Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has announced a step forward in the ongoing implementation of Suffolk County’s Police Reform & Reinvention Plan in our vision to build community trust through transparency and accountability.
The Suffolk County Human Rights Commission will officially begin taking in all complaints of SCPD Police Misconduct and reviewing internal Affairs investigations of police misconduct starting March 6th, 2023.
“It has been almost two years since we adopted the most comprehensive police reform plan of any County in the state of New York and we continue to make historic progress,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “Allowing the Human Rights Commission to begin reviewing complaints of police misconduct in tandem with the Internal Affairs Bureau will insure the public’s confidence in the IAB investigatory process and allow for transparency and accountability within the police department and the communities they serve.”
Suffolk County Legislature Minority Leader Jason Richberg said: "From the beginning, one of the main goals of Suffolk’s Police Reform & Reinvention Task Force, on which I proudly served as a member, was including the county's Human Rights Commission in the process of investigating complaints against officers. I'm thrilled to be able to say that moving forward, the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission will officially be working alongside Internal Affairs in reviewing accusations of police misconduct. We heard over and over again that this was a change residents wanted, and I’m proud that the task force was able to make it a reality. Thank you to County Executive Bellone for his steadfast support and advocacy for implementing the task force's suggested policy changes and helping to make Suffolk County a safer place for all."
In preparation, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) hired 5 investigators and on-boarded them last year for a total compliment of 7 investigators. All investigators were trained in the police misconduct investigatory process by the SCPD Internal Affairs Bureau as well as an external, independent, former Civilian Oversight Professional on investigatory practices, policies and procedures.
Human Rights Investigators have shadowed IAB investigators in an effort to expose HRC investigators to current IA investigations and the investigatory review process. Additionally, HRC has become a member of the National Association of Civilian Oversight for Law Enforcement (NACOLE) and has attended its national conferences as well as participating in various training modules. The HRC will have access to a shared data platform Evidence.com, as part of the Body Worn Camera program which will serve as the shared data platform for IAB and HRC investigators managing all types of data, including body-worn video, interview room video, CCTV, photographs, audio, documents and more.
Crucial to transparency and accountability, Suffolk County is one of the first municipalities to begin using online platform Oversight by SIVIL for the public to submit police misconduct complaints and compliments. Other municipalities using the SIVIL platform include: City of Philadelphia Citizens Police Oversight Commission, the City of Long beach Citizen Police Complaint Commission (CPCC) and City of Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board (PCOB).
SIVIL is a cutting-edge company whose mission is to produce civilian-focused public safety software like Oversight. A sophisticated case management solution to transparency of police misconduct complaints and investigations, this platform serves three powerful functions:
- It’s an online public portal to submit police complaints or compliments. As a member of the public, if you submit a complaint, you’ll receive a confirmation of receipt of your complaint, confirmation that the investigation of your complaint is in process and when your complaint investigation is complete.
- It modernizes and streamlines how Human Rights Commission investigators take in police misconduct complaints. Instead of cumbersome processes involving sending paper forms to the police department, HRC investigators upload the complaints they take in to Sivil, where IAB investigators can see and receive the new intake for their end of the work.
- It facilitates independent review by the HRC assigned investigators to review the case progression from its very beginning, giving them the ability to ensure the quality of police misconduct investigations and intervene when necessary.
Upon completion of the investigation, the HRC will also conduct a final review of the complaint and investigation. Prior to a final determination of the complaint, IAB will share its recommended disposition (substantiated, unsubstantiated, exonerated, unfounded) with HRC Investigators.
In the event that an HRC Investigator and AOJ member disagree with the recommended disposition, it will be submitted in writing to the IAB investigator and Chief of IAB. In the instance where IAB and HRC reach an impasse regarding the final disposition, the HRC can notify the County Executive Police Accountability Liaison to address the matter. Once the disposition is finalized, the Human Rights investigator and/or police department will provide the final determination and actions to be taken to the complainant.
