The Syracuse Common Council is trying to build support for preserving the Citizen Review Board, the independent agency that investigates complaints of police conduct. legal experts encouraged the CRB's investigations to be restored, despite a Rochester court ruling limiting the powers of that city’s agency.
The case is being appealed and could take several months to a year to be decided. Long-time Syracuse-area civil rights attorney Alan Rosenthal helped draft the legislation, creating the CRB more than 30 years ago. He gave this warning to councilors and the city administrators.
“You let the CRB lie fallow for a year, it will die," he said.
Until the Rochester case is resolved, city lawyers told the CRB back in the spring to stop investigating cases or face potential litigation from the police union. Rosenthal said he can’t find a single case in 50 years where that’s happened. Plus, he said, a lower court surveyed other police oversight boards and confirmed Syracuse’s agency is not in the same league.
“What it found was that only Rochester's PAB (Police Accountability Board) was enacted with the authority to impose disciplinary sanctions, making it different than every other review board in this state," he said. "All of the other review boards, including Syracuse, are purely investigative in nature and can only make recommendations.”
Rosenthal said therefore, the Rochester ruling doesn’t apply to Syracuse and that the CRB can continue investigating. New York Civil Liberties Union assistant policy director Michael Sisitzky said Syracuse should fight back.
“Earlier this year, we saw places like Albany reaffirm that they are committed to fighting for ongoing civilian-led investigations. That's the kind of fight that the city of Syracuse should be putting up here," he told councilors. "It's really disappointing that the administration officials here are simply not willing to go to the mat to defend an institution that serves such an important function for Syracuse.”
Meanwhile, complaints about police conduct continue to pile up. Mazaher Kaila chairs the Syracuse NAACP’s legal redress committee.
“Those complaints leave the people of Syracuse feeling dismissed and not heard, at least particularly from communities of color," she said. "There's a lack of trust that exists. And because there's a lack of trust, there needs to be some sort of independent review board that allows the people to feel heard to some capacity or to regain that trust.”
Councilors say they support the CRB, but it’s not clear when investigations will resume.
