New Yorkers need a strong IG to ensure that the police keep us safe while respecting our rights. Mayor Adams should commit to reviving the NYPD Inspector General. And mayoral candidates should prepare to do the same.

The letter ends with the Comptroller and Public Advocate asking the Mayor’s office a set of critical questions about funding and staffing issues facing the IG and offering up some ideas for reform.

The IG was established to answer that question. As the Comptroller & Public Advocate’s letter states, “the independence and strength of this oversight function are essential to building public trust and ensuring accountability in policing.” But this mission fails without proper support.

If the NYPD is willing to undermine its compliance with the POST Act, especially when it worked side by side with advocates and City Council on the new reporting bills, what other problematic practices is it undertaking that may not show up in the news?

It goes against the spirit of the POST Act for other agencies to secretly conduct surveillance for the NYPD that the department would be prohibited from doing on its own. And a judge found that the use of facial recognition in this case goes against NYPD policy.

But last month, litigation revealed that the NYPD was able to sidestep the POST Act by relying on the fire department’s access to Clearview, a facial recognition app that the NYPD has banned its officers from using, to identify a protestor.

Bills passed earlier this year to strengthen the Act were meant to close loopholes identified by the IG that allowed the police to evade robust oversight.

One of its most important roles is overseeing the NYPD’s compliance with the POST Act, which requires the department to disclose its use of surveillance technologies and develop use policies.

A functioning NYPD IG is critical. In its early years, the office produced important reports on policing issues affecting the civil liberties of New Yorkers. Its investigation on use-of-force reporting led to better tracking of incidents w/in the NYPD.

In July, City Council passed a bill by @galeabrewer.bsky.social ‪to provide more transparency into the IG’s operations, including any NYPD interference and delayed reporting. But the IG won’t need to start disclosing that information until next year.

This isn’t the first time the IG has faced difficulties. A Brennan Center investigation revealed how stonewalling by the police department, a lack of leadership, and threats to its influence and autonomy have slowly eroded the IG’s capabilities.