(RepublicanView.org) – Arva Rice, an outspoken leader of the New York Police Department watchdog, announced her resignation in a letter to New York City Mayor Eric Adams last week.
In the letter, Rice thanked Adams for appointing her as interim chairwoman of the Civilian Complaint Review Board and confirmed that she would leave her post on August 15, 2024. Rice refrained from criticizing Adams and policy decisions made under his leadership – something she certainly hasn’t refrained from doing during her time in office – and thanked him for the opportunity to hold the city’s police to account. She also listed her achievements, explaining how she reduced investigation times, improved transparency by publishing redacted closing reports and a further report about the police response to the riots in 2020, and started investigating complaints about police profiling.
While Rice’s announcement was sudden, it wasn’t entirely unexpected, according to reports. She and Mayor Adams have reportedly had a strained relationship for some time now. She was previously asked to resign by an adviser to the mayor, Philip Banks, who was displeased over her public criticism of budget cuts across the NYPD. Rice was also vocally critical of an incident in 2019 involving the police shooting of a black man, Kawaski Trawick, in his Bronx home. Rice accused the police department of withholding body camera footage relating to the incident.
Rice was appointed to the NYPD oversight board in 2022 by Mayor Adams but has been at odds with him since earlier this year.
The announcement has already drawn more criticism to Mayor Adams. Chris Dunn, the director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, argued that the resignation was one incident in a long string of examples of the Adams administration undermining accountability for the police.
Dunn said that NYPD abuse reports have now reached their “highest level in more than a decade,” meaning that New Yorkers need more accountability than ever.
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