More NYPD Reforms Promised After Discipline Deal Inked

New York City NY

04 February, 2021

2:20 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — A new "discipline matrix" will officially guide punishments for problem police officers but the future of further NYPD reforms awaits an uncertain and likely turbulent next few months. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday yet again touted the new discipline rules — this time, he did as the ink dried on an agreement signed that morning by NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea and Civilian Complaint Review Board Chairman Frederick Davie. The agreement guarantees — with a notable caveat — that the NYPD will abide by mandatory punishments up to termination for misconduct by cops. The civilian review board began following the new discipline rules last week, Davie said. "I believe the establishment of the NYPD's matrix, which is unprecedented, and continual public input on the matrix, is critical to turning the page on the NYPD's downgrading or reversing of our disciplinary recommendations, plea agreements, and guilty verdicts, and the (memorandum of understanding) makes that extremely clear and explicit," Davie said. De Blasio called the agreement "historic" and cast it as both the culmination of seven years of police reforms under his administration and part of a slate of public safety proposals he unveiled during his recent State of the City. But City Council members and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have accused de Blasio of dithering on a state mandate to enact police reform plans by April. City lawmakers last week unveiled their own package of police oversight and accountability bills that arguably go farther than de Blasio's plans. The bills include a proposal to take final disciplinary authority from the police commissioner — a point that some critics argued would give teeth to punishments handed down by the civilian review board. Davie said as much Thursday. "Absent legislative changes that address the issue of final authority and CCRB adjudicated cases, the disciplinary matrix is the best step the City can take," he said. Shea, who praised the discipline rules and agreement with the review board, said he would follow the matrix. He said if any exceptions arise he'd publicly release his reasons why he did not. "My expectation is we're going to follow that discipline matrix, period," he said. De Blasio said over the course of February and March that he'd work with the Council to bring a reform package together. "The Council has offered a number of proposals. We have a number of proposals," he said. "I'm not going to go into the details of the Council proposals at this point. I want to analyze them carefully and talk them through with the Council, and then I'll speak to what I feel about each one. What I do know is, that process will yield substantial additional reforms on a variety of fronts." Read the discipline matrix here