ALBANY – For 20 years, when city residents feel they’ve been mistreated by police, one of their avenues for recourse has been the city’s Community Police Review Commission Board.
The board’s mission is relatively narrow – to review the Office of Professional Standards’ investigations into police misconduct and determine whether the citizen complaint is legitimate. The board can find that a complaint is sustained or not, or doesn't have enough information to make a ruling either way.
However, beyond making recommendations to the department, the board's power is generally limited.
Nearly a decade ago, the Common Council considered a push to allow the board to subpoena police documents, but supporters weren’t able to find enough votes. That calculus has changed as cities across the country are reconsidering how they hold police officers accountable after widespread protests against police brutality and on June 4, the Common Council promised to grant the board that power.
That isn't likely to be the last reform the council tries to pass in response to residents' calls for action. City officials and board members are looking to give the board broader investigatory powers and responsibilities. Some are even asking for the ability to discipline officers who violate department rules.
The board’s set up and the state's recently repealed 50-a law have been the two main obstacles the board has faced in its struggle to effectively review officers’ actions. Residents can only file complaints at the police department and can’t file complaints anonymously if they’re afraid of retribution. Additionally, up until the state repealed section 50-a of the Civil Rights law last week, privacy concerns meant the board never saw the names of the officers in the complaints. That made it nearly impossible to determine if an officer was repeatedly the subject of complaints or easily discover additional information. The information kept from the board included body camera footage that might identify the officer.
Zach Garafalo, one of the nine members of the review board, said he believes those limitations hold the board back from being an effective body.
“This is a challenge,” he said. “I can only review the path that’s in front of me. If I think it’s worth investigating another angle, I can’t really do that. I can ask the department to look at it again in some instances and the department will go back and do that.”
Garafalo said changes such as providing the board with non-sworn investigators and a larger budget along with additional investigative powers might make its oversight more effective and the increased accountability could save the city money in the long run.
Greg McGee, president of the patrol officer’s union, said he believed the board functions efficiently as it currently stands. Reforms like giving the board power to discipline officers was a nonstarter from his perspective, he said, and he questioned the cost-benefit analysis of having an officer take time from their shift or put in for overtime to testify in front of the board.
McGee said he could support small changes like having the board meet more frequently and wanted to make sure the board was more familiar with how officers were trained to operate.
“I think they do a very good job,” he said. “I think they have a great relationship with OPS.”
But while the Common Council hasn’t yet passed legislation officially giving the board subpoena abilities, city officials are already looking at whether they need to go beyond that step. Mayor Kathy Sheehan previously said she supported the council’s push to give the board subpoena powers. Her office declined to comment further on other possible reforms or powers for the board.
Council President Corey Ellis said he went to the board after being racially profiled shortly after he was first elected to the council. He said residents often feel as if the board isn’t effective and often rules that complaints can’t be sustained one way or another. That can work against both the officer and the resident making a complaint.
“I think a lot of that has to do with that they can’t get enough information to come to a decision,” he said. “Access to video and audio information, that should be available to the board to review upon request.”
Councilman Owusu Anane said giving the board discipline power and the ability to make more information public would be a step toward giving residents more confidence in the board. He said he also supports allowing people to make anonymous complaints and letting the board examine incidents the board becomes aware of even before a complaint is made.
“We have to make that public so we can give some type of accountability and let citizens know that we held officers accountable,” he said. “The calls for reform are coming from residents. We have to act."
Anane added that he wanted to work with the department to achieve the reforms, noting that in the past he had supported officers’ requests for a new contract and worked with officers in his ward.
Ivy Morris, chair of the board, declined to discuss the additional specific reforms the board is considering before they are introduced but said board members had been having lengthy discussions among themselves and wanted to work with the city to come up with a better system.
Much of that has focused on getting more information to board members on complaints and working with the department on reforms that are realistic and workable, she said.
“The things we see with the police department and the community … it gives us an opportunity to have bigger, broader, expansive conversations that will help the board,” she said.
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Albany's police review board may get new powers - Times Union
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