Inaugural Community Review Board Announced, Meeting Regularly to Advance Mission, Establish Procedures

The work of Syracuse University’s inaugural Community Review Board (CRB) is well underway, with its members meeting regularly and establishing procedures to guide its efforts. The CRB, which was created following an independent review of the University’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) by former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, is responsible for reviewing appeals of civilian complaints regarding DPS officer conduct.

The CRB is also tasked with reviewing and commenting on prospective new DPS policies, procedures and trainings; reviewing key community-facing functions of DPS; and issuing to the University community a public annual report of findings and recommendations.

The board is made up of 11 members, including three undergraduate students (Currently there are two; the CRB is working to fill the third slot.), one graduate student, one law student, two faculty members, two staff members and two administrators. The board is chaired by Brianna Sclafani, student in the College of Law and graduate student in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Other members of the CRB are the following:

• Yusuf S. Abdul-Qadir, Graduate Student, School of Information Studies
• Guilherme Maurell Costa, Senior Associate Vice President and Deputy University Secretary, Office of the Board of Trustees
• Liz Green, Executive Director, Online Student Success, Vice-Chair
• Keith L. Henderson, Chief Compliance Officer, Office of University Counsel
• Theresa A. Jenkins, Academic Advisor, Newhouse School of Public Communications
• Milton R. Laufer, Director and Associate Professor, School of Music, College of Visual and Performing Arts
• Alexandra Zoey Pollack, Undergraduate Student, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• David J. Williams, Undergraduate Student, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Corrinne B. Zoli, Research Faculty, Forensic Science Institute

Sclafani says the board’s members have made great progress creating a framework to position the board to be an effective community resource.

“The board has been particularly focused on creating a fair, expedient and efficient process that supports both our campus community and DPS team members through the appeal process,” says Sclafani. “I am grateful for the University’s support of this important work and appreciate the dedication of our board members.”

Sclafani says it’s important for community members to understand that the CRB is not the recipient of the original complaint. Instead, she says, a complaint must be filed with the Department of Public Safety’s Internal Affairs. The CRB only gets involved if either the citizen who filed the complaint or the DPS team member are unsatisfied with the outcome. To submit a request please fill out the initial intake form and the CRB will contact you if additional information is needed.

“The CRB will hear appeals only after the internal affairs investigation process has been completed,” Sclafani says. “Once DPS has issued their final disposition, then a community member has 14 days to file a notice of appeal with the CRB. I encourage the community to visit our web page to get a better understanding of the full process.”

To learn how to file a complaint via DPS’ internal affairs investigation process and to review the CRB’s process for reviewing appeals, visit the CRB’s newly created webpage. To contact the CRB directly, you can send an email to CRB@syr.edu.