excessive or unnecessary force, abuse of author, abuse of authority, discourtesy, or the use of offensive language. The board itself is made up of 15 members whose appointments are meant to reflect New York City in all its diversity. Five members are appointed by the mayor. Five are appointed by this council. Three are designated by the police commissioner and approved by the mayor. One is appointed by the public advocate. The chair is jointly appointed by the mayor and the speaker of the city council. The agency's entirely civilian staff investigates complaints, gathers evidence, interviews witnesses and officers, and then shares the results of that investigation with the board. The board reviews the investigation and meets to determine whether or not to substantiate allegations of misconduct. In cases where the board substantiates misconduct, it recommends discipline. Those findings and recommendations are then transmitted to the police commissioner who retains the final authority on all disciplinary matters for New York City Police Department officers. In the most serious cases of alleged misconduct, the CCB's administrative prosecution unit, the APU, will prosecute an administrative trial. The NYPD's deputy commissioner for trials and her team preside over these trials. The results of those trials are also transmitted to the police commissioner for her final decision. The scale of the work this agency does not does cannot be overstated. We measure our work in complaints and allegations. A complaint is an incident where a civilian believes misconduct occurred. An allegation describes a possible violation of part of the NYPD patrol guide. Complaints may contain more than one allegation and involve more than one subject officer. In 2025, the CCB received 5,617 complaints, the second highest number of complaints in a decade. It received 22,172 specific allegations. Of those, the agency fully investigated 270 complaints and 14,953 allegations. Our investigation substantiated 987 complaints and 3,173 allegations against 1,357 individual members of service. That means the CCB substantiated 21.22% of the allegations we fully investigated. Put another way, the CCB substantiated at least one allegation and 47.68% 68% of the complaints we fully investigated. New Yorkers have the right to report allegations of police misconduct to this agency, and it is a right that New Yorkers have been exercising with increased frequency in recent years. Whether a complaint is substantiated or not, the CCB's job is to treat that complaint seriously and find the truth. We owe this to civilians and police officers. The increase in complaints outpaced the CCB's capacity to respond to complaints in a timely manner. In 2025, on average, it took 432 days to close a fully investigated case. This is the fastest average time to close a fully investigated complaint in 5 years, but it is still too long. In order for our system of public safety to work for everyone, both civilians and police officers, it is vital that the CCB be given the resources to ensure all complaints can be investigated in a timely fashion and that the evidence can be followed wherever it leads. To that end, the AY's budget request for fiscal year 2027 would provide enough funding to support all of its functions as an independent police oversight agency. 65,94,437 and an authorized agency headcount of 500 people. This is an increase of roughly $36 million and 233 staff members over the enacted FY26 budget. It represents less than 1% of the New York City Police Department's overall budget and headcount. If this request was granted in full, the agency would have roughly 500 people to oversee the work of 35,000 sworn members of service. We believe this is what a fully funded agency would look like. Historically, the CCB has been underfunded and underresourced. Changes to the city charter gave additional authority and responsibilities to the agency, including investigating allegations, untruthful statements, as well as racial profiling and bias-based policing allegations. The changes to the charter also gave the agency the power to initiate investigations without having received a complaint. This tension between resources and obligations led the agency to make difficult decisions to prioritize where and how to use the resources at our disposal. On January 20 on January 1st, 2024, the CCB implemented a policy we call the strategic resource allocation determination or ESRAD. This policy was enacted due to the shortage of investigators as compared to the increased number of complaints the CCB received. Under this policy, certain types of allegations of misconduct were closed as unable to investigate when they were not part of a larger complaint. In 2025 alone, roughly 1,390 complaints were closed under ESRAD. ESRAD is unfair to both officers and civilians. When misconduct is alleged, it helps no one to leave these allegations uninvestigated. If the incident represents a violation of the NYPD patrol guide, the civilian should know that the officer was held accountable. If the incident was not a violation, the officer deserves to know they acted appropriately and the civilian deserves an explanation. This is how the CCB as an institution would build trust. Being unable to investigate allegations due to budgetary constraints harms all parties. While the increased budget from fiscal year 2026 enabled the CCB to reduce the scope of ESRAD, we were unable to eliminate it entirely. That is why we are requesting a full budget today to ensure we are able to investigate every complaint we receive that is within our jurisdiction. Despite a lack of funding and increases to the agency's jurisdiction as well as to the number of complaints, the quality of the CCB investigations improved. In fact, we increased the number of fully investigated cases in which we provided a finding on the merits. What does this mean? In 2025, the agency closed just 16.2% 2% of allegations in fully investigated complaints is unable to determine the lowest percentage on record. Bodywn cameras factor importantly in this trend as they provide key evidence that allows the agency to resolve more complaints than ever before on the merits. We've also made efficiency a key agency goal for 2026, soliciting feedback from our entire