{"id":310776,"date":"2026-07-31T15:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T15:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310776\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T15:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T15:21:15","slug":"mamdani-appoints-advocate-jennifer-jones-austin-to-chair-nypd-oversight-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310776\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani appoints advocate Jennifer Jones Austin to chair NYPD oversight board"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Mamdani appointed<\/a> Jennifer Jones Austin, an advocate and city government veteran, to head of the Civilian Complaint Review Board<\/a>, a police department oversight body.<\/p>\n

Jones Austin currently heads anti-poverty organization the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, and she serves as the vice chair of Al Sharpton\u2019s National Action Network. She also previously chaired the New York City Racial Justice Commission and the New York City Board of Correction.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe understands that public safety and accountability go hand in hand, and that trust must be earned through action,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement announcing her appointment. \u201cJennifer will lead the CCRB with integrity,\u00a0compassion\u00a0and an unwavering commitment to justice. I am grateful she has answered the call to serve our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones Austin replaces Interim Chair Sherene Crawford in the role. Crawford will remain on the board<\/a>, the mayor\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor Zohran Mamdani. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to serve as Chair of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board,\u201d Jones Austin said.\u00a0\u201cAs Chair, I will work to advance CCRB\u2019s critical mission of accountability and look forward to the work ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani on the campaign trail said he would make the CCRB, which investigates and prosecutes complaints against NYPD officers, have the final say on what disciplinary action should be taken against cops found guilty of wrongdoing. As it stands, the board offers recommendations, with the NYPD commissioner getting the final say.<\/p>\n

Since his November victory and announcing Jessica Tisch would stay on as his police commissioner, however, Mamdani softened that stance, instead saying<\/a> the CCRB\u2019s recommendations should be taken \u201cseriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JenniferJennifer Jones Austin speaks at the FPWA Federal Funds tracker launch event on Wednesday, Feb 06, 2019 in New York. (Mark Von Holden\/AP)<\/p>\n

Jones Austin will be the board\u2019s first non-interim chair in six years. Last year, Interim Chair Dr. Mohammad Khalid resigned<\/a>, saying he did so because the Police Benevolent Association President head smeared him as \u201canti-cop\u201d and lied about his record.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s policing decisions, and the choices the CCRB makes, are under close scrutiny as the mayor has said he aims to change the way the NYPD handles policing. On the campaign trail, the mayor pledged to disband the controversial Strategic Response Unit of the NYPD, as well as abolish the gang database and build up a Department of Community Safety.<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s ideological stance on policing often clashes<\/a> with that of Commissioner Tisch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Mamdani appointed Jennifer Jones Austin, an advocate and city government veteran, to head of the Civilian Complaint…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[266,267,9,11,10,692,12,87],"class_list":["post-310776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-politics","tag-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}