The Civilian Complaint Review Board held a meeting in the Bronx Wednesday as it tries to get New Yorkers more involved with its investigations. NY1′s Erin Clarke filed the following report.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board is meant to investigate incidents like Jose Lasalle, a member of the Cop Watch Patrol Unit, described to NY1.
“I was documenting a police officer, and before you know it, I end up being slammed against a gate and I end up being arrested,” Lasalle told NY1. “After they slammed my phone and they arrest me, then, they decide to take me in, and then, after five hours being detained, they give me a jaywalking ticket.”
After 20 years of holding its monthly meetings in Lower Manhattan during the day, the CCRB, an independent group that looks into police misconduct, is making it easier for the public to get involved by holding night meetings in every borough.
“We have a public session at every meeting, and we have an opportunity for people to come and make statements about their own experiences and about their own views of our policies and our activities,” said CCRB Chairman Richard Emery.
That’s exactly what those in attendance did.
“You are changing this agency from an investigation agency into a mediation agency, and I think that is a grievous mistake,” said Chris Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“You’re not investigating it right. You’re not substantiating these cases,” said another speaker at the meeting. “The quality of the investigations are not there.”
Though some thanked the board for its efforts, many said more needs to be done.
“This meeting was about an hour and 45 minutes of policy discussion,” said one speaker at the meeting. “When you come out to the community, it should be community-focused. What is the community thinking, feeling and demanding of this board?”
“If you want the community to trust that you’re actually a voice for them, then maybe you, or maybe out an ambassador from your committee, to come into these communities when there’s police brutality rallies.”
The board said it’s considering some of the suggestions offered up by the crowd..
The CCRB will hold its next public meeting at the Sunnyside Community Center in Queens on December 10.
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