workforce to uncover new ways to be better in our work each day. Efficiency alone is not enough to respond to the scale of the work our agency faces each year. To do that, we need additional staffing, and our budget request captures those needs. The investigations unit makes up the bulk of our workforce. They carry out the day-to-day work of factf finding and interviewing. This unit requires an additional 86 staff spread across several investigator roles in order to fully address New Yorkers complaints. These are some of the most critical positions in the agency. Filling them is essential to meeting our duties under the city charter. Additionally, the increased overall number of investigators would allow the workload to be spread across a much wider base of staff, shortening overall investigation timelines. An efficient CCB isn't only able to investigate more cases, it's also able to do so more quickly. When this council directed the CCB to investigate racial profiling and bias-based policing allegations, it also funded the creation of a team to conduct those investigations. These investigations require require specialized training and a different workflow from our general investigations. That team currently has 27 staff members, but is in need of an additional 37 positions to fully meet our responsibilities under the city charter, including managers, supervisors, and investigators. In 2012, the CCB signed a memorandum of understanding with the NYPD to establish the Administrative Prosecution Unit or APU. The APU prosecutes the most serious cases of alleged misconduct administrative trials before an NYPD trial commissioner. As of now, this unit has 23 staff. It needs two additional positions to help handle the workload associated with administrative trials. The additional support will further increase efficiency and reduce timelines associated with these cases. The CCRB's outreach unit is the face of the CCB for many New Yorkers. They go into communities, schools, gyms, barber shops, and everywhere New Yorkers gather to explain how the CCB works and how to file a complaint. Their vital work includes initiatives such as CCB Courtzside, where we interact with New Yorkers on basketball courts and at other organized sporting events. CCB Cares, where we partner with community organizations during charitable activities such as community cleanups and food pantries. This unit requires eight new staff to spread the word across all five burrows about the work of the CCB. Communicating with New Yorkers is a key responsibility for any agency within city government, but is especially true for the CCB. Many New Yorkers are unaware of the CCB and their rights in an interaction with police officers. For this reason, the agency needs to be supported in its efforts to perform targeted engagement with a diverse group of New Yorkers. Excuse me. These efforts share information about how to file a complaint and uh providing this type of information to the public where they are can help increase overall trust in the system of public safety. This makes New York safer for everyone, police and civilians alike. Beyond these core areas, the agency has many needs in our other support offices. Whether it's new attorneys to support our office of the general counsel, new specialists to help our human resources department, or new information technology that provide less visible work, but no less important work to help the agency operate and fulfill its mission. I also want to reiterate the importance of having a fully staffed board. We currently only have 11 of the required 15 board member positions filled. The lack of a full complement of board members impacts our work, slowing the overall time it takes to reach a conclusion in an investigation. In 2025, fully investigated cases had to wait an average of 156 days before being reviewed by a board panel. This delay is directly related to the lack of a full board and burdens the civilians and police officers who are waiting to see the results of CCB investigations. Filling all board member positions would be a simple and effective way to increase the AY's efficiency. The work of the CCB is essential to assure accountability for the members of the New York City Police Department. That is why Mayor David Dinkens supported the transition of the CCB into the independent agency it is today. That is why the staff tirelessly performs the work they do day in and day out. The CCB is the gold standard against which police review boards across the nation are measured. With the support of this council, I believe we can do even better. All right. Uh thank you so much for your testimony and thank you uh for being here. So I have a few questions and also obviously thank you for all the work you do in investigating uh police misconduct cases including in especially in areas like the Bronx area that has been affected by that. Few questions regarding headcount and also funding requests. Specifically I want to ask about the new needs request submitted by the board. If approved, this would increase the board's budget by approximately 150%. Right. >> Correct. >> How are you evaluating whether a quick substantial increase or slow gradual increase is the best way to approach uh this issue? >> It's a it's a very interesting question. Uh Mr. chair the the request is the agency's best estimate as to what the needs of the agency are to do our work and that is investigate all the complaints that come before our agency that are within our jurisdiction as quickly as possible. We have taken steps to make sure that should the request be granted, we are able to hire up and then have places for people to work once we get that funding. >> If and this is a by the way a conversation that we've been having with almost every single agency, hiring, retaining, and etc. So if if your budget request is approved, what are recruitment initiatives that you would implement to quickly fill uh those positions? So, the CCRB hasn't had a dedicated uh recruiter in several years. We have just identified one uh and we're hoping to onboard them in the next uh month and using the recruiter. We're really going to focus on uh local CUTUNI universities to bring in uh the new investigators that that we're going to need to staff up. not just CUNI but also all