NEW YORK, NY January 29, 2007 —Funding for the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates police misconduct, has traditionally been a loser in the budget battle between the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg. But, as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports, this year looks different.

REPORTER: This year in his upbeat State of the City address Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not make reference to the recent fatal police shooting of Sean Bell. But he did commit to fully fund the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

BLOOMBERG: "As we step up the fight against crime we are also going to make sure the NYPD treats every New Yorker equally and with dignity and that complaints are taken seriously."

REPORTER: The CCRB was created in 1993. While its budget remained flat over the last several years, the CCRB saw the volume of complaints it had to process double, to over 7,200 last year. Officials credit the city's 311 citizen complaint line for the uptick. Thanks in part to a lack of follow through by the public, only half the complaints get fully investigated with 10 percent, or more than 261, getting substantiated.

Chris Dunn with the New York Civil Liberties Union says more money won't fix what he thinks is wrong with the CCRB.

DUNN: The problems with the Civilian Complaint Review Board doesn't really have anything to do with how much money they are getting. The real problem is they haven't been nearly aggressive enough in fulfilling their mandate to be a check on the Police.

REPORTER: CCRB Chair Franklin Stone, is a former federal prosecutor. She says her agency keeps the police accountable for how they treat the public. She says the mayor's budget will permit the hiring of 25 new investigators on top of the existing staff of 140 fact finders The new money will also mean expanding a mediation program which Stone says is showing promise.

STONE: Under the guidance of a trained mediator the complainant and the police officer meet to discuss the circumstances that gave rise to the complaint. We have had near a 100-percent success rate.

REPORTER: The top three categories of complaints against the NYPD officers are for allegedly being discourteous or exceeding their legal authority by stopping, and frisking or using excessive force. After the CCRB substantiates a case of police misconduct it is up to the Police Commissioner to set the penalty.

For WNYC I am Bob Hennelly