Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today appointed a new chairperson and five new members to the Commission to Combat Police Corruption (CCPC).  The CCPC was established by Executive Order in 1995 as a permanent board to monitor the performance of the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) anti-corruption methods and systems. The CCPC is independent of the NYPD.

“I am pleased to appoint this distinguished group of individuals to the Commission to Combat Police Corruption,” Mayor Bloomberg said.  “This independent commission will play a vital role by advising me about the effectiveness of the Police Department’s anti-corruption procedures and, where necessary, recommending improvements.  I am confident that Chairman Pomerantz and the new Commission members possess the knowledge, integrity and experience to fulfill this important responsibility.”

The Commission is made up of one chairperson and five members, all appointed by the Mayor to serve four-year terms.   It was created based upon the 1994 recommendations of the Mollen Commission, which investigated allegations of corruption within the NYPD and the NYPD’s anti-corruption procedures. The CCPC’s responsibilities include performing audits, studies and analyses of the NYPD’s anti-corruption procedures, and since 1995 the Commission has issued 20 substantive reports examining many aspects of Internal Affairs Bureau programs and the NYPD’s disciplinary system.  CCPC recommendations have led to the implementation of policies prohibiting retaliation against whistleblowers, improving the NYPD’s integrity testing program, and strengthening the NYPD’s policies on alcohol and misuse of weapons.

New Commission members:

Mark F. Pomerantz will serve as the new Chair of the Commission.  He is a partner in the Litigation Department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and is a nationally known trial lawyer and senior litigator with extensive public and private experience in criminal and regulatory matters.  From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Pomerantz was Chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, overseeing all of that office’s criminal prosecutions, and he was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the United States Attorney General.  He has also taught at Harvard and Columbia Law Schools.  Mr. Pomerantz earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

David Acevedo is a Chief Trial Attorney in the Enforcement Division of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he supervises a team of attorneys and investigators in conducting investigations of trade practice fraud, solicitation fraud and market manipulation and in enforcing the Commodity Exchange Act.  From 1988 to 1999, Mr. Acevedo was an Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney’s Office, where he investigated and prosecuted a wide range of cases including homicides.  He earned his J.D. from Boston College School of Law.

Vernon S. Broderick is a litigator at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he concentrates on complex commercial litigation. Mr. Broderick was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York for eight years.  While at the United States Attorney’s Office, he served as Chief of the Violent Gangs Unit and investigated and prosecuted cases involving organized crime, international narcotics trafficking and violent crimes including murder, kidnapping, assault and robbery extortion.  Mr. Broderick was also a recipient of the Justice Department’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney in both 1997 and 1998.  He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Kathy Hirata Chin is a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.  Ms. Chin served as a Commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission from 1995 to 2001.  She has also served on the Federal Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel for the Eastern District of New York, on Governor Mario M. Cuomo’s Judicial Screening Committee for the First Judicial Department, and on the Gender Bias Committee of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness.  She earned her J.D. from Columbia University.

Edgardo Ramos is a partner in the Governmental Investigations Practice Group at the law firm of Day, Berry & Howard.  Mr. Ramos was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York for eight years, serving as the Deputy Chief of that office’s Narcotics Unit and Organized Crime/Drug Enforcement Task Force.  Mr. Ramos is vice-chair of Aspira of New York, Inc., and he serves on the criminal law committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.  He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

James D. Zirin is a partner at Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood.  He has been a trial lawyer for over thirty years and has handled a wide variety of white collar criminal and complex commercial litigation.  Mr. Zirin is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  He is also a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a trustee of New York Law School, a former director and member of the executive committee of the Legal Aid Society, and a past vice president and trustee of the Federal Bar Council.  He earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.