NY City Council approves independent complaint review board id QAA20267; Wed, 1 Oct 1997 16:07:35 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source: Michael Novick NY City Council approves independent complaint review board Associated Press, 09/30/97 19:02 NEW YORK (AP) - The City Council overwhelmingly approved a plan Tuesday to establish an independent board to investigate police wrongdoing, nearly eight weeks after the alleged torture of a Haitian immigrant at a Brooklyn station house. The 40-7 vote sets up a potential showdown with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who vetoed an earlier version of the legislation. The Council plan would empower an independent board to monitor internal police investigations and conduct probes of suspected corruption. About three years ago, Giuliani blocked a similar proposal, arguing that an outside panel with subpoena power would undermine the police commissioner's authority to combat corruption. The vote was tallied after members evoked the alleged assault on Abner Louima, who prosecutors say was sodomized Aug. 9 with a wooden stick by officers at the 70th Precinct. ``There still exists a `blue wall of silence' ... that those few bad apples on the force can hide behind when they abuse their authority,'' said Councilman Sheldon Leffler, a Queens Democrat. ``As the case of Mr. Louima so sadly demonstrated, we need to continue the fight against brutality,'' Leffler said. Speaker Peter F. Vallone, a Queens Democrat, said the board would ``finally give the overwhelming number of good, honest New York City police officers a place to go to bring complaints about the few corrupt officers, without fear or intimidation.'' The board's work would focus on corruption rather than brutality, although members noted that a link between the two was documented by the 1994 Mollen Commission report on police corruption. If the board discovers evidence of brutality, those cases would be sent to a district attorney or the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates complaints of police abuse filed by residents. Giuliani said his position on the bill would hinge on whether it met objections raised in court rulings that toppled the original 1994 law. He strongly suggested that the proposal would require an amendment to the city charter, which outlines the powers of the mayor and the Council. ``You protect the powers of mayoralty not just for yourself, but for the future. These are very sensitive balances that are created,'' he said. The vote came on a day when the Civilian Complaint Review Board reported that complaints against police by residents dropped 22 percent - to 2,199 - in the first six months of 1997, compared to the previous year. The biggest drop occurred in complaints filed for use of offensive language, which fell 44 percent, the board said. Votes against the new panel came largely from Republicans. Councilman Andrew Eristoff of Manhattan said the board would duplicate work being done by district attorneys and the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, possibly compromising investigations. ``It sets up a potential conflict,'' he said. ----- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Be PART of the solution -- People Against Racist Terror/ PO Box 1055/Culver City CA 90232-1055/310-288-5003/ Order our journal "Turning the Tide." mnovickttt@igc.org Free Mumia Abu Jamal! Free All POW's and Political Prisoners! Abolish the Racist Death Penalty! ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrc-10.01.97-16:07:45-22145