As NY DAs drop charges against rioters, NYPD watchdog concludes 39 officers deserve punishment for response to BLM riots last year

Following news that district attorneys in New York City have dropped the majority of charges against rioters in recent months, an oversight board for the city's police has recommended that 39 officers face disciplinary action for their conduct during last year's Black Lives Matter protests.

What are the details?

In the report released Monday, the Civilian Complaint Review Board concluded that 14 officers — including a captain and a sergeant — should face criminal charges for their behavior, while the remaining 25 should face disciplinary penalties ranging from 1 to 10 days.

Complaints leveled against the officers leading to recommended discipline included force, abuse of authority, offensive language, discourtesy, and untruthful statement.

"So far, the CCRB has substantiated 26 complaints of misconduct containing 48 allegations against 39 officers," the watchdog organization wrote in the report. "The Board has recommended serving Charges in 12 complaints, Command Discipline B in 4 complaints, and Command Discipline A in 10 complaints. The current substantiation rate in fully-investigated protest complaints is 35%."

The CCRB noted that since the start of its investigation last summer, it has received over 750 complaints relating to the behavior of NYPD officers during the Black Lives Matter protests. In the end, those notices resulted in 303 cases containing more than 2,000 allegations that fell within the organization's jurisdiction.

The watchdog added that it is awaiting interviews with officers in 38 of 147 investigations that still remain open and is facing unprecedented challenges identifying officers involved in the complaints due to their failure to follow identification protocols.

What else?

The report comes as New York City district attorneys have dropped hundreds of charges against rioters and looters in recent months, angering businesses in the city that were ravaged as part of the protests.

Additionally, in the cases that haven't been dropped, a bulk of the suspects were reportedly tried on lesser counts — such as trespassing — that do not result in jail time.

In the meantime, the district attorneys are reportedly prioritizing a probe into the Trump Organization on allegations of tax, loan, and insurance fraud.

In response to the news, the NYPD told TheBlaze it plans to "study the CCRB's recommendations through the established processes between our two agencies."

TheBlaze reached out to the New York City Police Benevolent Association, the city's largest police union, for additional comment on the CCRB's recommendations, but has not yet received a reply.