We can’t remember the last time the Syracuse Citizen Review Board made news for investigating police misconduct. Instead, the CRB is in the headlines for doing such a poor job that a bare majority of the Common Council voted to take control of hiring and firing the CRB administrator.
CRB supporters object, saying the council is undermining the independence of the police watchdog agency. They have a point — but it might gain more traction if the CRB had done something useful with its independence and $350,000 annual budget.
Instead, it is failing spectacularly, as staff writer Jeremy Boyer reported last month.
The agency often can’t conduct business for lack of a quorum at its board meetings. In 2023, the CRB received 83 complaints about treatment by Syracuse police officers but held just one misconduct hearing. Various quarterly and annual reports are late or missing.
Both the police chief and a police critic complain that the CRB is moving too slowly. Delay has serious consequences, as both valid and unfounded complaints must be dismissed if not decided within 18 months.
CRB Administrator Ranette Releford blames understaffing for the case backlog and record-keeping lapses. That’s a dog-ate-my-homework excuse for a lack of basic execution of the CRB’s mission.
The Common Council is not covered in glory here, either. It hasn’t been paying enough attention to the performance of the CRB or holding its own appointees accountable. In March, Councilor Chol Majok, Public Safety Committee chair, said it was time to update the law governing the CRB to account for innovations like body-worn cameras. It was last amended in 2011. The changes Majok and Council President Helen Hudson pushed through last month were a Band-Aid, not a fix. But at least councilors did something — and can be held accountable for it by city voters.
The mayor should veto it only if he has a better idea of how to make the CRB into a true watchdog.
About Syracuse.com editorials
Editorials represent the collective opinion of the Advance Media New York editorial board. Our opinions are independent of news coverage. Read our mission statement.Members of the editorial board are Tim Kennedy, Trish LaMonte and Marie Morelli.
To respond to this editorial: Submit a letter or commentary to [email protected]. Read our submission guidelines.
If you have questions about the Opinions & Editorials section, contact Marie Morelli, editorial/opinion lead, at [email protected]
){kind=link}