around the city. >> You somewhat mentioned this in your testimony, but what are areas and investigations you're unable to complete due to the budget restrictions and also what are areas that you would be interested or prioritizing in terms of uh expansions. So, the strategic resource allocation determination since we've enacted it in 2024 has impacted 3,473 complaints. In 2026 alone, there have been 199 cases in which we've had to close without any investigation. So, so the original policy included complaints that either only had the following alleging allegations or some combination of just these allegations. forcible removal to the hospital, of which there were 175 in 2024, threats, refusal to process a civilian complaint about a member of the NYPD, and the underlying complaint was not a CCB complaint, failure to provide right to NOAC cards, property seizures, involve refusal to provide name or refusal to provide a shield number discourteous words or actions and untruthful statements. As a result of the council's increase to the agency's budget in FY26, the at the start of this year, the CCB removed uh forcible removal to the hospital from the ESRAD policy. Uh so we are now investigating allegations of forcible removal to the hospital uh even if that is the only allegation contained within uh the complaint. >> Okay. A few questions on retention. What is the salary range for your investigator uh levels? Is the salary range a main reason why investigators leave the CCB? And also will the budget request address the salary issue? The budget request would address the salary issue because it would it would budget it would it would budget investigator salaries at level three incumbent rate which means that we would be able to promote people in a timely way when they are deserving of promotion uh so that we could better retain them. Currently, the starting salary for a level one investigator is $49,148. For a level two investigator, 58,000. And then for a level three investigator who is an incumbent, $80,469. >> All right, a few questions about uh bodywn camera footage. How many hours of footage were collected by CCRB in FY25? and how has this affected the timeline of investigations? Also, what is the biggest cause for the increased time to complete an investigation? Lack of investigators. Anything else? Any other factors? >> So, I'm going to deal with the body warn camera question first. In 25 in 2025, the CCB requested 3,10 uh made 3,10 requests for bodywn camera footage. As a result, uh we received 2,430 positive responses with 25,818 uh videos. The average positive response time by the NYPD for unredacted videos is eight business days. I'm sorry, is eight calendar days with regard to your the second uh Mr. Chair, if you could repeat this the second question. >> Yes, sorry, I asked like five questions at once. What is the biggest cause for the increased time to complete an investigation? >> So, interestingly, we've been a able to shave investigation times slightly in recent years. We're down to 430 days to complete a fully investigated complaint, which but by far the the biggest driver in the increase is the increased number of complaints combined with the uh lack of investigators, which is why we need more investigators so that we can spread the work out among different individuals. so they can do the work faster. >> Yeah. 430 days just to complete an investigation. That's a very long time. Um Yeah. Do you project all investigations will be completed within the previous target time frame of 120 days that we're able to provide this new funding or do you foresee any obstacles? >> So one of the obstacles would be if the board is not fully staffed. The board itself right now has four vacancies which is separate from the issue of staffing. Uh and that that will be a bottleneck uh if even if the staffing request is fully met. >> All right. Thank you for the information. I have some more questions, but I'll pause for now. I'll pass it on to Council Member Kaban stepped out briefly, so I'll pass it on to Council Member Wong. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Um, uh, before I before I start my questions, uh, could you explain Oh, before could you move up your mic because, uh, so we could better hear you. Yeah. Just Yeah. Move at Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. >> Sorry, council member. >> No, no problem. Um, I read here that your agency has the power to initiate investigations without having to receive a complaint. So, where do you where do you investigate then? If there's no complaint, who do you investigate? >> So, the the CCRB has a process in place to evaluate essentially news to see if there is an incident that we should investigate. Sometimes there are fatalities that result in no one being available to file a complaint. Since the CCB has been given the power, we have not used it. One of those one of the reasons for that is that we're closing more than a thousand complaints a year because we don't have the resources to investigate complaints that we receive from the people of the city. It would not be fair to them that we're investigating other incidents without investigating the complaints that they filed. Okay. Um, thank you for the clarification. I'm going to stop with my questions. Um, accountability is important, but it has to be fair, timely, and grounded in facts, not ideology. And many of my constituents, and many of them are officers, feel that CCB is quicker to assume misconduct than to recognize how complex and dangerous policing can be, especially in high crime or high tension situations. Um, how do you respond to the criticism from officers and many in the public that CCP often assumes misconduct first and ask questions later, especially in high-profile or politically charged cases. So, I think you just need to look at the statistics to see that the CCB is not substantiating complaints at an abnormally high level. What you have seen is that the rate of substantiated complaints for fully investigated cases has gone up, but it has also gone up for unfounded complaints and within guideline complaints. And the reason those three categories have increased is because the category of unable to determine has gone down. And the reason we are able to make determinations on the