To bring justice to the accused NYC police officers and their accusers, the CCRB raids must end

Despite all the pious talk by New York politicians about the important work of the Civilian Complaint Review Board in investigating allegations of police brutality, the mayor and city council have crippled that board by leaving five of the 15 complaint commission positions vacant.

This led to significant delays in the Commission's decision-making process, leaving both accused police officers and credible complainants in limbo.

We have long been skeptical that the CCRB is really necessary: ​​The NYPD is overseen not only by the City Council but also by an independent monitor; its tactics are constrained by a variety of comparisons (many of them ill-advised).

But what’s worse is having a board that can’t do its job.

Two of the vacancies must be filled on the City Council, two by Mayor Eric Adams, and the third – the chair of the board – is filled in both cases.

The board members examine the cases in teams of three. This means that only three committees work instead of five, so the backlog continues to grow.

Interim Chair Arva Rice resigned in July.

She was initially appointed by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and named interim chief by Adams in 2022. She left the post after Deputy Mayor Phil Banks asked her to resign over the summer.

The City Council’s Rules Committee examines one Replacement: Dr. Mohammad Khalid of Staten Island on October 9; no word on a candidate for the Bronx seat.

City Hall claims there is an “ongoing process” to fill the positions and reappoint two members before chaos worse.

Since neither the City Council nor the Mayor can be bothered to keep the CCRB running properly, they should admit that it has outlived its former usefulness – and begin the process of amending the City Charter to abolish it.