CCRB takes longer to close cases as cops and COVID hinder probes, report shows
/
The NYPD Police Academy Graduation Ceremony at Madison Square Garden on June 30, 2014. Photo by Diana Robinson/Mayoral Photography Office
By David Brand and Rachel Vick
New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board closed 804 fewer cases in the fiscal year ending June 30 compared to 2019, as average investigation times increased for the fifth consecutive year, according to the latest Mayor’s Management Report.
It now takes CCRB investigators nearly 11 months to complete an investigation that results in a substantiated complaint, compared to about nine months in fiscal year 2019 and less than six months in 2016, the report shows. The increase occurred even as the agency received 639 fewer complaints.
In total, the CCRB closed 3,991 cases in fiscal year 2020, compared to 4,795 the previous year, according to the data. About 55 percent of the closed cases resulted in “findings on the merits,” which means there was enough information or evidence available for investigators to make a determination about whether an accused officer committed misconduct.
CCRB officials blamed the latest delays on the impact of COVID-19, uncooperative cops and a police department that has stymied their ability to view body camera footage as part of misconduct investigations.
“The prior backlog in body-worn camera requests and issues with the NYPD unions during the officer interview process, combined with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to investigative delays,” said CCRB spokesperson Ethan Teicher. “However, the NYPD is addressing these issues; the body-worn camera backlog has declined to around 100 outstanding requests — down from approximately 1,200 in June — and the number of officer interviews being conducted per-week is near pre-pandemic levels.”
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
For much of the previous fiscal year, the NYPD withheld body-worn camera footage from CCRB investigators, ProPublica reported. The police department has since agreed to expedite video sharing.
After encountering criticism for their response to large-scale Black Lives Matter demonstrations and a citywide curfew, as well as some instances of looting, police officers also refused to submit to virtual interviews with CCRB officials during the summer months.
The number of complaints began to spike in May and June amid the citywide protests against police violence, the CCRB noted in the annual report from the mayor’s office.
Overall, an investigation resulting in a substantiated complaint took an average of 326 days to complete in the fiscal year ending June 30, up from 269 days the previous year and 178 days in 2016, according to the report.
As the number of closed cases dropped, the average investigation time for all cases increased to 290 days last fiscal year — a full 100 days longer than in 2018 and up from 162 days in 2016. The agency set 120 days as its average investigation length goal.
Open dockets averaged 142 days last year, compared to 109 days in fiscal year 2019 and 74 days in fiscal year 2016, the report shows.
The Mayor’s Management Report attributed some of the delays to the agency adjusting to the impact of COVID-19.
“CCRB operations remain remote, and the agency will continue to do everything it can to ensure complaints of police misconduct receive efficient, fact-based investigations,” said Teicher, the CCRB spokesperson.
Despite the persistent delays, and a recent spike in new complaints, Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed slashing the CCRB’s budget and eliminating staff positions, a move that encountered strong opposition from advocates and lawmakers.
“If we’re talking about ensuring that during this period, when the public, communities are calling for more oversight, more trust, how do you eliminate positions in the agency tasked with providing that oversight?” said Councilmember Donovan Richards, chair of the council’s public safety committee.
Richards said the investigation delays already frustrate relations between police and the communities they patrol, particularly among Black and Latino New Yorkers who account for the vast majority of victims of police misconduct and submit the bulk of the complaints.
“There have always been challenges with ensuring we close out a lot of CCRB cases,” Richards said. “In light of body cam footage, protests and the environment we’re in, it’s more important now than ever that the NYPD cooperate with the CCRB because we’re trying to turn a corner and build trust.”
The CCRB has increased outreach throughout the city, including conducting meetings across the five boroughs and piloting a community branch within Richards’ office to allow Rockaway residents to file complaints without traveling to the agency’s Manhattan headquarters.
Prolonged investigations may end up discouraging New Yorkers from coming forward to file complaints, said Queens Councilmember I. Daneek Miller, another member of the public safety committee..
“It’s hard to maintain confidence in a system if we cannot streamline it in a way to ensure there’s justice,” Miller said. “The frustration of the process kind of dissuades people from being a part of the process because after a certain amount of time it’s like, ‘Why are you still calling me? I gave you this information months ago.’”
Miller said he would propose holding a hearing on the delays before the full Committee on Public Safety.
“We want to make sure that people are receiving the response they deserve,” he said. “It may not always be what they want to hear, but we want a fair and just investigation as expeditiously as possible.”