merits in so many more cases is because bodywn cameras. The police commissioner testified earlier today about how important bodywn cameras are to policing and civilian oversight and she is correct and they make a huge difference. And the if you if you look at the actual data that the CCB produces, the vast majority of officers who are investigated, we do not substantiate misconduct against them. >> Okay. Uh my next question is when NYPD's internal review clears an officer but CCB reaches a different conclusion, what objective standard do you use to justify overriding the judgment of the chain of command that actually runs the department? The reason the CCB was made an independent civilian entity is because it was determined that there should be independent civilian oversight of the NYPD. That's why the police commissioner herself is a civilian. The CCB >> Can I finish? >> Conclude and you could take time for another question or two. the uh the CCB is an independent entity and we are going to come up with different conclusions than the NYPD sometimes. But if you look at what has happened since Commissioner Tish has become police commissioner, there is concurrence between uh the NYPD and the CCB about discipline matters at an extremely high rate. Where there is disagreement, there is friction. It is it is at times frustrating. And I could see why if you are a member of the NYPD, you would be frustrated by it. But that is a healthy tension that shows there is actual independence for my agency. Okay. Now, your investigations often take more than a year. Now, in the meantime, the officers careers, promotions, and reputations are on hold. So why should we expand CCP's budget before it demonstrates that it can resolve cases faster and more consistently with the resources it already has? So I think the agency has shown it is committed to finding efficiencies and reducing investigation times and the the numbers in the PMMR show that the best way to reduce investigation times is to grant the budget requests so that we could hire more investigators and complete our investigations faster. >> Okay. Um, chair, do I have more time for another question? >> Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. All right. When when an officer is fully clear, what is your position on sealing the CCB case records so the unfounded allegations do not shadow that officer's career forever online? So the CCB is go is our records are governed by uh the Freedom of Information Law in New York State and we evaluate all of the requests we get for information and all of the uh all the information that we publish based on the freedom of information law. There are exceptions for uh privacy rights of the of individuals and we evaluate every request and every piece of data we we publish to make sure that the uh privacy rights of individual members of service are respected. I recently had a conversation with our general counsel and uh we are making sure that our foil unit is reviewing cases uh is reviewing requests and what we are putting online to make sure that we are not inappropriately unfairly disparaging members of service uh and their reputations with the information we publish. Okay. Um, do you feel CCB's work has actually improved public safety? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. >> Thank you so much. A few questions on staffing. So, obviously when we have staffing issues, that creates a lot of challenges in terms of the cases that that you're not not able to get to. So due to the staffing issues, what are the issues that you've prioritized and what are issues that you've had to somewhat put to the side given that you don't have enough staff to handle? >> So really the strategic resource allocation determination, Mr. uh Mr. Chair, is is the that is the policy we created to show our prioritization. Uh and the fact that we after the council and the prior administration increased the headcount took forcible removal to the hospital as that was our first uh allegation that we removed from the policy shows that we are committed to investigating complaints about improper removal to the hospital. But we try to address complaints in order of the importance of the severity of the injury to the civilian and the interest that the council and prior administrations have shown in the different types of misconduct. >> Okay. In the first four months of fiscal year 2026, the board received about 2,95 complaints, a slight increase from fiscal year 2025. What units in the NYPD generate the most complaints? >> You know what, Mr. Chair? I should know that, but I don't, and I'll get it back to you. >> Or what are issues that you consistently see or have seen this past year? Uh excessive force is is a common allegation uh discourtesy uh in the abuse of authority category. We we get uh now that we are investigating racial profiling, bias-based policing, we have a sizable number of those complaints. We also just have uh stop question and frisk, improper car stops, allegations such as that. >> What are some examples of excessive force that you've seen? And obviously investigating, so you don't need to get into the details or provide super specifics, but if you could give us some general idea of what exactly are the general excessive force cases. So, excessive force can vary from seemingly very minor, which is uh the amount of force used while trying to affffectuate an arrest to extremely serious, such as the use of a firearm or a taser. and and we use the standards of the patrol guide and the law to evaluate all allegations of misconduct whether force or uh abuse of authority, discourtesy, offensive language. >> Okay. From uh the PMMR, we saw the preliminary mayor's management report, we saw that the rate of officers discipline jumped substantially from 29% in the first four months of FY25 to 93% in the first four months of FY2026. So just wondering how has it been working with the current police commissioner on this issue of discipline and how does that compare to previous commissioners? So, I just want to say the first thing with regard to discipline that Commissioner Tish did was reverse the department's prior policy of rejecting all substantiated CCB complaints that resulted in discipline that they received more than uh 90 business days from the