Fixing the police "firestorm"

IT WOULD BE difficult to name three of the most powerful people in the city. Not because we don't know who they are, but because we don't actually know their names.

We know where they work, though: The American Arbitration Association. Some of its members have recently made decisions with huge implications for the city. In 2009, they ruled on the contract that granted raises for police, lifted residency requirements and made structural changes to pension and health benefits. And in the last year, according to a recent Daily News report, they have reversed the firings of 24 officers. With back pay - and lost overtime - those reinstatements have come with a $2.4 million price tag - and that's not counting the gross of aspirin Commissioner Charles Ramsey may need for the ensuing headache.

Ramsey has, since taking over the department, fired 51 officers; not all those cases have yet been heard.

While the FOP, the police in question and the force in general may see these rulings as an unmitigated victory, we see them differently. Not because we don't side with police, but because the arbitrators' role creates a challenge for managing any department, and if there is a department that needs superior managements, it's the police.

The city has some great cops. But the department is no stranger to scandal. Turning that tide requires leadership. So we wonder how on earth a commissioner does his job if his decisions can be overruled by people not even on the force.

And since their paychecks depend on being picked by the parties in question, arbitrators can't claim to be entirely disinterested in the outcome of their decisions. (To pick the three arbitrators who make rulings, the city and the Fraternal Order of Police each get to strike names from a list provided by the AAA; some argue that a fairer way to do it would be to have aribitrators assigned randomly from around the state.)

Good police are not just those who don't break the law or engage in questionable behavior; they are officers who meet the highest standards, and the commissioner must be the ultimate arbiter of those standards; otherwise, what are we paying him for?

Consider, for example, the standards of the FOP, which claims that cops should be fired only for rape or murder; other infractions should simply merit disciplinary action.

We're not saying that everyone reinstated deserves to stay fired; but if we expect Ramsey to lead, his decisions - and discretion - must carry more weight.

A contributing problem: If police commanders were in a different bargaining unit than officers, the command structure of the department would be less top-heavy.

We can't help thinking that the challenges of managing the police, including the firings in question, would be helped with more ongoing objective data on the department's performance. As we've said in the past, this Police Department needs an "honest broker" watchdog, like the effectively defunct Office of Integrity and Accountability, which shed important light on procedural and policy gaps in the department, on areas from training to use of force.

The office identified key areas for improving the department - and at the end of the day, that's the job Ramsey should be allowed to do. *