The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) released an updated “protest data snapshot” on Thursday, March 24, updating the public on the status of the 319 complaints filed to date and stemming from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Thus far, CCRB officials said 269 cases have been closed, with 187 substantiated allegations filed against 104 members of service. 

 

 

Officials said the CCRB has recommended charges and specifications, the highest level of discipline for the most serious allegations of misconduct, against 61 officers, and that those 61 officers should face an administrative trial run by the CCRB’s Administrative Prosecution Unit (APU). 

 

 

According to CCRB, the NYPD has already waved discipline for 14 of these members of service. CCRB officials said of the 24 cases the NYPD has finalized, they have imposed discipline for 10 officers, resulting in a 42 percent concurrence rate. Thus far, officials said 36 percent of fully investigated cases have resulted in substantiated misconduct. 

 

Interim CCRB chair, Arva Rice, said, “I would like to thank the CCRB investigators for their continued dedication to diligently investigating these 319 cases for over 18 months. Despite numerous roadblocks, our investigators have managed to complete 179 full investigations.”

 

 

She added, “New Yorkers have waited a long time to see accountability for the misconduct that occurred in the 2020 protests and we hope to work closely with the Department to improve NYPD adoption of CCRB recommendations and rebuild police community relations.”

 

Officials added that once all investigations are complete, they will release a report with recommendations on how to improve training and protest response from the NYPD. They added that, for instance, 32 percent of fully investigated cases have been closed due to an inability to identify officers, largely due to the failure to follow proper protocols.

 

CCRB officials said they will identify and address gaps in training and suggest updated procedures for NYPD protest response in their upcoming report. To see the full data snapshot, click here, or view the screen shots attached below.

 

The CCRB is the largest police oversight entity in the nation and is empowered to investigate, mediate, prosecute, and recommend disciplinary action for complaints alleging misconduct by NYPD officers, in accordance with New York City Charter § 440(c)(1).

 

The agency’s jurisdiction includes excessive and unnecessary force, abuse of authority, discourtesy, and use of offensive language. To further this mission, CCRB officials issue monthly, biannual, and special statistical and qualitative reports analyzing trends and recurring issues arising from the many thousands of civilian complaints it receives each year.

 

Norwood News reported previously on the agency’s scope as well as its perceived shortcomings by those involved in criminal justice reform.

 

Of the 12 existing Bronx precincts, each precinct had one complaint logged against it, i.e. a total of 12 complaints, representing 0.11 percent of all complaints across the City, to date. Discipline was recommended in the case of Officer Evgeny Kramar, [shield 5881] listed under the 42nd precinct, which covers the Bronx district of Morrisania, including the Claremont, Crotona Park East, and Crotona Park neighborhoods.

 

 

Kramar is currently assigned to the 94th precinct in Brooklyn, covering the Greenpoint neighborhood. He joined the NYPD in 2019 and his ethnicity is White. There are no records listed under disciplinary history on the NYPD database under Kramar’s name.

 

No discipline was recommended for Officer Toby Lau, [shield 11112] listed under the 46th precinct, which covers the neighborhoods of Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope.

 

According to the police database, Lau’s ethnicity is Asian and he joined the NYPD in 2017. He is currently assigned to the 84th precinct in Brooklyn, covering Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, and Vinegar Hill. There are no records listed under disciplinary history on the NYPD database under Lau’s name.

 

No discipline was recommended in the case of Deputy Chief James McCarthy, listed under the 52nd precinct, which covers the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Bronx Park, and University Heights. McCarthy is currently assigned to Patrol Borough Manhattan South.

 

McCarthy joined the NYPD in 1985 and his ethnicity is listed as White. There are no records listed under disciplinary history on the NYPD database under McCarthy’s name. His shield number as a former sergeant was 3511. He no longer has a shield number assigned in his current role.

 

 

Attached are are some of the statistics which show the latest breakdown in terms of ethnicity and gender of uniformed police officers with the NYPD, as well as the latest breakdown of general complaints (separate from the complaints logged during the BLM protests) logged with the CCRB against NYPD officers, broken down by ethnicity and gender.

 

The attached maps show the latest available general complaints logged against the 50th, 52nd, 46th and 47th precincts with the CCRB (separate from the BLM protest complaints).

 

Norwood News contacted the NYPD for comment on the latest CCRB findings. A spokesperson provided the following response on March 25.  “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. Any discipline that results in 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 and the penalty imposed will be based on a disciplinary matrix that was developed by the Department with significant input from the CCRB, other oversight entities, and the public. It has been mutually agreed by both NYPD and the CCRB that this matrix will serve as a framework for police officer discipline. 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.”