Mayor Adams Pushes Out Chairwoman of Police Oversight Board

The interim chairwoman of an independent police oversight panel who had fiercely criticized the Police Department will step down at the request of Mayor Eric Adams, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The official, Arva Rice, has chaired the panel, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, since Mr. Adams installed her in February 2022, calling her “a champion for equity and justice.”

But she has drawn the anger of police officials for criticizing delays in handing over evidence in the fatal shooting of a Bronx man in his home five years ago — and for requesting a larger budget and more power to investigate complaints against police officers.

The resignation request was delivered by Mr. Adams’s deputy mayor for public safety, Philip Banks III, who served as the Police Department’s top uniformed officer before resigning under the cloud of a federal corruption investigation in 2014, according to two of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal City Hall personnel matters. Mr. Banks was never charged.

Ms. Rice, who also serves as president and chief executive of the New York Urban League, is expected to comply with the request in coming weeks, the people said.