The Civilian Complaint Review Board probes allegations of misconduct against New York police officers.
NEW YORK CITY—The interim chair of a civilian police watchdog board in New York City recently announced her resignation amid tensions with city authorities over police oversight.
Arva Rice, interim head of the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), announced her resignation on July 22; it takes effect on Aug. 15. The board probes allegations of misconduct against New York Police Department (NYPD) officers. No official explanation was given for her resignation.
Ms. Rice had publicly criticized the NYPD’s handling of a disciplinary case and called for greater powers for the oversight body.
The case was centered on the police
shooting of a Bronx man, Kawaski Trawick, in April 2019. An internal NYPD investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of the two officers involved in that incident. No criminal charges were brought against them.
While the board later opened a disciplinary case against the officers, an administrative judge dismissed it for being past the statute of limitations. Ms. Rice blamed the NYPD for the delay. In a public hearing in April, Ms. Rice
criticized the officers’ actions and the NYPD’s handling of the incident, saying it took 18 months from the time the board received a complaint about the shooting to the handing over of body-worn footage to the board.
Mayor Eric Adams appointed Ms. Rice as interim chair of the board in 2022. She was initially placed on the board by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Mr. Adams’s office didn’t respond by publication time to a request for comment. Amaris Cockfield, a mayoral spokesperson, in a statement to the Associated Press, called Ms. Rice a “valued public servant.”
Elected in 2021 on a tough law-and-order platform, Mr. Adams, a former transit cop and police officer, has recently disagreed with members of the New York City Council over whether officers should have to
record the details of their interactions with members of the public and also over the issue of
solitary confinement in the city’s prisons.
Mr. Adams, in an April
interview on local radio, called Ms. Rice a “holdover” from the previous mayoral administration.
“Shouldn’t I make the determination who’s in a leadership position as the next mayors will make that determination? That is how this is done. You pick the chairs that you want to make the leadership changes that you want,” he said.
Speaking before the city council in April, Ms. Rice
said that the city has “continuously underfunded” the Civilian Complaint Review Board, “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 disciplining officers. That authority currently rests with the police commissioner.
In her resignation
letter, Ms. Rice said she addressed every issue brought before her in a “fair and balanced approach, whether it met with criticism or applause.”
Patrick Hendry, president of the city’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), welcomed the change in board leadership.
“The PBA has been calling for new appointments to CCRB’s board who can instill fairness in its decision-making processes and bring it in line with its City Charter mandate,” Mr. Hendry
said in a statement.
However, civil liberties groups decried the development. The nonprofit Legal Aid Society, in a social media post,
called it a “blow to NYPD accountability.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
