The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Police Department has formed a panel to investigate allegations of police abuse during protests during the Republican National Convention, officials said.
The panel will examine claims filed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent city agency that investigates complaints of police misconduct, and determine whether administrative charges should be filed.
It was formed in August, after NYPD officials discovered the review board had sent e-mails to some 700 protest groups instructing them how to file complaints, police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said. The convention ran from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.
The panel was intended to prevent the review system from being overwhelmed by complaints, Browne told The New York Times for Friday editions.
Florence Finkle, executive director of the complaint board, said the NYPD panel had begun investigating 59 complaints of abuse during the convention.
“The department did not notify us about the panel and I don’t understand what its purpose is,” Finkle told the Times.
John Driscoll, president of the police captains’ union, said the panel had been formed partly due to union concerns that officers who worked during the convention would lose their indemnification in any lawsuits filed by protesters. The new panel would be able to override the complaint board’s determinations about whether police actions were appropriate, he told the Times.
The formation of the panel was first reported Thursday by The Chief-Leader, a weekly civil service newspaper.
More than 1,800 people were arrested during the convention, most for disorderly conduct. Protesters and civil liberties groups have alleged that police kept arrestees in custody for more than 24 hours to derail demonstrations and charged that conditions at a holding facility were unsafe.