The New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), released new data on Monday, Oct. 18, on the 313 complaints from the Black Lives Matter protests. So far, CCRB officials said they have completed 127 full investigations resulting in 42 substantiated complaints of misconduct containing 91 allegations against 65 officers.

 

The agency recommended charges and specifications, the highest level of discipline for the most serious allegations of misconduct, against 37 officers. Each of these officers will face an administrative trial run by the CCRB’s Administrative Prosecution Unit (APU), and if found guilty, could face loss of vacation days, suspension, or termination.

 

Agency officials said trial proceedings will begin once the NYPD serves these charges to the respective officers. The CCRB has also recommended discipline for another 28 offending officers for their misconduct that will be addressed through training or the loss of vacation days. According to the agency, the work of the investigators, described by CCRB as “meticulous,” to provide fair and conclusive judgements on these complaints is ensuring accountability for all New Yorkers.  

 

CCRB officials said 34 percent of complaints could not be effectively investigated due to an inability to identify officers. They said this is a jump from an average of 10 percent in all CCRB cases in 2020. Agency officials said this was largely the result of a lack of proper protocol, including officers covering their names and shields, wearing protective equipment that belonged to someone else, improperly using Body Worn Cameras, and improperly completing paperwork. CCRB officials said this highlights once again the need for unfettered and direct access to body worn camera footage and the police documents needed to investigate complaints.

 

CCRB chair, Fred Davie, said, “After fully investigating over a hundred cases, the CCRB continues its commitment to investigating, and when necessary, prosecuting the officers responsible for committing misconduct against New Yorkers during last year’s Black Lives Matter protests.”

 

He added, “The APU is prepared to move forward with trials for the 37 officers who have received the highest level of disciplinary recommendations, as soon as the NYPD serves officers. Thanks to the thorough work of our investigators, we will start to get accountability for the hundreds of New Yorkers who were mistreated last year. The other 28 officers must also face discipline including those who need to be retrained on proper ways to interact with members of the public. It is important for all misconduct to be taken seriously and all officers who commit misconduct must be held accountable.”

 

CCRB officials said that in addition to routinely updating the public with data snapshots, the agency is committed to releasing a public report further analyzing the NYPD’s response to the Black Lives Matter protests last summer in order to shed light on the police misconduct that took place and outline key takeaways and recommendations for the NYPD moving forward. The most recent data snapshot can be viewed here.

 

As previously reported, in February, the CCRB voted to adopt new rules allowing the agency to investigate sexual misconduct committed by NYPD officers and false official statements made against civilians on official police paperwork or in official proceedings.

 

In December 2020, we had reported on the reform and reinvention efforts by the NYPD to improve community relations.

 

Norwood News reached out to the NYPD for a comment on the statement from the CCRB on Monday, and received the following response:

 

“Over the past fourteen months the NYPD has assisted the CCRB in their investigations by providing hundreds of hours of body-worn-camera footage as well as thousands of pages of records. The NYPD will move forward with the CCRB in the process of adjudicating these cases. Police officers are entitled to due process and may choose to go forward with an administrative trial where evidence must be presented and may be challenged.”

 

The statement continued, “These trials are open to the public. Discipline is imposed based on a matrix of penalties that has been agreed upon between the NYPD and CCRB.  Any discipline that results from a finding of guilt or a plea of guilty in an NYPD administrative trial will be made public in the NYPD’s online discipline database. The NYPD has made significant strides and continues to work toward making our discipline processes transparent. Like any citizen, police officers should be afforded a presumption of innocence until and unless proven guilty.”