Record Number of Complaints Against Police Last Month, but Few Were Substantiated

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

There were 679 complaints filed against police officers last month, the most in a single month in more than a decade, but the number of cases that were substantiated dropped, according to newly released data from the Civilian Complaint Review Board.


Only 8.3%, or 12, of the complaints were substantiated in September, versus 18.9%, or 48, in the same month a year ago.


The number of complaints rose exponentially this year compared to three years ago. There was a 53% jump in the number of complaints filed for the first nine months of this year, to 5,163 from 3,379 for the first nine months of 2002. The number of complaints has steadily increased for every six-month period between January 2002 and June 2005, the review board’s data show.


The CCRB is an independent agency charged with investigating allegations from civilians of abuse by police.


Before 1993, when the review board became independent from the New York Police Department, the number of complaints was significantly higher, with as many as 7,073 complaints lodged in 1985 alone, Police Department data indicate. That year, there were reportedly 31,600 police officers on the force compared with about 37,000 today.


“When the CCRB was still under the Police Department, it registered more complaints,” the deputy commissioner of public information for the Police Department, Paul Browne, said. “Nonetheless, we would expect CCRB to register more complaints as its outreach and confidence-building with the public improves.”


The cause for the recent spike is unclear.


A civil rights lawyer who was instrumental in securing the review board’s independence in 1993, Norman Siegel, said police misconduct “has always been a serious problem and these numbers indicate that currently it still is a serious problem.” While he commended the concept of the board, he excoriated it for a lack of accountability. In addition, Mr. Siegel said, the percentage of police officers actually being disciplined as a result of a review board investigation and the lack of severity of those punishments are “very troubling.”


A professor in the law and police science department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Eugene O’Donnell, a former police officer, said that while the number of complaints may be up it is more important to realize that “the number of complaints that are founded are way down.”


The director of communications for the review board, Andrew Case, pointed to the March 2003 introduction of the 311 non-emergency complaint system as a partial explanation for the growth. He also said it is easy these days for people to file complaints online.


What is clear, Mr. O’Donnell said, is that the numbers are not a reflection of a growth in abuse by police officers. Indeed, he said, “The anger level against the police undoubtedly is better.”


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use