a supermajority of whom have no experience at all in local policing.
Complaints against doctors are reviewed by a board of other doctors, attorneys by other attorneys, similar for other professions. How can the final decision makers on a police officers’ actions be people with no policing experience? Police officers are often required to make quick decisions in areas of law so complex that the most learned jurists of the state Supreme Court and state Court of Appeals can’t unanimously agree on.
Do police officers make mistakes? Is there always room for improvement? Absolutely. But every mistake isn’t misconduct that requires punishment. Currently, the police commissioner agrees with the disciplinary recommendations of the CCRB in 77% of cases. When she differs, she is required to explain why, in writing, to the board.
This new push to strip the commissioner’s power stems from a recent case in which she overruled the CCRB’s determination. What was glossed over in that reporting was the independent investigation conducted by actual experts in the state attorney general’s office that concluded the officer was justified, as did the CCRB’s own investigators.
The board of political appointees overruled their investigators and sought the officer’s termination six years after the incident, with no new evidence and no explanation. In declining to accept their recommendation, Commissioner Jessica Tisch, herself an attorney, submitted a lengthy letter explaining her decision based on the facts and on the law.
Sadly, the CCRB operates more like an activist organization than an impartial arbiter of police conduct. Rather than pursuing justice, truth and improved policing, they lean into harsh punishment for the most minor transgressions, often years after the incident occurred.
All complaints are made public, even when the officer has been found to have acted appropriately or that the entire complaint was fabricated and never happened. The complaints are never expunged even when the officers dispute the CCRB’s determination and opt for an administrative trial, prosecuted by the CCRB. Even when the officer is found not guilty. Officers know that these complaints follow them throughout their careers and well into retirement.
For the past five years, the NYPD has been hemorrhaging officers, lately at the rate of 300 per month. This policy will only exacerbate the exodus. The power to discipline officers must remain with the commissioner.
The NYPD disciplinary process must be fair to all New Yorkers — including its Finest. They deserve nothing less.
Corey retired from the NYPD in 2022 as chief of department following a 34-year career. He currently works with police departments nationally and internationally to improve policing.
