Post by KC on Mar 22, 2006 23:16:36 GMT -5
03/22/2006 - Even as the city hires more cops, it is moving yet again to reduce the number of investigators assigned to probing civilian complaints of police misconduct.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board, the independent city agency established by the City Charter, may lose 24 of its 184 of its investigators in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed budget.
This year, as in the past three years, the city is proposing a $9 million budget for the board. Yet in the past three years, the City Council has restored the board's budget to $10.2 million.
If the cuts are to go through this year, the agency would face new challenges.
"We are receiving more complaints now than ever before, and in order to do our job properly we simply need more resources," said Florence Finkle, executive director of the agency, at a meeting Tuesday of the City Council Public Safety Committee.
In 2005, the group received 6,796 civilian complaints - 47 percent more than in 2002, Finkle testified. At the same time last year, the number of cases the agency failed to "close" increased, from 3,204 to 3,478 cases. Some cases expire because of statutes of limitations.
The board does not issue judgments, but moves closed cases to the police commissioner's office, along with a recommended solution. Most cases involve offensive language, excessive force, abuse of authority or discourtesy.
A Bloomberg spokesman could not be reached for comment.
"We need to have an independent board like this to make sure the public has faith that our police department is being monitored," said City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), chairman of the public safety committee.
Vallone noted that complaints may have gone up in part because of the ease in filing through the city's 311 call center, as well as the Internet.
The bulk of complaints could also be attributed to sweeping arrests at the Republican National Convention and the Critical Mass bicycle rides, according to criminal justice experts.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board, the independent city agency established by the City Charter, may lose 24 of its 184 of its investigators in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed budget.
This year, as in the past three years, the city is proposing a $9 million budget for the board. Yet in the past three years, the City Council has restored the board's budget to $10.2 million.
If the cuts are to go through this year, the agency would face new challenges.
"We are receiving more complaints now than ever before, and in order to do our job properly we simply need more resources," said Florence Finkle, executive director of the agency, at a meeting Tuesday of the City Council Public Safety Committee.
In 2005, the group received 6,796 civilian complaints - 47 percent more than in 2002, Finkle testified. At the same time last year, the number of cases the agency failed to "close" increased, from 3,204 to 3,478 cases. Some cases expire because of statutes of limitations.
The board does not issue judgments, but moves closed cases to the police commissioner's office, along with a recommended solution. Most cases involve offensive language, excessive force, abuse of authority or discourtesy.
A Bloomberg spokesman could not be reached for comment.
"We need to have an independent board like this to make sure the public has faith that our police department is being monitored," said City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), chairman of the public safety committee.
Vallone noted that complaints may have gone up in part because of the ease in filing through the city's 311 call center, as well as the Internet.
The bulk of complaints could also be attributed to sweeping arrests at the Republican National Convention and the Critical Mass bicycle rides, according to criminal justice experts.