Watchdog who criticized NYPD’s handling of officer discipline resigns

NEW YORK (AP) — The head of an oversight board that investigates allegations of misconduct by New York City police officers announced her resignation Monday, ending a tenure in which she had publicly criticized the NYPD’s handling of a major disciplinary case and sought to expand the panel’s authority.

Arva Rice, the interim chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, didn’t give a reason for her resignation, but her departure has been widely expected since early spring. A person briefed on the situation said Rice learned in April that Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, wanted her out of the post. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel decisions.

Rice’s departure, effective Aug. 15, drew immediate protest from police reform advocates.

Chris Dunn, the legal director at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said Rice’s resignation was “part of a clear pattern by the Adams administration of undermining NYPD accountability.”

“As reports of NYPD abuse have reached their highest level in more than a decade, New Yorkers need more police accountability, not less,” he added.

The resignation was applauded by police union officials, who have long accused the review board — known as the CCRB — of overstepping its authority.

“A leadership change at CCRB is very welcome news for hard-working police officers who have had their careers derailed by anti-police activists on CCRB’s board,” said Patrick Hendry, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, the city’s largest police union.

The move to oust Rice, which was first reported in April by the New York Times, came shortly after she accused the police department of withholding body-worn camera footage and other evidence in the death of Kawaski Trawick, a Black man who was shot by a white officer inside his Bronx apartment in 2019.

Criminal charges weren’t brought against the officer or his partner. The CCRB brought a disciplinary case against the officers that could have led to them being fired, but an administrative judge ruled that the review board had waited too long to bring the misconduct charges — a delay Rice blamed on the NYPD failing to turn over body-camera footage for 18 months. In the end, the officers faced no discipline.

Adams made Rice interim chair of the CCRB in 2022. She was initially put on the board by former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Amaris Cockfield, a mayoral spokesperson, called Rice a “valued public servant.”

Rice did not return messages from the AP seeking comment. In her resignation letter, she said she had taken a “fair and balanced approach, whether it met with criticism or applause.”

Adams, a Democrat, campaigned on reducing crime in the city while restoring trust in the department, drawing on his experience as a former police captain who also co-founded a leadership group for Black officers that publicly called out racism in the force.

Since taking office in 2022, he has largely maintained outspoken support for the city’s police, backing top officials accused of misconduct and working to quash legislation unpopular with the department.

He publicly defended a high-ranking chief, Jeffrey Maddrey, accused of ordering the release of a retired police officer who had been accused of waving a gun at children. And he has rebuffed calls to remove a close adviser involved in policing decisions, Tim Pearson, who is facing multiple sexual harassment lawsuits.

Earlier this year, Adams vetoed legislation requiring the department to collect and publicly report more data on police encounters with New Yorkers, sparking a feud with progressive members of the City Council. Meanwhile, a push by the NYPD to fight its perceived critics, including judges and council members, on social media has received the mayor’s blessing.

The NYPD’s process for disciplining officers has long been a point of contention, with some cases against officers dragging on for years. In a January speech laying out his 2024 priorities, Adams vowed to cut that time in half.

“When a civilian brings a complaint, we must act more swiftly to resolve the matter,” he said.

But misconduct complaints against officers are at their highest since 2012, and Adams cut the budget of the agency that examines allegations of misconduct and issues disciplinary recommendations, forcing it to curtail its investigations.

Speaking before the City Council in April, Rice said the city’s “continuous underfunding” of the Civilian Complaint Review Board was “making it almost impossible to keep up with the ever-increasing workload.” She has also called on the city to give the board final authority in imposing discipline on officers, which currently rests with the police commissioner.

In many cases, the city’s police commissioner, Edward Caban, has rejected the recommendations of the review board. Internal records obtained by ProPublica show Caban has also prevented at least 54 cases from going to trial, far more than any of his predecessors.

Loyda Colón, a director at Communities United for Police Reform, said Rice’s resignation serves as an additional signal to officers that they are free to act with impunity.

Speaking about Adams’ administration, Colón said, “his dismantling of already weak mechanisms of disciplining officers is especially horrifying given that unlawful stops by the NYPD have exploded to their highest level since 2015, police misconduct complaints have risen by over 50% in a year, and officers are fatally shooting New Yorkers at the highest rate in a decade.”

Jake Offenhartz, The Associated Press