The interim chair of the city’s police watchdog agency announced her resignation on Monday, after she criticized the NYPD and pressed for more power for the watchdog agency.
Mayor Eric Adams appointed Arva Rice to chair the Civilian Complaint Review Board in February 2022. But following her criticism of the police department over its handling of evidence around a fatal police shooting, Adams’ office asked for her resignation earlier this year, the New York Times reported.
Rice’s resignation will take effect on Aug. 15, states a copy of her notice, which was obtained by Gothamist.
“I always addressed every issue brought before me, as both a Board member and as Interim Chair, with a fair and balanced approach, whether it met with criticism or applause,” she wrote in her resignation letter.
At the center of the gripe between Rice and Adams is the fatal police shooting of Kawaski Trawick, a 32-year-old who was shot and killed by police in his apartment in 2019. The case resulted in a protracted battle between the CCRB and NYPD, which took a year and a half to turn over key evidence in the case. The review board missed the statute of limitations to file disciplinary charges against the officers involved in the shooting by nearly five months.
After public outrage over the delays, NYPD officials signed an agreement with the board, promising to turn over evidence in police misconduct cases within 90 days — a move that would make it easier for the CCRB to press disciplinary charges against officers. But there are no penalties in place if police fail to meet that deadline.
“We … hope it will ensure officers who commit misconduct cannot avoid discipline due to a technicality,” Rice said of the agreement at the time.
The final say on officer discipline sits with the NYPD, a policy that Rice has argued against. The police commissioner followed the review board’s recommendations on officer discipline in just 55% of cases last year, down from 71% in 2021.
After a yearslong legal process, Police Commissioner Edward Caban announced in April that the two NYPD officers who had confronted Trawick “acted within the law” and would not face discipline.
“The Adams administration has engaged in a death-by-a-thousand-cuts campaign to neutralize the checks and balances in place that hold the NYPD to account,” the nonprofit Legal Aid Society said on Monday in a statement on Rice’s resignation.
Mayor Adams’ office praised Rice’s service on the review board in its own statement on Monday.
“The CCRB is an independent board, and the mayor made it clear to the interim chair that she is more than welcome to serve on the CCRB board to continue to do this important work for New Yorkers,” the statement said. “We wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
Rice did not respond to an inquiry last week.
The New York City Council on Monday praised Rice for “her steady leadership, commitment to civilian oversight and accountability, and willingness to speak candidly about the challenges faced by the board.”
“Our hope is that future chairs will embody these critical values and more,” Council spokesperson Rendy Desamours said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Patrick Hendry, head of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, the NYPD’s largest union, said Rice’s exit was welcome.
“The PBA has been calling for new appointments to CCRB’s board who can instill fairness in its decision-making processes and bring it in line with its City Charter mandate,” he said in a statement. “Unfair treatment at CCRB doesn’t just destroy police officers’ morale — it jeopardizes public safety by driving even more cops out of the NYPD amid the ongoing staffing crisis.”
Elizabeth Kim contributed reporting.