Washington police watchdog to become New York PD's first inspector general

The head of Washington's office of police complaints has been selected to be the first inspector general in the New York Police Department, officials said Friday.

Philip Eure is scheduled to begin work May 27. The department already has an internal affairs unit and a civilian complaint review board, but Eure said his office will "fill a void."

Police Commissioner William Bratton said Eure's job will be to review the department's policies and procedures. Bratton said he expects a "collegial and collaborative relationship."

The city council voted to create the inspector general post amidst concerns about the department's "stop and frisk" policy. Mayor Bill De Blasio, elected last year, opposes the policy, unlike his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg.

Police unions generally opposed the creation of an inspector general. Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives Endowment Association, said everyone is concerned about safety.

“This is definitely a new frontier for the NYPD and how we all will coexist is going to be interesting,” he said. “But at the end of the day it is about working together for the safety of our city.”

Eure is a former lawyer with the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division. He has been in his post with the Washington police department since 2001, and gained a reputation for curbing "contempt of cop" arrests of civilians who have confrontations with police.

In New York, Eure will be dealing with the country's largest department. New York has 35,000 officers compared to 4,000 in Washington.

[NY Daily News]