The Civilian Complaint Review Board (“CCRB”) is charged with investigating, mediating, and prosecuting complaints which members of the public file against New York City police officers alleging the use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy, offensive language, untruthful statements made by officers, and racial profiling and biased policing. The Board consists of 15 members who are appointed by the Mayor, the City Council and Public Advocate or designated by the police commissioner. The Board is responsible for governing the agency. The Executive Director is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the agency. As the largest police oversight agency in the United States, the CCRB currently investigates approximately 4,500 complaints each year.
In April 2021, the New York City Council passed Intro 2212, which clarified that the CCRB has the authority to investigate complaints of racial profiling and other forms of biased policing made by members of the public against New York City police officers.
To execute this newly clarified authority, the CCRB has created a Racial Profiling and Biased Policing (“RPBP”) Investigations Unit. Reporting to the Director and Deputy Director of the RPBP Unit the Investigating Attorney responsibilities include, but are not limited to, receiving, investigating, and managing civilian complaints of police misconduct that allege racial profiling and/or other forms of biased policing based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, immigration or housing status.
The Investigating Attorney must then:
- Contact and schedule complainants for interviews to discuss incidents in detail.
- Interview witnesses of different racial, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds, gender identities, and
sexual orientations, some of whom may have mental or physical disabilities.
- Analyze and interpret rules, regulations, and policies as outlined in the NYPD Patrol and Administrative
Guides, as well as relevant municipal, state and federal anti-discrimination statutes and court decisions.
- Request and obtain confidential and sensitive documentary evidence for cases, including but not limited
to BWC footage, surveillance and/or cellphone footage, medical records, and police documents from both
the NYPD and private entities (some field work may be required)
- Schedule and conduct interviews of New York City police officers, who are represented by union
attorneys and who are mandated by the NYPD Patrol Guide to provide a statement.
- Work with CCRB data analysts to obtain and quantitatively analyze data relevant to allegations of
biased conduct by NYPD officers.
- Compose and summarize details of complainant, subject, and witness interviews.
- Create Board Review Reports which concisely describe factual findings, applicable law, rules and
reasoning employed to arrive at conclusion and submit all reports and suggested recommendations to
the CCRB Board.
An Investigating Attorney should have the ability to:
- Manage multiple on-going cases and investigative projects at the same time
- Draft legal documents involving complex analysis
- Provide recommendations on questions of law and policy
- Engage with vulnerable populations with sensitivity and respect
- Maintain sensitive and confidential information
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