expiration of the statute of limitations or not more less than 90 business days. It's like four months that her reversing that policy enables the department to actually look at the complaints that we're sending to them, look at those recommendations for discipline, and then determine whether the CCB is right or wrong. And I think by her making the decision to invest the department's time and attention into these matters has made a substantial change in a substantial impact on how this the CCB how the NYPD is treating CCB recommendations of discipline. >> All right. Thank you for the information. I'll pass it on to Council Member Nurse for some questions. I might have fully forgot what I wanted to say, but um in the earlier testimony from the police commissioner, she noted that um she was aligned with the uh CCB's ruling for 90 for 90% of the cases that she took on. And I just wanted to we didn't get a data number on how many were recommended for um to be taken on versus how many were taken on. >> Sorry, I spent a long day trying to make intelligence. >> Council member, I I I think I understand what you're saying. Are you asking how many >> how many cases did you recommend move forward for discipline? because she's saying 90% of the cases that she picked up to move forward with discipline she was in alignment with but how many I'm trying to understand what the pool >> so part of the problem is it's not apples to apples okay because the discipline process unfortunately takes too long and so there are complaints that the CCB closed in 2024 that were that are still open now >> okay >> right there there are frankly a few very old cases involving incidents that happened eight, nine years ago. So, it's it's it is tough to give you the number you're looking for. >> Yeah. >> But what the police commissioner testified to is accurate. In the cases that are getting to her desk, so like they have gone through the CCB's process and then gone through the department's internal >> discipline process. She is agreeing with the CCB close to 90% of the time. But in relationship to what you all have in the pipeline slow dripping down there, it's it's what like a tiny it's a small amount like it's a sizable amount. So the there is a there is a sizable amount I would say approximately 500 cases in the administrative prosecution unit that have not taken have not been disposed of. There is either needs to be a trial or a plea in those cases. The administrative prosecution unit has has worked very hard to try and resolve try or resolve. So either have the administrative proceeding or have a plea to resolve cases. And if you uh and the numbers have gone way up in terms of dispositions in the APU as a result of number one, the increase in staffing that the APU received, but also movements in the department advocates office and by the administrative prosecution unit to make the process more efficient. Mhm. So, we're making progress, but it's we got a long way to go. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay, that's it. Thank you. >> All right. Anyone else has any other questions, Council Member Wong. Okay, cool. Sounds good. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining today. I really appreciate your testimony and all the information. also all the work that you do on on the important issues that uh you work on. >> On behalf of the staff and board, I just wanted to say thank you for listening. >> Thank you. All right. Now, we'll hear from the mayor's office of criminal justice, MACJ, uh the mayor's office that focuses on many issues, including uh resources for individuals uh that are incarcerated and also re-entry programs and also general violence interruption. We'll hear from Danna Logan, Nora Daniel, Candace Julian, and Robert Fiato. I'll pass it to the committee clerk uh for uh some procedural items. >> Please raise your right hand. Do you affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before this committee and to respond honestly to council members questions? >> I do. >> Thank you. May begin. First, I want to say thank you for having us. And good afternoon, Chair Feliz and Council Member Nurse, we know it's been a really long day for all of you. So, we are grateful uh for your stamina and for your attention. Um, Chair Feliz and members of the council, it's my pleasure to be here today. My name is Diana Logan and I am the director of the mayor's office of criminal justice, which we affectionately call MC. At the heart of Mach Jay's work is in fact the ability to work towards making New York City a fairer and safer place for all. Every program that we operate, every partnership we build, and every single one of your dollars that you give us is invested in making sure and guiding a clear goal of communities safer, stronger, and using public dollars wisely. Our office is focused on addressing not just criminal legal system but also the underlying issues driving that system involvement. When we invest in people thoughtfully, strategically, and guided by data, we generate real return on that investment. Programs that connect people to services, put roofs over their heads, help them rebuild their lives, and stabilize families and neighborhoods ultimately cost a fraction of what it takes to incarcerate someone on Rikers. And our outcomes are far better. Through initiatives like supervised release, alternatives to incarceration, and the community justice re-entry network, we're keeping thousands of people out of jail every year. This is what it looks like when government works for New Yorkers. You may have heard me say recently that public health is public safety. And a core part of our strategy is recognizing that our public health and public safety systems have symbiotic relationships and research is our foundation. We studied the patterns associated with people who are at heightened risk of entering into the criminal legal system and having that ongoing involvement. What did we learn? Many people who are cycling through the legal system are navigating complex multiple combination of challenges. Housing instability, trauma, untreated mental health needs, substance use disorder, and economic hardships. Addressing only one of those challenges at a time doesn't work. This is why we still have gaps in our safety