"The city’s main independent overseer of the NYPD is operating with less than one-third of its workforce - and might even have more interns than staffers right now - defying Mayor Mamdani's campaign promise to rein in the department's lax internal oversight. Streetsblog has learned that the Office of the Inspector General of the NYPD now has just 10 staffers, down from as many as 37 in 2017. And the Department of Investigation, the mayoral agency that includes the inspector general, has funding to fill just two positions, a spokesperson said."
"A source familiar with the office told Streetsblog that its work has slowed significantly. In the past, staff have typically juggled two dozen open investigations into police policy. As of April, it had just five open cases. When told of these findings, a former investigator with the independent Civilian Complaint Review Board raised the alarm."
"“Only a fully funded inspector general can lead to policy changes by lawmakers and the NYPD itself,” said Mac Muir, who later became the director of police oversight in Oakland after his stint supervising investigations for CCRB. “The other oversight offices [such as CCRB and the NYPD's internal affairs bureau] only respond to complaints, to instances of misconduct usually by individual officers.” Muir called the inspector general's work “critical.”"
"In January 2025, for example, the agency released a report on the “irresponsible and unprofessional” use of social media by officers and leadership. The inspector general's office could be investigating policies such as the criminal crackdown on cyclists instituted by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch or how the NYPD polices protests and public space. But the agency has not released findings on new NYPD practices since January 2025. It last went public in October with an update to a 2023 report about the NYPD's criminal gang database. Since then, it has gone completely silent."
The NYPD’s independent inspector general is operating with fewer than one-third of its workforce, with reports indicating it may have more interns than staff. The Department of Investigation, which includes the inspector general, has funding to fill only two positions. The office’s workload has slowed, with open investigations dropping from roughly two dozen to five by April. A former civilian oversight investigator warns that only a fully funded inspector general can drive policy changes through lawmakers and the NYPD, while other oversight bodies mainly respond to individual complaints. The inspector general released a report in January 2025 on officers’ and leadership’s improper social media use, but has not issued new findings since then.
#nypd-oversight #inspector-general-staffing #police-policy-investigations #police-accountability #department-of-investigation
Read at Streetsblog New York City
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