STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Dr. Mohammad Khalid, a Todt Hill resident, is defending his work with the Civilian Complaint Review Board after resigning from his post as interim chairman on Friday.
The 15-member panel is responsible for reviewing investigations of police officers accused of misconduct and voting on whether it recommends discipline for those actions.
To defend his work with the panel, Khalid pointed to a statement issued by the board in the wake of his resignation.
“His tenure as interim chair of the CCRB saw great steps forward for the agency,” the statement read. “He advocated for an increased budget and headcount to help fulfill the work of civilian oversight of police. He led by example in letting the values of objectivity and impartiality guide his decision-making. He cared deeply about each case he reviewed, and he always sought to follow the law and the facts, no matter what.”
Khalid, who cited his work in the community, slammed what he called a “despicable smear campaign” by Patrick Hendry, the president of the Police Benevolent Association.
“All Staten Island knows me, what kind of person I am and what I have done on Staten Island,” said Khalid. “But this is a humiliation.”
Hendry has spoken out against Khalid’s voting record with the board in the past. In a report, The New York Times cited a statement from Hendry claiming Khalid had voted to discipline officers 95% of the time.
“If you’re appointed as a city official, you’re doing your job to the best of your ability and I still do not know what is the purpose of the CCRB if people do not have an approach for the misconduct of the police officer,” said Khalid.
Khalid expressed that he felt he was being “singled out” by Hendry despite being part of a board with several members, some of whom Khalid claims have similar records or have recommended discipline more than he has.
The former chairman emphasized that he is not the only voice on the board and he is not responsible for making ultimate determinations.
“I am one of the panel, but he portrayed me like I am the one who does everything, which is not the case,” Khalid said.
“This kind of malicious activity by a PBA president, I don’t know how the CCRB next year will do,” he added.
Previously, Hendry has criticized Khalid for his belief that the board should be empowered and given the final say in officer discipline. As it stands, the police commissioner has the sole authority to enact any disciplinary action recommended by the board.
During a September meeting with members of the City Council Committee on Public Safety, Khalid said the following:
“The whole discipline authority should be given to the CCRB for a proper disciplinary action instead of giving to the police commissioner.”
While he stands by this position, Khalid noted that predecessors before him have held the same belief.
“Khalid is not the first CCRB chair to abandon promises of ‘fairness.’ Rather, he is the latest in a string of anti-police activists trying to usurp the police commissioner’s authority over not only discipline, but policing policy and strategy,” Hendry previously wrote in an opinion piece for the Daily News. “In other words, Khalid and his colleagues are simply advancing the ‘Defund the Police’ project in disguise.”
Khalid claimed Hendry was “equating” him to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who has expressed that he would support the board having the final say in serious disciplinary matters.
The now-resigned chairman made a point to distinguish himself from Mamdani, stating that he has never met him or spoken to him.
“I have served on Staten Island for many, many years,” Khalid noted. “As a civic leader, I have tried not to do anything — as far as my knowledge — that tried to hurt no one. But this guy has really hurt me as a person who’s serving the city government and criticizing me for something which I have not done. Is that the way the system works? That’s why I figured I don’t want to be part of it. Because you can’t do your job, so just walk away from it, you know.”
On Oct. 31, the Police Benevolent Association penned a letter to Mayor Eric Adams urging the mayor to remove Khalid from his role, noting Khalid also held a position on Staten Island Community Board 2. According to the New York City Charter, no member of the board shall hold public office.
Khalid, who is a civic leader and president of the Iron Hills Civic Association, noted that he was a part of the community board since Michael Bloomberg was mayor.
Khalid told the Advance/SILive.com that he was unaware he could not be a part of the community board while being involved in the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the latter being a paid position. He clarified that he is no longer a part of Community Board 2.
Khalid compared Hendry’s efforts to “bullying.”
He explained that he did not initially want to assume the role of interim chair but was asked to join given his past experience with the board. In looking back, Khalid revealed he wishes he never took the role.
“It really has really hurt me; that you can not do your job as a city official, then what is the purpose of it?” Khalid told the Advance/SILive.com.
“I was trying to do my job and if I am not allowed to do my job, then what is the purpose of me to staying there?” he asked.
At the news of Khalid’s resignation, Hendry issued the following statement:
“Dr. Khalid’s biased voting record, his disregard for CCRB’s own rules and procedures, and his dangerous plan to strip away the police commissioner’s authority made it clear that police officers were never going to get fair treatment from CCRB under his watch. His resignation is an important first step, but much more is required to make CCRB into the impartial agency mandated by the City Charter. Dr. Khalid must be replaced by a fair-minded chair, and every case that went against a police officer should be thrown out.”
The union pointed to data it shared on social media that the 95% that Khalid voted to substantiate allegations against officers was tied for the highest on the board.
Khalid, an immigrant from Peshawar, Pakistan, came to New York City in 1972 at the age of 23 and five years later he moved to Staten Island and established a dental practice in Eltingville.
Khalid earned a bachelor’s degree in dental surgery from Khyber Medical College, a doctor of dental surgery from New York University and a diploma in orthodontics from the State University of New York.
The board’s previous interim chair, Arva Rice, resigned her post in August amid reports that Adams asked her to step down over comments she made about the NYPD’s handling of the 2019 shooting of a Bronx man.
According to the CCRB page online, board members receive compensation on a per-session basis, though some choose to serve pro bono.
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