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Q&A
Legal feasibility of transferring final disciplinary authority to CCRB via charter
2:05:12
·
110 sec
Chair Richard R. Buery Jr. asks if state law or collective bargaining agreements impact the Police Commissioner's final disciplinary authority, potentially hindering charter reform.
DeRay Mckesson and Cassandra Ippaso explain that the NYC Charter currently precludes collective bargaining over discipline by granting sole authority to the commissioner.
Therefore, unlike in some other jurisdictions (e.g., Rochester), state labor law (Taylor Law) does not prevent transferring final disciplinary authority to the CCRB via a charter amendment.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
2:05:12
I'm sorry.
2:05:12
Have one final question.
2:05:14
Is there anything in state law and I'm sorry.
2:05:17
People in the room the the room, the acoustics here are very loud.
2:05:20
So if you even whisper, I can hear.
2:05:21
So if we can try to step outside, can have a conversation.
2:05:25
Is there anything in state law that collective a bargaining agreement that impacts the police commissioner's final authority?
DeRay Mckesson
2:05:33
So not the bargain agreement.
2:05:34
So we have the only database of police union contracts in the country.
2:05:37
Most places do bargain discipline.
2:05:39
New York City, the NYPD cannot bargain discipline because the charter precludes it.
2:05:44
With the charter saying that the police chief is the only person that can discipline that removes this as a bargainable topic.
2:05:50
So in that case, no.
2:05:51
Not subject to bargaining.
2:05:52
We do have language that we would like you to to use that doesn't open us up to bargaining later because I think it is a good thing that we don't bargain discipline, in the city.
2:06:02
There is no state law that precludes the CCRB from having the power to discipline.
2:06:06
When this topic comes up, there's a lot of emotional arguments about why this is necessarily a bad thing.
2:06:12
It is not an illegal thing.
Cassandra Ippaso
2:06:14
Yeah.
2:06:14
And the only thing I'll add to that is New York City so you might have heard of the Rochester case in 2023, where the oversight board, it was ruled that they did not have final disciplinary decision power.
2:06:26
What's different about New York City is that Rochester relinquished that control in 1985.
2:06:31
New York City has never relinquished that control.
2:06:33
So Taylor's law does not apply in the case of New York City.
2:06:37
And so because of that, because this New York City charter dictates, you know, who has final disciplinary decision power, state law isn't relevant in this in in New York City specifically.
DeRay Mckesson
2:06:47
And what Cassie means by relinquished control, there was a period in Rochester where they did negotiate and bargain discipline.
2:06:53
That is not the case in New York City.
2:06:55
It has always been very clear that the police chief is the sole operative discipline.
Cassandra Ippaso
2:06:59
Because of the New York City charter.
Shams DaBaron
2:07:01
Because of charter.