By David Cruz 

In its first meeting of 2015, the Civilian Complaint Review Board revealed it was formally reprimanding seven officers from the 52nd Precinct while already punishing two officers in 2014. Some misconduct included excessive force and abuse of authority, said officials. 

The Board, tasked to investigate cases of police misconduct, met at Lehman College. There, the Board’s Executive Director, Richard D. Emery, announced the Five-Two accrued 62 new complaints. Civilians made a total of 180 allegations from those 62 complaints. That included 63 allegations of force, 84 allegations of abuse of authority, 25 allegations of discourtesy and eight allegations of offensive language.

The 62 new cases are fewer than 83 Five-Two Precinct-related cases the CCRB closed in 2014, though five of the 83 cases were what the CCRB considered substantiated—a claim proven true. Those cases have yet to go to an internal hearing. The numbers come as the 52^nd Precinct, under the command of Inspector Nilda Hofmann, saw a marginal drop in major crime in 2014.

Linda Sachs, a spokeswoman for the CCRB, emphasized the complaints are not necessarily occurring by officers of the 52nd Precinct, but happening within its borders. The precinct covers Norwood, Bedford Park, University Heights, Kingsbridge and parts of Fordham.

The nine cases—two already handled, and seven underway—went before the CCRB’s Administrative Prosecutors Unit, where a trial room judge renders a ruling. That ruling is either accepted or rejected by Police Commissioner William Bratton, who gives a final recommendation. Punishments vary—some are simple slap on the wrists while others include termination from the NYPD. Ms. Sachs, did not specify the type of punishment imposed on the two officers or how the complaints compared to 2013.

Separate hearings were made for each officer. Ms. Sachs for the CCRB did not know whether these cases were officially filed in 2014.

Citywide, the CCRB received 4,779 complaints, an 11 percent drop in complaints compared to 2013 when it received 5,330 complaints. In December, the Board took in 283 complaints, the lowest monthly total for the years. Of those gripes, 62 were made against Bronx officers, with no charges made against 52^nd Precinct. In total, the Bronx saw 1,014 of complaints filed against the police.

In June last year, the same month Staten Island Police Officer Danny Pantaleo placed a fatal chokehold on Eric Garner, the CCRB saw its most complaints for the year, at 483 complaints.

The Board broke down its procedure in handling cases, which Christopher Dunn, a lawyer for the New York City Civil Liberties Union, deemed unfair. One procedure, dubbed mediation, where a complainant and accused officer hash out their differences, was used at least 387 times, or seven percent. Over half of the total complaints, 2972 complaints, were dismissed.

Brenda Caldwell, serving as President of the 52^nd Precinct, attended the meeting. A staunch supporter of the police, Ms. Caldwell declined to comment on the numbers.