OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Syracuse Citizen Review Board (CRB) Meeting - December 4, 2025

Public Meetings — Thursday, December 4, 2025
BodySyracuse, New York
SessionPublic Meetings
DateThursday, December 4, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:48:49

Transcript — Verbatim
4:57

A few more minutes.

5:00

And we'll get going with the meeting.

5:02

Prior to that, I I want to make a general statement.

5:10

The administrator and I, we met with the safety council on Monday to give our uh quarterly report.

5:18

That that report is online.

5:21

Uh if someone wants to be able to read that report.

5:25

Um, and then um what has disturbed me was there was an article written uh by one of the uh the papers, and the title reads, Syracuse Police Watchdog Board missed 57 cases, and the numbers could be higher.

5:42

First of all, I want to make sure that everyone understand that this board is not a police watch watchdog board.

5:49

We are an oversight body, and from this point on, I think everyone should be addressing this board as an oversight body, not as a watchdog.

5:58

It has a negative connotation.

6:00

The other thing about the missed 57 cases, which is misleading, uh, we have not missed 57 cases.

6:07

There were 57 cases that actually expire prior to us um taking on the organization.

6:14

So it's not a matter of missing cases, it's just a matter of those cases never um were able to be heard because they didn't fall within the jurisdiction of the 18 months.

6:24

So we want to make sure that um that information out there to the public because we don't want uh the public thinking that we in fact uh are lacking our responsibility and not looking at cases.

6:36

All the cases that are pending and still within that 18 month certification, we will have those done by the time they reach that point.

6:47

So we're not letting anything slide through the cracks.

6:51

So I just want to make that clear to everyone that uh from this point on, if you can make sure that uh we have the data out there correct, we would appreciate that.

7:01

So can we expect that the date is gonna be corrected?

7:08

Um I mean I understand you guys are addressing me.

7:12

I uh personally will say that I don't really think that's any justification.

7:17

The first line or the fourth line for the wrap of the uh uh 57 cases all expired under the previous administration.

7:28

Um yeah, I honestly don't really, you know, I personally really believe in you guys and want you to succeed in the reality is in my opinion that you were thinking out of a hole a little bit.

7:39

And uh you know, we hope to report on the successes go forward.

7:43

Well, yeah, well, one of the things is is that um for me the first thing when I saw that Syracuse Police Watchdog missed 57 cases before even got through the rest of the uh the rest of the article, it had left a negative connotation with me.

7:58

So um, you know, if if we can uh make sure that we get that data correct, uh that'll be great.

8:05

So with that, um I'd like to open up the meeting.

8:11

Um the December 4th CRB official meeting is now open.

8:18

Um we all do the um the roll call.

8:26

Excuse me.

8:27

Both with the roll call.

8:29

Um at least Baker.

8:32

Okay, not here.

8:34

Uh Linda.

8:36

Okay.

8:37

Um Ada.

8:40

Don Johnson, here.

8:42

Mike Kern?

8:43

Here.

8:44

Harry?

8:45

Here.

8:46

Peggy Chase?

8:47

Here.

8:48

Samyia.

8:49

Not here.

8:50

Octavia?

8:51

Yeah.

8:51

Desire?

8:52

Yeah.

8:53

Okay.

8:54

So we do have a quorum.

8:57

Um, so we can proceed with the um with the um the meeting.

9:03

Uh okay.

9:14

Here we go.

9:21

Okay.

9:21

Oh, go ahead.

9:22

I was gonna say, Dan, I was gonna piggyback on your comments just before you took a ten minutes.

9:26

Okay.

9:28

My questions are in uh they are directed at the reporter, but I don't expect them to answer.

9:33

Um my first question is who wrote the headline?

9:36

And did the reporter write it or an editor?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████79%
Public Safety███████13%
Community Engagement██4%
Personnel Matters██3%
Technology and Innovation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Syracuse Citizen Review Board (CRB) Meeting - December 4, 2025

The Syracuse Citizen Review Board (CRB) held its regular monthly meeting on December 4, 2025. The meeting opened with a statement from Chair Dan addressing a recent article that called the board a "police watchdog" and claimed it "missed 57 cases." The Chair clarified that the CRB is an oversight body, not a watchdog, and that the 57 cases expired under the previous administration and never fell within the board's 18-month jurisdiction. The board approved minutes from November, received reports on staffing and operations, discussed changing meeting dates from Thursdays to Tuesdays, and heard updates on community outreach and training. The meeting closed with thanks to members and plans for a January retreat.

