The head of New York City’s police oversight board is stepping down next month.
Arva Rice has been the interim chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board since February 2022.
The board is responsible for investigating complaints of NYPD misconduct.
Rice was reportedly forced out by Mayor Eric Adams and was asked to resign back in April after she criticized NYPD delays in the investigation into the fatal shooting of Kawaski Trawick in the Bronx five years ago.
Adams has denied pressuring Rice out.
In a letter, Rice thanked Adams for the opportunity to serve as interim chair and cited accomplishments, including improving transparency after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
Her resignation will take effect on Aug. 15.
“The Adams Administration has engaged in a death-by-a-thousand-cuts campaign to neutralize the checks and balances in place that hold the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to account,” the Legal Aid Society wrote in a statement.
The union that represents more than 50,000 police officers also issued a statement, saying, “Unfair treatment at CCRB doesn’t just destroy police officers’ morale — it jeopardizes public safety by driving even more cops out of the NYPD amid the ongoing staffing crisis.”