NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers and the NYPD are getting along better than they have since 2001, according to the annual report released Monday by the City's Civilian Complaint Review Board.
There was a seven percent drop in civilian complaints against police since last year. The board handled 4,460 complaints last year, a 31 percent decrease since 2010.
"In its 23rd year of existence, I can say with confidence and pride that the agency has gone a long way toward strengthening its oversight process to ensure that it is fair both to civilian complaints and and the officers of the New York City Police Department," said acting Chair Deborah Archer.
The positive numbers come in the wake of the resignation of CCRB Chair Richard Emery in April after he made a series of controversial remarks about women and police.
Last year also featured the highest substantiation rate of NYPD officer misconduct in the CCRB's history. The board substantiated 528 complaints against 790 officers last year, much of which is attributed to faster investigations and bystander and surveillance video.
Videos are also helping with exonerations. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has pushed for increased usage of body cameras to capture police actions on film.
"The agency's vast improvements across the board are in line with our commitment to transparency, quality and an effective process for the benefit of civilians and police officers alike," said Executive Director Mina Malik.
The number of chokehold allegations also fell from 2014 to 2015, but the number of substantiated allegations rose 7 percent over the same time period. The city's police faced harsh criticism after Eric Garner's death increased focus on the maneuver.
CCRB's Administrative Prosecution Unit also closed a record number of cases last year. It closed 186 cases last year, an increase of 66 percent from 2014.
Not everything in the report is positive, as police officers are making more official false statements than in the past. The CCRB logged 60 instances in 2015, an amount equal to the previous five years combined.