Statement from Suffolk County Human Rights Commission Administration of Justice Subcommittee: “As you know, the Suffolk County Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force recommended that the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission and its Administration of Justice subcommittee in particular, be given the responsibility for providing civilian oversight of the investigation of complaints about police misconduct. Speaking on behalf of myself and my fellow Commissioners, we are deeply committed to ensuring that the civilian oversight process is one built and conducted with integrity, and that it is fully transparent and accountable to the people of Suffolk County.
Members of the Administration of Justice subcommittee have been meeting regularly with the Commission’s Executive Director Dawn Lott, and the Chair, Lynda Perdomo-Ayala to monitor the evolving structure and procedures as they have been developed, as well as the hiring and training of investigators who will be conducting the first line of oversight of the investigations being undertaken by the police investigators of SCPD Internal Affairs Bureau. Like the Human Rights Commission investigators, members of the Administration of Justice subcommittee have received training from multiple sources related to Internal Affairs policies and procedures including best practices and standards of civilian oversight from experts in the field.
In particular, I want to call attention to the fact that we like the Human Rights Commission Investigators have participated in the same training that police officers are receiving in the use of body worn cameras which we are very hopeful will have a positive effect on police and community interactions and that they will provide a critical element of evidence in the investigation of complaints of police misconduct.
Our role as defined in our mission statement is:
-
1st to Provide an independent, third-party review of complaints filed against Suffolk County Police officers to ensure that civil and human rights have been protected;
- 2nd to Solicit community feedback and input regarding the public’s experiences and interactions with the Suffolk County Police Officers through community engagement and outreach efforts;
- 3rd, to Actively provide the community with pertinent information about the SCPD Internal Affairs investigation process and outcomes;
- And 4th to Monitor progress made in fostering positive relationships between the SCPD and the public of Suffolk County, providing feedback and insights on emerging progress and/or problems to the County Executive and Legislature.
This newly expanded role for the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission is very significant.
Thus, we approach this responsibility with humility knowing that any process needs to have a mechanism for improvement and for incorporating best practices from what is learned in other parts of the nation facing the important challenge of restoring a sense of mutual respect and civic responsibility between Peace Officers and the communities they are charged with serving and protecting.
No system will be perfect, especially one that is newly constructed. However, we will be monitoring the process to see how transparent and integrity-based it is over the course of our work, particularly over the next few months. It is our commitment to you, the people of Suffolk, that if changes are needed to ensure the integrity of the process, we will address them accordingly.
The Human Rights Commission investigators and Administration of Justice subcommittee commissioners will be reviewing all police misconduct complaints in tandem with Internal Affairs. Throughout the process we may make recommendations to the Internal Affairs investigators to pursue additional lines of inquiry. Moreover, after thorough case review by the Human Rights Commission Investigators and the Administration of Justice subcommittee, we will issue our own findings whether it is in agreement with the Internal Affairs decision or not. In the event that the Internal Affairs decision is not in keeping with the Human Rights Commission findings, we will pursue all necessary steps to ensure accountability.
Due to the excellent cooperation, collaboration and leadership of deputy county executive Vanessa Baird Streeter, Deputy Police Commissioner Riscoe Mention-Lewis, and Assistant Chief of Internal Affairs, Millie Soto, we are very hopeful about the effectiveness of this new civilian oversight process. In addition, Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison has consistently assured us of his support welcoming the Administration of Justice Committee to bring unresolved challenges to him directly.
It is our commitment to communicate with Suffolk County residents. We will seek feedback from community members on their experience with the complaint process. We will share our experience and findings with the community and convey the feedback to the County Executive, to his deputy, to the Police Commissioner and his deputies, to the legislature, and to the public.
In closing, we are particularly grateful to the entire Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force, and all of the Suffolk County communities and advocacy groups that laid the foundation for this moment. We affirm our commitment to ensure that complaints of police misconduct are appropriately and accurately investigated so that we all, and every member of every community, can be assured of the trustworthiness of the complaint process for examining police misconduct in Suffolk County.”