Discussion Items

  • Article Controversy: Chair Dan emphasized the CRB is an oversight body, not a watchdog. Members criticized the article for misleading wording, lack of interviews with previous leadership, and failure to note that the Common Council had not filled board vacancies. The Chair noted that the 57 cases had expired before the current administration took over and were not missed.
  • Staffing Update: A candidate for an investigator position withdrew at the last minute. The position remains open; the administrator and Chair are currently handling investigations. Training on case review was held on November 15th.
  • Backlog of Complaints: Administrator reported that 132 backlogged complaints were discovered (some dating to 2022), with only 38 falling within the 18-month statute of limitations. Those 38 have been addressed. The backlog was partly due to online submissions being routed to a former administrator's defunct email address; this has been fixed.
  • 911 Center Tour: Members Octavia and Desire attended a tour of the 911 center on November 19th, organized by Adonia and Staff. The tour revealed the stress and understaffing of dispatchers. Octavia shared contacts to arrange additional training for new Americans.
  • Meeting Date Change: The board discussed moving monthly meetings from the first Thursday to the first Tuesday to avoid scheduling conflicts. Chair noted the first Thursday in January falls on January 1, so the January meeting is moved to January 8th. Legal guidance will be sought on whether a formal change requires public notice.
  • Community Outreach: The CRB attended Northside Tomorrow's Neighborhood (TNT) meeting and Roberts Middle School's Building Men program, distributing informational cards about police encounters.
  • Quarterly Report with Chief: A quarterly meeting with Syracuse PD Chief and staff included discussion of civilian training for the community and CRB.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes Approved: November meeting minutes were approved by voice vote with no dissent.
  • Staffing Vacancy: The investigator position remains open; the board will explore options to fill it.
  • Online Complaint Fix: IT redirected online complaints to the general CRB email and current staff, resolving the previous routing issue.
  • January Meeting Rescheduled: The next meeting is set for January 8, 2025 (Thursday) due to the New Year holiday; further change to Tuesday is pending legal advice.
  • Community Meeting Scheduled: Member Octavia arranged a February meeting at Northside Learning Center to engage constituents.
  • Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned by motion; the board plans a retreat on January 13th to plan 2026 goals.

Meeting Transcript

A few more minutes. And we'll get going with the meeting. Prior to that, I I want to make a general statement. The administrator and I, we met with the safety council on Monday to give our uh quarterly report. That that report is online. Uh if someone wants to be able to read that report. Um, and then um what has disturbed me was there was an article written uh by one of the uh the papers, and the title reads, Syracuse Police Watchdog Board missed 57 cases, and the numbers could be higher. First of all, I want to make sure that everyone understand that this board is not a police watch watchdog board. We are an oversight body, and from this point on, I think everyone should be addressing this board as an oversight body, not as a watchdog. It has a negative connotation. The other thing about the missed 57 cases, which is misleading, uh, we have not missed 57 cases. There were 57 cases that actually expire prior to us um taking on the organization. So it's not a matter of missing cases, it's just a matter of those cases never um were able to be heard because they didn't fall within the jurisdiction of the 18 months. So we want to make sure that um that information out there to the public because we don't want uh the public thinking that we in fact uh are lacking our responsibility and not looking at cases. All the cases that are pending and still within that 18 month certification, we will have those done by the time they reach that point. So we're not letting anything slide through the cracks. So I just want to make that clear to everyone that uh from this point on, if you can make sure that uh we have the data out there correct, we would appreciate that. So can we expect that the date is gonna be corrected? Um I mean I understand you guys are addressing me. I uh personally will say that I don't really think that's any justification. The first line or the fourth line for the wrap of the uh uh 57 cases all expired under the previous administration. Um yeah, I honestly don't really, you know, I personally really believe in you guys and want you to succeed in the reality is in my opinion that you were thinking out of a hole a little bit. And uh you know, we hope to report on the successes go forward. Well, yeah, well, one of the things is is that um for me the first thing when I saw that Syracuse Police Watchdog missed 57 cases before even got through the rest of the uh the rest of the article, it had left a negative connotation with me. So um, you know, if if we can uh make sure that we get that data correct, uh that'll be great. So with that, um I'd like to open up the meeting. Um the December 4th CRB official meeting is now open. Um we all do the um the roll call. Excuse me. Both with the roll call. Um at least Baker. Okay, not here. Uh Linda. Okay. Um Ada. Don Johnson, here. Mike Kern? Here. Harry? Here. Peggy Chase? Here. Samyia. Not here. Octavia? Yeah. Desire? Yeah. Okay. So we do have a quorum.

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