At their board meeting tonight, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) announced they will have to end investigations of certain police misconduct cases as a result of Mayor Adams’ September directive to cut their budget by 15% in the current fiscal year. They also announced a new NYPD policy that will allow the NYPD to delay turning over investigative materials to the CCRB for up to three months. In response, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) issued the following statement from CPR spokesperson Loyda Colon (they/them) and Executive Director of the Justice Committee:
"Every day it becomes more clear that Mayor Adams' budget cuts will make New York City less safe, less healthy and more unequal - all while expanding the outsized and illegitimate power of the NYPD. It's wildly irresponsible that Mayor Adams is increasing the NYPD's bloated FY24 budget of over $5.5 billion by another $135 million, while slashing the already under-resourced $25 million annual CCRB budget. The fact that the CCRB will be forced to close police violence investigations and won't be able to investigate some incidents because of these cuts guarantees that even more NYPD violence and abuse will go unchecked. It's wrong that the NYPD will be exempt from January cuts that other agencies, including the CCRB will be subject to, especially at a time when complaints are up significantly.
"In addition, the new NYPD evidence sharing policy announced today is unacceptable and will codify NYPD delays in turning over investigative materials to the CCRB for up to three months, turning the clock backwards on accountability. There's no reason it should take the NYPD more than a few days to turn over training materials or footage from an incident - in fact, the most recent policy had been that the NYPD would make body camera footage in critical incidents publicly available within 30 days. Just because the NYPD fails to follow existing policies or laws, doesn't mean the Mayor should give them even more room to obstruct. This is wrong and will continue to help cops who kill, brutalize and sexually harass New Yorkers escape any consequences for their violence."
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About Communities United for Police Reform:
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) is an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory and abusive policing practices in New York, and to build a lasting movement that promotes public safety and reduces reliance on policing. CPR runs coalitions of over 200 local, statewide and national organizations, bringing together a movement of community members, grassroots organizers, lawyers, researchers and activists to work for change.
About the Justice Committee:
Since the 1980s, the Justice Committee (JC) has been dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City. The heart of our work is organizing and uplifting the leadership of families who have lost loved ones to the police and survivors of police violence. We empower our community to deter police violence, hold law enforcement accountable, and build people-led community safety through grassroots organizing campaigns, community empowerment, political education, our CopWatch program, and by developing safety mechanisms and projects that decrease reliance on police. By building solidarity with other anti-racist, immigrant and people of color-led organizations, the Justice Committee seeks to contribute to a broad-based movement for racial, social, and economic justice.