Section 440. Public complaints against members of the police department.
(a) It is in the interest of the people of the city of New York and the New York city police department that the investigation of complaints concerning misconduct by officers of the department towards members of the public be complete, thorough and impartial. These inquiries must be conducted fairly and independently, and in a manner in which the public and the police department have confidence. An independent civilian complaint review board is hereby established as a body comprised solely of members of the public with the authority to investigate allegations of police misconduct as provided in this section.
1. The civilian complaint review board shall consist of thirteen members of the public appointed by the mayor, who shall be residents of the city of New York and shall reflect the diversity of the city’s population. The members of the board shall be appointed as follows: (i) five members, one from each of the five boroughs, shall be designated by the city council; (ii) three members with experience as law enforcement professionals shall be designated by the police commissioner; and (iii) the remaining five members shall be selected by the mayor. The mayor shall select one of the members to be chair.
2. No member of the board shall hold any other public office or employment. No members, except those designated by the police commissioner, shall have experience as law enforcement professionals, or be former employees of the New York city police department. For the purposes of this section, experience as a law enforcement professional shall include experience as a police officer, criminal investigator, special agent, or a managerial or supervisory employee who exercised substantial policy discretion on law enforcement matters, in a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, other than experience as an attorney in a prosecutorial agency.
3. The members shall be appointed for terms of three years, except that of the members first appointed, four shall be appointed for terms of one year, of whom one shall have been designated by the council and two shall have been designated by the police commissioner, four shall be appointed for terms of two years, of whom two shall have been designated by the council, and five shall be appointed for terms of three years, of whom two shall have been designated by the council and one shall have been designated by the police commissioner.
4. In the event of a vacancy on the board during the term of office of a member by reason of removal, death, resignation, or otherwise, a successor shall be chosen in the same manner as the original appointment. A member appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the balance of the unexpired term.
1. The board shall have the power to receive, investigate, hear, make findings and recommend action upon complaints by members of the public against members of the police department that allege misconduct involving excessive use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy, or use of offensive language, including, but not limited to, slurs relating to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation and disability. The findings and recommendations of the board, and the basis therefor, shall be submitted to the police commissioner. No finding or recommendation shall be based solely upon an unsworn complaint or statement, nor shall prior unsubstantiated, unfounded or withdrawn complaints be the basis for any such finding or recommendation.
2. The board shall promulgate rules of procedure in accordance with the city administrative procedure act, including rules that prescribe the manner in which investigations are to be conducted and recommendations made and the manner by which a member of the public is to be informed of the status of his or her complaint. Such rules may provide for the establishment of panels, which shall consist of not less than three members of the board, which shall be empowered to supervise the investigation of complaints, and to hear, make findings and recommend action on such complaints. No such panel shall consist exclusively of members designated by the council, or designated by the police commissioner, or selected by the mayor.
3. The board, by majority vote of its members, may compel the attendance of witnesses and require the production of such records and other materials as are necessary for the investigation of complaints submitted pursuant to this section.
4. The board shall establish a mediation program pursuant to which a complainant may voluntarily choose to resolve a complaint by means of informal conciliation.
5. The board is authorized, within appropriations available therefor, to appoint such employees as are necessary to exercise its powers and fulfill its duties. The board shall employ civilian investigators to investigate all complaints.
6. The board shall issue to the mayor and the city council a semi-annual report which shall describe its activities and summarize its actions.
7. The board shall have the responsibility of informing the public about the board and its duties, and shall develop and administer an on-going program for the education of the public regarding the provisions of this chapter.
1. It shall be the duty of the police department to provide such assistance as the board may reasonably request, to cooperate fully with investigations by the board, and to provide to the board upon request records and other materials which are necessary for the investigation of complaints submitted pursuant to this section, except such records or materials that cannot be disclosed by law.
2. The police commissioner shall ensure that officers and employees of the police department appear before and respond to inquiries of the board and its civilian investigators in connection with the investigation of complaints submitted pursuant to this section, provided that such inquiries are conducted in accordance with department procedures for interrogation of members.
3. The police commissioner shall report to the board in writing on any action taken, including the level of discipline and any penalty imposed, in all cases in which the board submitted a finding or recommendation to the police commissioner with respect to a matter within its jurisdiction pursuant to this section. In any case substantiated by the board in which the police commissioner intends to impose or has imposed a different penalty or level of discipline than that recommended by the board or by the deputy commissioner responsible for making disciplinary recommendations, the police commissioner shall provide such written report, with notice to the subject officer, no later than 45 days after the imposition of such discipline or in such shorter time frame as may be required pursuant to an agreement between the police commissioner and the board. Such report shall include a detailed explanation of the reasons for deviating from the board’s recommendation or the recommendation of the deputy commissioner responsible for making disciplinary recommendations and, in cases in which the police commissioner intends to impose or has imposed a penalty or level of discipline that is lower than that recommended by the board or such deputy commissioner, shall also include an explanation of how the final disciplinary outcome was determined, including each factor the police commissioner considered in making his or her decision.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 and in addition to any action that may be undertaken pursuant to section 106, the appropriations available to pay for the personal services expenses of the civilian complaint review board may be less than the minimum appropriations required by paragraph 1 provided that, prior to adoption of the budget pursuant to section 254 or prior to the adoption of a budget modification pursuant to section 107, the mayor determines that such reduction is fiscally necessary and that such reduction is part of a plan to decrease overall appropriations or is due to unforeseen financial circumstances, and the mayor sets forth the basis for such determinations in writing to the council and the civilian complaint review board at the time of submission or adoption, as applicable, of any budget or budget modification containing such reduction.
FAIR USE NOTICE. The Website may contain copyrighted material the use of which may not always be specifically authorized by the copyright owner. In such a case we are making the material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Read the full Fair Use Declaration. Please contact us at wegov.nyc/get-involved with questions, comments, requests, offers, etc.