A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to the investigating, reviewing, studying, and auditing of and making of recommendations relating to the operations, policies, programs and practices of the department of correction by the commissioner of the department of investigation

Int. No.

By The Speaker (Council Member Mark-Viverito)

A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to the investigating, reviewing, studying, and auditing of and making of recommendations relating to the operations, policies, programs and practices of the department of correction by the commissioner of the department of investigation

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

                     Section 1.  Section 803 of chapter 34 of the New York city charter is amended by adding a new subdivision d, relettering current subdivisions d through f as new subdivisions e through g, and amending relettered subdivisions e and f to read as follows:

d.  1. The commissioner shall, on an ongoing basis, investigate, review, study, audit and make recommendations relating to the operations, policies, programs, and practices of the department of correction with the goal of reducing violence in departmental facilities, protecting the safety of departmental employees and inmates, protecting the rights of inmates, and increasing the public's confidence in the correction department.

2. Not later than ninety days after the effective date of the local law that added this subdivision, the commissioner shall report to the council regarding the identity and qualifications of the individual responsible for overseeing the implementation of the duties described in paragraph 1 of this subdivision, the number of personnel assigned to assist that individual, and the details of the management structure covering them.  Upon removal or replacement of the individual responsible for overseeing the implementation of the duties described in paragraph 1 of this subdivision, notification of that removal or replacement, and the identity and qualifications of the new individual responsible for overseeing the implementation of the duties described in paragraph 1 of this subdivision, shall be provided to the council.

3. The mayor, in consultation with the department and the department of correction, shall have the discretion to determine how sensitive information provided to the department in connection with any investigation, review, study, or audit undertaken pursuant to this section shall be treated.  The mayor shall provide the council with any guidelines, procedures, protocols or similar measures related to the treatment of sensitive information that he or she puts in place.  Sensitive information shall mean information concerning (a) ongoing civil or criminal investigations or proceedings; (b) the identity of confidential sources, including protected witnesses; (c) intelligence matters; or (d) other matters the disclosure of which would constitute a serious threat to the safety of any person.

4. The chief of the department of correction’s investigation division, or any other division or unit of the department of correction responsible for investigating violence in its facilities, including but not limited to the investigation division and intelligence unit of the department of correction, shall report to the commissioner any problems and deficiencies relating to the department of correction's operations, policies, programs and practices that he or she has reason to believe would adversely affect the effectiveness of the department, inmate or staff safety, or the public's confidence in the department of correction, and that would be relevant to the duties of the commissioner as described in paragraph 1 of this subdivision.

5. No officer or employee of an agency of the city shall take any adverse personnel action with respect to another officer or employee in retaliation for his or her making a complaint to, disclosing information to, or responding to queries from the commissioner pursuant to activities undertaken under paragraph 1 of this subdivision unless the complaint was made or the information was disclosed with the knowledge that it was false or with willful disregard for its truth or falsity.  Any officer or employee who believes he or she has been retaliated against for making such complaint to, disclosing such information to, or responding to such queries from the commissioner may report such action to the commissioner as provided for in subdivision c of section 12-113 of the administrative code.

6. The department's website shall provide a link for individuals to report any problems and deficiencies relating to the department of correction’s operations, policies, programs and practices.  Individuals making such reports shall not be required to provide personally identifying information.

e[d]. 1. For any investigation made pursuant to subdivision a or b of this section, the commissioner shall prepare a written report or statement of findings and shall forward a copy of such report or statement to the requesting party, if any. In the event that any matter investigated, reviewed, studied, or audited pursuant to this section involves or may involve allegations of criminal conduct, the commissioner, upon completion of the investigation, review, study, or audit, shall also forward a copy of his or her written report or statement of findings to the appropriate prosecuting attorney, or, in the event the matter investigated, reviewed, studied, or audited involves or may involve a conflict of interest or unethical conduct, to the conflicts of interest board.

2. For any investigation, review, study, or audit made pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision c or paragraph one of subdivision d of this section, the commissioner shall prepare a written report or statement of findings and, upon completion, shall forward a copy of such report or statement to the mayor, the council, and either the commissioner of the department of correction or the police commissioner, as applicable[ upon completion]. Within ninety days of receiving such report or statement, the police commissioner or commissioner of the department of correction, as applicable, shall provide a written response to the commissioner, the mayor, and the council. Each such written report or statement, along with a summary of its findings, as well as the reports described in paragraph 3 of this subdivision, shall be posted on the department's website in a format that is searchable and downloadable and that facilitates printing no later than ten days after it is delivered to the mayor, the council, and either the commissioner of the department of correction or [, and ]the police commissioner, as applicable. All such reports, statements, and summaries so posted on the department's website shall be made easily accessible from a direct link on the homepage of the website of the department.

