NYPD watchdog rules ‘go too far,’ union says
An NYPD watchdog needs to “go back to the drawing board” and scrap its plan to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct by officers against citizens, the city’s largest police union argued Wednesday.
The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association attacked the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s expanded authority during a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, saying the board had approved “a sea change” in the handling of sexual misconduct complaints without giving proper consideration to its impact.
“These rules, by their own language, go too far,” PBA attorney Matthew Daly said.
“The CCRB really needs to go back to the drawing board.”
The board expanded its oversight role in February, after concluding that sexual misconduct allegations against police officers are under-reported. Such allegations were previously referred to the NYPD’s Internal Affairs unit.
“If they have to go back to the place where they were sexually assaulted of course it’s not going to encourage a fair and thorough investigation,” CCRB attorney Agnetha Jacob said.
The union was particularly outraged by a new policy that it said allowed any person who viewed a video of police abuse on the internet to file a complaint with the CCRB.
“It’s just bad policy to allow this,” Daly said.
“The fact is that CCRB complaints, even meritless ones, have serious consequences for police officers,” he added, noting that complaints can affect an officer’s promotions and assignments.
The PBA and the CCRB have long been at odds. The union’s president, Pat Lynch, said that the watchdog was filled with “anti-police personnel” when the suit was filed in March.