A watchdog agency says complaints about New York City police officers using banned chokeholds are rising, and discipline has been lacking.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board's report Tuesday comes after the July death of a man who'd been put in a police chokehold.
The New York Police Department has prohibited chokeholds for decades. But the civilian panel says it fielded 219 chokehold complaints from July 2013 through June 2014, the most since 2009.
The report says the CCRB has almost always recommended disciplinary charges after it substantiated chokehold complaints, but the NYPD has rarely pursued them since 2009.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says the department is upgrading training and needs to re-evaluate disciplinary proceedings.
Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch calls the report "meaningless" and based on poorly investigated complaints.