nets. Addressing all of those challenges together does work to close those gaps. And we are now filling in those gaps by coordinating and collaborating continuously with our partners at the New York City Department of Correction, the New York City Department of Probation, the city's health agencies, our district attorney's offices, our indigent defense providers, and a host of great community partners. That coordination is paying dividends. Mach is committed to strengthening the pipeline connecting people leaving custody to transitional housing, job training, mental health services, and community- based mentorship. Our expansion of emergency transitional housing is especially crit is an especially critical component with more than a 100 beds coming online in the upcoming months to give more New Yorkers a stable place to lay their head during the vulnerable period of rebuilding their life. We are also strengthening workforce development. Of course, training is key and that has been a heart of of all of the programmatic work that deals with workforce, but people need to be equipped with skills to do the job and we know that. However, connecting the skilled person with the employer is critical. We're investing in programs that include placement services and employer partnerships and sustained career pathways so participants can achieve the financial stability needed to support their families. Thank you to second chance employers that understand lived experience and the trauma that accompanies it and who provide not only opportunity but grace and space as formerly incarcerated people acclimate to the work environment. When people have meaningful work and stable housing, they are less likely to return to the criminal legal system, benefiting entire communities. If you indulge me for a quick story, and I know we've been here a while, and there's more people after me, but I want to I want to kind of explain to you what we see. I recently had the opportunity to sit down in a healing circle, and you heard earlier from Da Gonzalez about the Project Restore Project. that started as a pilot and thank you to city council and funding for making it baseline for Brooklyn. But I got to sit down with a number of the participants from that project restore that mockj helped start the pilot and that was the collaboration with the Brooklyn DA's office, mayor's office of mental health and bed sty also came in to work on that and we often ask ourselves what does public safety look like? What does it sound like? And honestly, sitting down in that healing circle, that's what public safety looks like and sounds like. It sounds like 10 young men from Bedstey, all with verified history of gun and gang involvement working out their trauma to build better lives for themselves. Now, these men I met first about two plus years ago when they were each in rival street crews sitting next to their former rivals, now their friends collaborating on community safety and mental health initiatives. They talked about the families that they talked about the families that they're now supporting, the degrees that they are getting, the careers that they are starting and pursuing. because they had the support to break a cycle, the cycle that continues to push them towards the criminal legal system. Most importantly, they discussed why these types of programming, why that type of work with Project Restore should be the reality for all and not just a lucky few. And that's what safety looks like for all of us. Look, at the same time, we are cleareyed about the challenges ahead. Our jail population have climbed in recent years, so we still have a lot of work to do. We have investments to make to safely reduce the jail population while maintaining accountability and public trust. The path forward is clear. The solutions that work are the ones grounded in research, coordination across systems, and absolutely investments in people. That means continuing to strengthen programs like supervised release, alternatives to incarceration, and the community justice re-entry network. Programs that help people stabilize their lives. Simply put, investing in people is one of the smartest public safety strategies that we have. It strengthens neighborhoods, reduces reliance on incarceration, and delivers a strong return on public dollars. Thank you, council members, for your commitment to building a stronger and fairer, safer New York. I look forward to continuing our partnership, and we, the MUKJ team, are open for questions. Thank you so much for your testimony and for the work that you do on the issue of criminal justice. A few questions regarding new needs. There's 26 million that is baselined in this plan for hate crime prevention. Which services and programs will see the increases uh through this funding? Currently that money is in the office for the prevention of hate crimes and the plan is to look at the current personnel programming that that portfolio does and expand it. >> What's the total budget of that office of hate crime prevention and also what's their headcount >> for that? I'll give our CFO. >> Yes, thank you for the question chair. The total budget for OPC, the office for the prevention of hate crimes, is $3 million. Uh that's an OTPS and there are three authorized full-time personnel assigned to that office. >> Is the $26 million intended to be used citywide or specific burrows that are facing specific issues? >> That office is citywide. So that's citywide funding. A few questions about re-entry and ATI programs, alternatives to incarceration programs. What are programs that you've seen as most successful and how many does your office uh serve on that issue? >> Uh thank you for your question. So our ATI programs are we have generally seen success with them for the most part. People who enter them are well matched. People are um most people enter into programs are not rearrested. Um, and so we have seen success with those programs. They serve about 9,000 people a year for ATIS. For re-entry, it's about 4,000. >> 9,000 and 4,000. And could could you give us some specifics on those programs? What exactly are things that they um provide? >> Sure. So, re-entry services are intended to be comprehensive. And so, um, our providers do, um, discharge planning inside of Rikers and