Nassau police lack transparency: report

Continued from Page 1 trian stops, training, crime reports, police contact information and policies.

The results of the study adds fuel to critics’ call for a civilian oversight board to monitor policing in Nassau.

Susan Gottehrer, the director of the Nassau County chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, told Blank Slate Media that establishing a community oversight board to monitor policing is a matter of “political will,” but is something that should be established by the Legislature.

“My concern and I think everyone’s concern is that without any oversight, and in Nassau there is zero oversight, there is only Internal Afairs,” Gottehrer said in a phone interview.

Complaints received about the Nassau County Police Department are handled by the department’s Internal Afairs Bureau, according to Nassau’s police reform plan.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo had required police departments across the state to provide reform plans in 2021 following the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis by a police offcer.

Complaints are “normally” responded to by the Nassau police department within three business days, according to the department’s website. The investigations are to be completed within 30 days.

Nassau police, from 2016 to 2021, reported zero “founded” cases of false arrest and excessive force. But during that time 30 people won court judgments against county police based on 41 allegations.

For 38 of the allegations, the Nassau County Attorney’s ofce paid money to settle the cases while also barring the accusers from speaking publicly about the allegations.

The New York City Law Department publishes a semi-annual report on misconduct matters against the police, which includes the names of both parties, a police shield number and total payout amount if applicable.

The Nassau County Police Department reported 187 total complaints from January 2022 to June 2022, according to Nassau’s police reform plan.

Out of the 187 complaints, 67 related to improper procedures, 58 were for unprofessional conduct, six were false arrest, fve were racial or ethnic bias, four for excessive force, three were unlawful conduct, another three were from neglect of duty and 41 were “other” complaints.

Fifteen of those allegations were reported as “founded.” Nassau also reported 126

“founded” allegations in 2021 and 101 “founded” allegations in 2020 but did not provide the total number of complaints reported in those years.

Long Island United to Transform Policing & Community Safety, an activist organization that seeks “to transform public safety,” also recommended the establishment of a Civilian Complaint Review Board, along with creating a police inspector general’s ofce that would “complement the [CCRB] with subpoena power and oversight over all policies, directives, memos and complaints.”

The group’s recommendations were included in a one-year analysis of the Nassau County Police Department’s reform plan.

In 2021 some of Nassau’s Democratic legislators called for New York Attorney General Letitia James to establish a third-party oversight ofce for the county’s police department.

Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport), Legislator Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury) and Legislator Carrié Solages (D-Lawrence) all signed a letter sent in March 2021 after the county Legislature approved a plan to reform and reinvent policing put forward by former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.

Eforts to reach those representatives for comment on the matter were unavailing.

James, in a letter sent to the legislators in mid-April, acknowledged the benefts of es- tablishing a remote ofce and criticized the county for not including “meaningful checks on law enforcement.” She also cited the lack of necessary funding to establish a remote oversight ofce in Nassau.

“Police departments all over the state were handing in police reform plans, and for the attorney general to specifcally call out Nassau County is really quite stunning,” Gottehrer said. “And so I think it really goes to how Nassau County is operating.”

New York Civil Liberties Union Supervising Attorney Bobby Hodgson touted the importance of having oversight for policing, such as New York City’s Citizen Complaint Review Board, an independent agency that probes alleged misconduct reported by residents.

The board was established in 1993 by former New York City Mayor David Dinkins and the New York City Council.

“In many instances, the Citizen Complaint Review Board has undertaken an investigation, gathered evidence and found that misconduct occurred and an ofcer did, in fact, do something inappropriate and recommended levels of discipline all the way up to fring,” Hodgson said in an interview with Blank Slate Media earlier this year.

New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board consists of more than 100 “civilian investigators” who attempt to verify the com-