3. In addition to the reports and statements of findings to be delivered to the mayor, the council, the commissioner of the department of correction, and the police commissioner pursuant to paragraph 2 of this subdivision, there shall be an annual summary report on the activities undertaken pursuant to paragraph 1 of subdivision c and paragraph one of subdivision d of this section containing the following information: (a) a description of all significant findings from the investigations, reviews, studies, and audits conducted in the preceding year; (b) a description of the recommendations for corrective action made in the preceding year; (c) an identification of each recommendation described in previous annual reports on which corrective action has not been implemented or completed; and (d) the number of open investigations, reviews, studies, or audits that have been open, as of the close of the preceding calendar year, for a time period of 1) six months up to and including one year, 2) more than one year up to and including two years, 3) more than two years up to and including three years, and 4) more than three years. The annual summary report required by this paragraph relating to the police department shall be completed and delivered to the mayor, the council, and the police commissioner on April 1, 2015 and every April 1 thereafter. The annual summary required by this paragraph relating to the department of correction shall be completed and delivered to the mayor, the council, and the police commissioner on April 1, 2017 and every April 1 thereafter.

f[e]. The jurisdiction of the commissioner shall extend to any agency, officer, or employee of the city, or any person or entity doing business with the city, or any person or entity who is paid or receives money from or through the city or any agency of the city.

g[f]. The commissioner shall forward to the council and to the mayor a copy of all reports and standards prepared by the corruption prevention and management review bureau, upon issuance by the commissioner.

                           § 2. Section 804 of chapter 34 of the New York City charter is amended to read as follows:

                           § 804. Complaint bureau. There shall be a complaint bureau in the department which shall receive complaints from the public, including, but not limited to, complaints about any problems and deficiencies relating to the new york city police department's or the new york city department of correction’s operations, policies, programs and practices.

§ 3. Chapter 34 of the New York city charter is amended by adding a new section 808 to read as follows:

§ 808 Evaluation and recommendations. a. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Actions, claims, and investigations. The term “actions, claims, and investigations” means information reported pursuant to section 7-112 of the code, notices of claim filed against the department of correction and/or individual correction officers received by the comptroller, settlements of claims filed against the department of correction and/or individual correction officers by the comptroller, complaints received and investigations conducted by the board of correction, complaints received and any investigations regarding such complaints conducted by the department of correction, complaints received pursuant to section 804, and any criminal arrests and/or investigations of individual correction officers known to the department of correction. 

Inspector general for the department of correction. The term “inspector general for the department of correction” means the individual responsible for implementing the duties set forth in paragraph 1 of subdivision d of section 803.

b. The inspector general for the department of correction shall, in consultation with the law department, comptroller, department of correction, and board of correction, collect and evaluate information regarding individual correction officer misconduct and develop recommendations relating to the discipline, training and monitoring of correction officers and related operations, policies, programs, and practices of the department of correction. In developing such recommendations, the inspector general for the department of correction shall consider, at a minimum, the following information:

1.  patterns or trends identified by analyzing actions, claims, and investigations;

2. comparison of actions reported pursuant to section 7-112 of the code with information concerning any incidents alleged to have given rise to such civil action contained in other actions, claims, and investigations, including a comparison of both open and closed civil actions with other open and closed actions, claims, and investigations, as applicable; 

3. any acts by the department of correction in response to any actions, claims, and investigations, including any investigations conducted, disciplinary actions, or changes in its operations, policies, programs, and practices;

4. recommendations issued by the law department, comptroller, department of correction, and board of correction to combat corruption in the department of correction related to actions, claims, and investigations; 

5. information on collaboration and information sharing procedures between the inspector general for the department of correction, law department, comptroller, department of correction, and board of correction, including but not limited to an assessment of the effectiveness of such collaboration and procedures, any recommendations for improving such collaboration and procedures, and any changes made to such collaboration and procedures.

c. The inspector general for the department of correction shall submit a report containing the evaluation and recommendations required by subdivision b of this section to the speaker of the council, mayor, law department, comptroller, department of correction, and board of correction and publish such report on the department’s website by April 30, 2017 and annually thereafter until May 1, 2019 after which such report shall be submitted every 5 years.

d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the commissioner to investigate any matter related to the department of correction as authorized in this chapter.

                           § 4. This local law takes effect 60 days after it becomes law.

BC

LS 6096

6/28/16