then also, uh, um, in community services. So, people are able to get connected to mental health care. They're able to get connected to services. Um, any, you know, our case managers are pretty comprehensive about what they're able to connect people to. Um, even though we do know that there are, um, there continue to be gaps for people with higher needs. Okay, a few questions about the Riker's population. As you know, one of the prime drivers of the inflation of the Riker's population is the long delays and the extreme length of time criminal cases take to resolve. What are steps that Mach is taking to reduce the amount of time that criminal cases take? >> Thank you for the question. There are a couple of steps. So first and foremost, MACHJ is looking at all of the criminal legal system as a whole. First and foremost, it is ensuring that the programs that do not have people going into Rikers are able and ready for the capacity to support people. So the project resets, the the ways that we look at those individuals who are have a persistent pattern that we are consistently engaging with so that they don't they break that cycle of coming back in where you would see them going into Rikers because now they have accumulated cases and they fall into that harm and harm, right? So the trajectory is usually them increasing and what we are looking to do with our intensive case management program is identifying those individuals sooner and truncating the arc of them repeating and coming back into the system by connecting them sooner in the process to the services that would then stop them from going into the system in the first place. And what are steps that MAC J is taking to ensure that the NYPD is providing evidence in a timely way? >> That's a big ask. Uh so we work with NYPD, we work with the DA's offices and we have looked at the ability to provide discovery across the city. One of the the areas that we worked on very closely with NYPD and with the DAS is just the ability to make sure that the systems actually spoke to one another. Right? Our first deputy uh director was crucial in navigating the it's the acronym is API and my public affairs guys is going to kill me because I use the acronym but it really is the bridge that delivers the information from PD systems to DA systems. And given that there are five of the electeds as well as special narcotics, it was a feat to make sure that that bridge stayed open with the vendor that PD was using so that we could ensure that there was no gap and that there was no elongating of the time. As they told you earlier, each one of them building their own systems has its has had the issues we see whenever we're rolling out new technology across. There have been challenges and delays, but they're actively working on it. And we've been actively working with all of them to navigate some of the places where we have to make sure that the vendors meet the goals for the city, meaning the DAS and NYPD and the defenders alike. >> All right. And final question before I pass it on to colleagues. Question about ATI and re-entry services. The preliminary budget includes a 1.3 and 3.3 cuts to ATI programming and re-entry services. Do we think that it is wise to cut these services? I think the answer to that is no. Are we taking steps to make some restorations? >> So, we continue to work with OMB to ensure that we have the appropriate level of services for the um for ATI and re-entry. >> Okay. Have you started those conversations yet or? >> We're continuing to work with them on it. Yes. >> Okay. So, I'll pause here. I'll pass it on to Council Member Nurse for some questions. >> Thank you. Uh, thank you, Chair. Good to see you all. >> Um, I have questions, [laughter] I promise. Um, local law 139, um, mandates MCKJ ensure that when assessment is required for acceptance to a court-based alternative to incarceration program, a holistic clinical assessment shall be completed within three or six three weeks or six weeks for more complicated cases. Um, we know that the legal mandate just took effect in February. Um so um you know kind of what are you all how how are things going? Um are we hitting those timelines? Is there capacity for it? It's a little early to provide specifics. However, we the program is funded. Um CGI has received the funding for it and they are currently working to to staff up. >> And how long do assessments take on average? Now >> uh I would have to get that in for you. It varies depending on uh how complicated the case is. >> Would would it be fair to say longer than six weeks normally >> without additional resources? Yes, it can take. >> Okay. Um and who will be providing the assessments just for the record? >> So, we're working through CJI but it will be um their clinical assessments. So, it will be clinical staff will be doing that. >> Okay. Um, and then for a supervised release, uh, which I we've talked about a bunch, um, over the last couple years, we see the preliminary budget is cutting it by cutting funding for it by 4.5 million. And do you know where like where those cuts are going to be made to what parts of the program? >> So, we're continuing to work with OMB on looking numbers for for SRP over the past year and over years past just to see where those numbers lay and um determining the right level for it. >> Okay. Do you know if any of those cuts will be made to um some of the intensive case management program? >> We do not have that information as of yet. