Official public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, September 10.

A proposed Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) was discussed for the first time publicly by the City Council on Tuesday afternoon, July 9, and the public had its first opportunity to comment on it at the Citizens To Be Heard session that evening.

The proposal, revealed for the first time when it appeared on the Council’s agenda a few days before the meeting, recommends a “review-only” CCRB, in which the panel can only review completed investigations of alleged police misconduct performed by the police themselves.  This model, recommended by a consultant group last year, is the weakest form of CCRB.  The proposal makes this model even weaker by allowing the CCRB to review and comment on a police investigation only after the Police Commissioner has imposed discipline on an offending officer.

As in virtually every public discussion of the CCRB since it was first proposed in 2021, community members demanded a stronger model, in which the panel would have full independent power to conduct its own investigations and issue subpoenas.  No speaker at the Tuesday session supported the proposed weaker review-only model.

In a statement read by Maxine Golub, Bruce Soloway listed some of the weaknesses in the proposed CCRB, calling it a “toothless panel captive to the NRPD” that “creates the appearance of civilian oversight, but not its substance.” The only thing transparent here,” Soloway concluded, “is the NRPD’s determination to protect itself from meaningful civilian oversight.”

Lisa Burton referenced New Rochelle’s past missed opportunities to implement meaningful police oversight.  Referring to the July 2023 killing of Jarrel Garris by NRPD Detective Steven Conn, Burton said, “I only wonder what would have happened if we did have oversight of our police and clear understandings about de-escalation, would Mr. Garris be still with us?”  “When things go wrong,” she continued, “we have to make sure it doesn’t go wrong again. We have to have some process by which we are really looking at the systemic changes that need to happen in order for all citizens, all citizens of the community to feel safe.  We cannot afford to lose yet another person. These are our neighbors. These are the people that our children have grown up with, and they are dead at the hands of people who are paid by the city of New Rochelle.”

Eugene Tozzi noted that “during the four year term of our last Council, two black men were killed at the hands of New Rochelle police officers.”  “I hope,” he continued, “that the current Council is committed to taking actions needed to not have another young black man killed by New Rochelle police during your four year term and beyond. To accomplish that, I think the Council needs to plan on a CCRB with the budget for investigations and subpoena power.”  “We want to support our police,” Tozzi said. “But we need them to live up to the highest standards of accountability for the power we vest in them. We need to weed out of their ranks–and they need to take the leadership in this–anyone who lives out of the assumption that young black men are inherently dangerous and that it’s OK to pursue them and shoot them for even the most limited missteps.  This needs to be the mission of the Council.”

Ivanza, who used only her first name, said she was speaking “for the safety of all, not just young Black men, Black people.”  “Even the police need to be policed,” she said.  She spoke of growing up with Jarrell Garris, who, she said, was “senselessly murdered by a so-called detective” in July 2023.  “It was just wrong,” she continued.  “The crisis unit wasn’t there. That was wrong. You know, the lady cops had the situation under control. The detective executed him. That was wrong.  In front of a church. That was wrong…”  “Please do something about it,” she concluded, “because…the protests won’t go away, … the way people feel won’t go away.  …  Please do something about the bad policing. It’s not all of them, but it’s some bad apples and yes, they are spoiling the bunch.”

The proposal was put forth by the Community-Police Partnership Board (CPPB), formed as part of the city’s police reform plan in 2021.  In the Council’s meeting before the public comment session, CPPB community member Natasha Fapohunda, sitting in for community co-chair Pastor David Holder, informed the Council that CPPB members disagreed about its recommendation that the CCRB should review and issue an opinion on each case only after the Police Commissioner has decided on any disciplinary action.  

While the CPPB reached consensus on most of its recommendations, she said, this particular provision passed only on a narrow majority vote.  Several Council members also expressed concern about this provision, which would deny the CCRB any input into disciplinary decisions. The CPPB’s other co-chair, NRPD Deputy Commissioner Neil Reynolds, reminded the Council that they will have the power to make a final decision on this and any other questions that may arise in the structuring of the CCRB. 

Reynolds also stressed that the Council would be able to change the structure of the CCRB in the future based on the recommendations of the CCRB members, who will all be civilians.  “This is not a document that just sits and that’s the end of it,” he said.  “This is something that we come back to. … We find out what works and what doesn’t. Now when I say we, I’m talking about that board itself. … When they look at the transparency of the investigations, …they can come back to this body and they can say, ‘that is really not working for us. … We need to have some teeth.’  And at that time, it can be changed and moved. …And that’s not something that’s a one-time only deal. That’s something that’s done throughout the process.  But I think …it’s a good starting point… The people that will be making those decisions are the civilians on the CCRB. There are no police officers involved in that process. I think that’s something that really needs to be highlighted.”

Reynolds did not mention that if the Council adopts the CCRB as proposed, former members of the NRPD, as well as current or former law enforcement officers from other jurisdictions, could become members.  Community members have objected to this loophole.  The Council will ultimately decide whether these groups should be excluded from CCRB membership, along with current NRPD officers, city employees, and their families, when it takes up the resolution again in September.