The agency that investigates complaints of police misconduct in Syracuse is tasked with doing the job in the absence of an administrator. Ranette Releford abruptly resigned from the Citizen Review Board a month ago, creating even more challenges for the already overburdened board. Board President Lori Nilsson says they are still receiving complaints from residents and are trying to address them.

“I recently had a request by post for a complaint form, so that was sent by post. So these things happen,” Nilsson said. ‘We are working on creating another stream of online complaints to ensure they get to people who can read the emails and deal with them from there. So far we are managing.”

Yet it is not ideal. Nilsson says that because board members are volunteers and not city employees, they cannot go to the CRB office to check on any complaints received by phone, although she says they are working with human resources to gain access. Chol Majok, chairman of the city council’s public security committee, said the absence of an administrator limits the board’s activities.

“The board members are volunteers, so they do not have the bandwidth to conduct a full investigation of the matter to the end,” Majok said. “So what we’re trying to do is make sure the manager gets here as quickly as possible. and with the help of the board we will get there.”

Majok says the city has not yet posted the CRB administrator position, but expects the position to be filled by the end of the year. Meanwhile, council members are considering legislation that would bring the director’s position under the city’s employment system for better oversight of policies, rules and regulations.