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah, I would just say that that is, you know, something we've all been advocating for, especially to safely bring down the jail population and obviously reduce violence um and get people out who who might not necessarily need to be there, but might need some extra eyes and ears. So, hopefully we can make sure that the the case management is sustained and that we're able to get people out um and and continue to bring down the jail population. Um and quickly on uh Harbor House, um there's over a hundred beds and a month-long waiting list. Um do you have any plans to grow the number of residential treatment beds um for people with dual diagnosis? >> That is a clear gap that we have seen in services and it is something we're continuing to work on to figure out exactly what the gap is and what that looks like long term. But no plans, no nothing in this plan for um additional beds. Not currently. >> Okay. Um from what we're what we've been told, it sounds like there's space to add 50 beds. Um which would cost about roughly 3 million to kind of outfit the space. Is that your understanding? >> We have heard that from partners. Yes. >> Okay. Okay. Um, and then I saw that you're adding from your testimony 100 beds. That's for the transitional emergency housing. >> Okay. >> Yes, it is. >> That's great. I think that's And do we know where that Sorry, what burrow will that be or is that just across the board? >> We're looking at a few different burrows. We're looking in Queens and also in Brooklyn and possibly the Bronx. >> Okay. But and you don't have the distribution yet though. >> We don't have the exact distribution. >> Okay. Um uh one other question. >> Oh, I guess people are joining us virtually. But um I have one more one more question. Um for the uh local law 92, right? That's why I need to come out with like >> sergeants. >> All right. Please, let's all the zooms. I told you it's just Nick. >> Yeah, but that closed at like 6:00. >> Yeah, that's what I said. That's why I asked >> Please, please mute yourself if you're on Zoom. >> Hopefully they'll make it by six. Um [laughter] uh local law 92 uh from 2023 uh there was a resource navigator program for women, transgender, interex, non-binary, and gender non-conformingforming people. Is this uh resource navigator program fully operational and fulfilling its its mandate? We do have within our re-entry services resource navigation and then also we have on our website the ability to go in and search for those services. Yes. >> Okay. And uh what budget line item is this program included under >> I don't think we I think we were able to do it in a budget neutral way. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Can you bring the mic a little bit closer? >> Sorry. I'll point it over to our CFO >> in my age. I believe the budget item is included under our re-entry budget >> under re-entry. Okay. Okay. Those are my questions. Chair, thank you. >> Thank you so much. A few more questions. Uh a question about the intensive CA uh case management pilot. Uh this is a pre-trial supervised release program that provides case for workers to those that who check in and also offer services and provide reminders of people of their court dates and other things. Does the preliminary budget include funding to expand on this or is that something that there's the plan cut on that program? Uh chair, currently the funding is maintained for fiscal year 26 at $9 million. There is not outyear funding at the moment, but we continue to work with me to assess the program needs and the fiscal needs to continue the program. >> All right, similar question, but I guess on the issue of district attorneys. What steps is MOAJ taking to ensure that district attorneys and defenders have installed technology so they can process, store, and share evidence efficiently? And also the state approved 50 million for this two years ago. Do we have any information on when this will be the installed and finalized? >> So in in working with the DAS, we talked to them about needs and where they are with the discovery. The discovery funding that the state provided went directly to the district attorneys. And so they are they managed h what the what they spent the those funds on in terms of the technology and their infrastructure bills. Given that the each office has its own separate infrastructure, it's our understanding that they're in different places and that they are diligently working to get to a place of uh having their systems completed. But we understand that the Bronx started sooner with one of the vendors and may be in a in a better place to be moving through what the technology looks like. The Queens had um its own internal database system that it was building out. Manhattan also has a good infrastructure system that it was building out. Staten Island was using a product that was on the state level be used by other prosecutors across New York State and um and Brooklyn also is looking at building up its infrastructure. So each one of them is in a different place and we continuously work with them as well as the corporation council where there may be challenges with contracting to ensure that their resources are being appropriately um dedicated towards the technology build and any challenges are addressed. All right. And last question for me. Can you talk to us about some of the criminal justice housing related programs that you have? I know you provide transitional housing for those exiting uh Rikers. Can you talk about those housing programs a little bit? >> Sure. Um it's our emergency and transitional housing program. We work with three providers to implement that program. Fortune Society, Housing Works, and uh Housing Plus, which is a consortium for uh for women. And we have about 800 beds open now, and we're planning for about a 150 more over the next year. >> All right. Thank you so much. Anyone else has any other questions? All right. So, I think this concludes uh this part of the Actually, Council Member Wong has >> I'll squeeze in the question. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, chair. Um, I noticed that you offer services for defendants as well as services for victims. Is that right? >> Got it. >> No, I'm wrong. >> Uh, not quite. We do uh we do have some services for victims. Yes. >> So, how do you balance it because they seem to be, you know, conflicting goals? Yeah. >> Well, most of the contracts for victim services sit with H now. Um, however, we believe that the the criminal justice system is a the criminal legal system is a continuum and everybody needs to when we're looking at public safety, it helps us both to ensure that victims have what they need and then ensure that people are less likely to reenter the system. So, that's how we sort of balance the concept. >> Thank you, Council Member Wong. And I I also want to just highlight the fact that we are our our community community courts deal a lot of work with restorative justice. So that means that instead of looking at a punitive model meaning you did something bad and so now we're going to