By Rich Bockmann
The city Council’s Public Safety Committee is hoping the new NYPD inspector general can effectively walk the line between deterring crime and protecting civil liberties.
Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest), one of two borough lawmakers on the committee, said he wishes the new appointee the best of luck and will be keeping a watchful eye on his progress.
“Our new inspector general, Philip Eure, has a tough job ahead of him — to make sure that the Police Department is using best practices to keep us safe from a myriad of threats without compromising our civil liberties,” he said. “I wish him well, but I intend to closely monitor his work to ensure that he is helping the police department accomplish both of these objectives.”
Mark Peters, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s pick to head the city Department of Investigation, Friday announced he had chosen Eure, executive director of Washington, D.C.’s Office of Police Complaints, to be the first inspector general to oversee the NYPD.
Eure, 52, said he would work to restore the “public’s confidence” in the city’s police force, mirroring the language the City Council used last year when lawmakers pushed through a package of controversial measures to provide more accountability with the department in the wake of backlash over its stop-and-frisk practices.
“Providing oversight that enriches police work and fosters greater understanding between law enforcement and the public has been the focus of my career,” he said. “I will ensure that we conduct thorough investigations to effect reform that strengthens this city’s law enforcement efforts and the public’s confidence in its police force.
“It is an honor to lead New York City’s first Office of Inspector General for the Police Department and to work in one of the greatest cities and with one of the premier police departments in the world.”
With a majority of the Queens delegation supporting the measure, the Council in August overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of Local Law 70, which created the watchdog position to review and made recommendations on the Police Department’s policies in order to increase “the public’s confidence in the police force.”
The law, along with another that expanded the definition of racial profiling, was drafted at a time when the department’s stop-and-frisk policies were coming under harsh attack. Political hopefuls, including then-candidate de Blasio, were making stop-and-frisk stances part of their political platforms as a federal judge had recently ruled the practices unconstitutional.
Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindlin has appointed a federal monitor who will work in tandem with the new inspector general to oversee the department.
Peters, head of the Investigation Department, said the new IG comes with the experience needed.
“Phil Eure is a nationally recognized police accountability expert who also has years of experience in government law enforcement,” he said. “His tenure leading and shaping an independent oversight agency and working with a major, metropolitan police force gives him extraordinary insight as he works to build DOI’s first NYPD Office of Inspector General.”
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
